Africa and the birth of the Tripartite

“Géopolitique” radio programme on France Inter radio station, 9th June 2015



Maybe it is a “major step forward” for Africa, as it is said in Cairo. It is impossible to predict it with certainty since many political hazards could ruin the enthusiasm, but the fact is that tomorrow, the eastern part of the poorest continent - a total of 26 countries from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope - will sign in Charm el-Cheikh a free-trade treaty that could lead, one day, to a single market for the whole African continent.

It is a great moment for Africa, the internal exchanges of which are much limited by heavy customs formalities and clearance times imposed by each country. By always wanting to protect themselves from others and supporting bureaucracies, which are means for political powers to catch votes by providing artificial jobs, these countries reduced inter-African exchanges down to 12% of trade while inter-European and inter-Asian trade respectively account for 70% and 55% of trade in Europe and Asia.

This does not only hinder exchanges. It also hinders - and this is more serious - the development of African industries for they are deprived of natural economic opportunities and of a sufficiently important market to justify consistent investments.

Removing interior customs barriers is such a capital issue for Africa that, since the Abuja treaty of 1991, it had been one of its objectives to be reached by 2025. Tomorrow, Africa will be half way through this process with the birth of the “Tripartite” - the free-trade tripartite zone, of which three existing regional organisations will be the stake holders, hence its name.

Parliamentary ratifications will still be necessary but the meeting in Charm-el-Cheikh already strengthens the Afroptimism of international business sectors and young African business managers who are aware that growth in Africa reaches 5% per year since the beginning of the century, while it is lagging behind in Europe and starting to slow down in Asia.

Following the Afropessimism of the second half of the 20th century, a large number of investors and researchers persist in convincing the world that Africa is the next El Dorado and that the future of Europe cannot be conceived without the organisation of a “vertical cooperation” - to quote them - between the two shores of the Mediterranean. These visionaries, mostly active in France, are probably right. Everything shows that they are right and there is no doubt that this century will be dominated by continental blocs which, everywhere in the world, are trying to follow the European example.