The trade dispute involving South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi serves as a strong early warning sign that Africa needs robust dispute resolution mechanisms guided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) rules, if the bloc is to survive past the initial euphoria that catapulted it into existence.
All the three countries are signatories to the AfCFTA. South Africa and Tanzania are currently trading under the Guided Trade Initiative – a pilot programme under the AfCFTA, designed to test the operational, legal and institutional readiness of the free trade framework.
