A study by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, in partnership with the European Union (EU) has shown that Malawi will lose K8 billion per year, if the country ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Trade and Development Studies centre director Moses Tekere outlined that the trade area has its pros and cons, but Malawi needs to take a strategic trade liberalisation, which takes into account the sensitivity of industries, especially those that need to be afforded some protection before the circles are opened up.

The above was presented during a validation workshop on studies conducted on Malawi’s bilateral and regional trade agreements. 3 months ago, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism Spokesperson, Mayeso Msokera, said that critical aspects of the AfCFTA Agreement are still outstanding.

She cited Rules of Origin under the Protocol on Trade and Negotiations being in progress as parties develop and submit their lists of product-specific rules of origin. “Malawi wants to ratify AfCFTA when critical aspects such as those indicated above are negotiated and this will allow us to submit complete sets of documents according to our legal procedures.” she said.