The Economic Partnership Agreements: An African Perspective

Abstract

This chapter, by Peter Katjavivi, Namibia’s Speaker of Parliament and former Ambassador to the European Union (EU), provides an African perspective on the Cotonou-mandated economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group. In Africa, the EPAs are being negotiated or finalised with five sub-regional formations: West Africa, Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA group. The chapter details African concerns—ranging from those related to technical issues like rules of origin to broader matters such as policy flexibility—in the negotiations, and discusses the negative implications of the agreements for African development and regional integration. Katjavivi argues that the different approaches taken by Africa and the EU to the negotiations, particularly on the development component, have been a major issue. He is further critical of the EPA processes for their failure to take into account challenges related to globalisation, climate change, and poverty eradication. Katjavivi contends that the EPAs seem primarily to be about furthering the EU’s commercial interests in Africa, while contravening Brussels’ stated concern with the promotion of development in the ACP regions and globally.