South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is hopeful of concluding the continental free trade area agreement within two years to facilitate Africawide ease of trade among country peers.

Speaking at the Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, held in Sandton recently, DTI chief director for Africa multilateral economic relations Wamkele Mene said much work was being done to facilitate trade among African Union member States.

All parties are striving to agree on standards, rules and procedures for African countries to unlock market access and embark on trade among themselves, which will be of significant benefit to business, economies and regional trade.

“We have a long way to go in integrating market trade with one another,” he commented, pointing out that trade among European Union countries was at 60%, while intra-African trade stood at 14%.

In February, the first meeting of the Continental Free Trade Agreement Negotiating Forum kicked off.

However, independent director of companies Michael Spicer said countries should not wait for formal agreements to be signed before taking action to facilitate cross-border flows on the continent.

Infrastructure limitations across rail, roads, airports and ports, red tape and border restrictions were among some of the most critical challenges hampering intra-African trade.

There was a need to take a more immediate approach in the short to medium term, he said, adding that he was not as optimistic that the agreement would be concluded within the envisaged two-year window.

SacOil CEO Dr Thabo Kgogo said Africa could compete with the intraregional trade levels of the likes of Asia and Europe, but there was an urgent need to get failing infrastructure up to world-class standards.

Further, Spicer urged parties not to narrow focus on only intracontinental trade, but rather focus on spreading trade across Africa, its traditional partners and the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or Brics, economic bloc.

It was not a case of “either/or”, but to leverage benefits across all spheres.