In 2010, South Africa joined the BRICS bloc: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. BRICS is an association of regional powers across four continents, originating from an informal alliance in trade negotiations. So far, members have signed agreements among others on customs, energy efficiency, and tax. They have also set up a…"

This paper examines the potential of a new regional framework for thinking about AGOA. It proceeds in four parts. Part 1 provides an overview of trade under AGOA, examining trends in trade, which products are traded, and profiling the tariff advantages of the programme. Part 2 looks at the bilateral impact of AGOA…"

This paper argues that South Africa needs to mainstream climate change into its National Development Plan (and Sustainable Development Goals), by advancing i) climate resilient development  through several pathways, including; ii) South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution commitment to a low-carbon economy; iii) renewable energy and transition to a low-carbon economy; iv) climate change…"

Bilateral or regional trade agreements (RTAs) are essentially preferential in nature and a deviation from the World Trade Organization principle of most-favoured-nation or non-discrimination, as they are intended to benefit signatory countries. However, the agreement could be abused by competitive third-countries that use a member country of the RTA (that has a low…"

The current global health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic has refocused our attention on the shortcomings of the TRIPS Agreement and the patent system in dealing with global health crises. This time around, developing countries must ensure that the TRIPS waiver succeeds in creating the momentum needed to build manufacturing capacities in the…"

  WTO reform and the crisis of multilateralism: A Developing Country Perspective By Faizel Ismail The WTO has not been able to recover since the collapse of the Doha Round in July 2008. Several ministerial conferences including the Buenos Aires meeting in December 2017 failed to reach agreement. The US Trump Administration launched…"

The Conversation - 26 May 2020 by Faizel Ismail Read online at The Conversation"

This paper looks at the future of South Africa-United Kingdom trade relations in the post-Brexit period. It provides a brief background and looks at the history of trade relations until the onset of democracy in1994. It then looks at SA-UK trade relations since 1994, including the negotiations the led to the Southern African…"

This paper argues that adopting a “developmental regionalism” approach to trade integration provides the best prospects for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to catalyse the process of transformative industrial development, cross-border investment and democracy, governance, peace and security in Africa. It also looks at the progress being made by African countries…"

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a non-reciprocal preferential trade programme that the US offers to 49 sub-Saharan African countries. President Obama's decision to extend AGOA, which was set to expire at the end of September 2015, for another 10 years (2015 to 2025), was highly controversial. The Extension and Enhancement…"

This paper argues that the dramatic changes in the trade architecture of the world during the first decade of the new millennium have created both opportunities and challenges for Africa’s development. African countries need to develop proactive strategies to harness these new changes and use them to advance the integration of the African…"

Presentation and Panel Discussion: Faizel Ismail – TIPS and UCT: AGOA - A Game of Chicken Malose Letsoalo – Department of Trade and IndustrY Christopher Wood – TIPS: Making the Best of AGOA through Export Promotion Policies Tinashe Kapuya - Agricultural Business Chamber: An Agriculture Industry Perspective Background The importance of exporting to…"

This paper reviews the state of play of the African regional integration agenda, inspired by the vision of the Abuja Treaty and Agenda 2063. It argues that the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiators should adopt a “development integration” approach to ensure that the outcome of the CFTA benefits all its members. Towards…"

This policy brief considers the three main options available to South Africa in a post-AGOA trade and investment relationship with the United States: to stay in AGOA, negotiate a Free Trade Agreement, or fall back on Most Favoured Nation terms and the Generalized System of Preferences."

Ten years is a very short time in the global economy, and by all accounts a decade is all that is left of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). While the United States’ unilateral preferential access programme for Africa has been reauthorized three times since it began in 2000, it looks very…"

What are the main changes in the global trading architecture over the past 15 years? How have these changes impacted on Africa’s economic development and the nature of trading relations between Africa and its traditional developed country partners, the European Union, the UK and the USA, and its main developing country partner, China? What are the implications of 'Brexit' -…"

Session 4: Market integration and trade Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and their outcomes for developmental purposes have puzzled economists and governments, motivating a considerable literature on their supposed benefits and drawbacks. At the same time, the number of RTAs in sub-Saharan Africa has exploded – a proliferation referred to by the IMF and…"

Session 2: Regional integration and SADC This paper investigates the extent of trade integration of Sub-Saharan African countries in the global economy as well as within the region. Four key concepts are used to assess integration: 1) trade openness, 2) the centrality in the global and regional trade network, 3) gravity model estimates,…"

For many of the African states, negotiations to liberalise trade in services is a relatively new phenomenon. For the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states, the only experience acquired on this subject was during multilateral negotiations in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Now SACU countries are…"

This report takes a closer look at the trade and the trade agreements between South Africa and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners. Although the pace of unilateral trade reform has slowed, trade liberalisation has occurred through the negotiation of a number of bilateral trade agreements."