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ESA


Zambia: State to determine EPA stance
Zambia, as chair of the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) states negotiating with the EU, has commissioned an impact study of the EPA in ESA countries to be ready in July. Then, each ESA state will decide whether to sign or not.
Is EAC at gunpoint over EU trade agreement?
There’s a strong feeling among experts in East Africa that by insisting on the inclusion of the "most favoured nation", the EU is holding the region at gunpoint to accept a clause that would legally tie their hands regarding who to trade with besides Europe.
ESA bloc ready to negotiate with EU
Government says the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regional grouping is dedicated to negotiating with the European Union (EU)’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that meet the expectations of member countries.
Zim signs economic partnership accord
Zimbabwe recently joined five other African countries in signing the Eastern and Southern Africa European Commission (ESAEC) Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA) in Mauritius, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Mike Bimha has said.
Eritrea in Negotiations to Join Economic Partnership Agreement with EU
Eritrea is involved in ongoing negotiations to enter the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. The comprehensive trade partnership would cover issues like services, investment, agriculture, technical standards, trade facilitation and trade related rules.
East Africa: Six Countries to Ink EPA Deal
Six Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries will this Saturday sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) in Mauritius.
ESA bloc to sign interim EPA with EU 29 August
The Eastern-Southern Africa bloc will sign an interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union on 29 August in Mauritius, PANA learnt Tuesday from an official source.
Fears at talks as Europe pushes for free trade in services
Transnational corporations could be granted unfettered access to Kenya’s banking and telecommunications sectors if trade talks taking place in Antananarivo, Madagascar, favour Europe.
ESA Region Keen to Conclude EPA Mission - Minister
Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister, Felix Mutati, has reiterated Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries’ commitment to conclude a comprehensive, inclusive and development friendly Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU).
EU-ESA interim FTA (2007)
Initialled by Zimbabwe and the Seychelles on 28 November 2007 and by Mauritius on 5 December 2007
East Africa: Ministers move to protect industries from threats of EPAs
East African trade ministers have thrown a new spanner in the works as the countdown to the December 31, 2007 deadline for signing a new trade partnership deal with the industrialized EU states narrows to less than 60 days. The ministers held a secret meeting in Nairobi away from the full glare of anti-globolisation activists and agreed to sign the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) only if an amendment ensuring that the region’s taxation regime remained intact.
New trade deals: Africa to lose out as EU gains
As Africa’s leaders met in Accra, Ghana, last week to consider ways of consolidating continental unity through increased trade, pertinent questions were being raised over the impact that a new trade arrangement between the European Union and the 75-member ACP trading bloc will have on regional integration.
Trade: African countries fight EU for survival
Anti-poverty campaigners have likened trade negotiations between the European Union (EU) and several regions in Africa to a boxing match between a schoolboy novice and a heavyweight champion.
ESA rejects European bid to bring Comesa into trade talks
The future of talks between 16 Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries and the European Union hangs in the balance after the ESA countries accused the EU of smuggling a document into the agenda at their recent meeting in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura.
EPA road-show rolls on
Negotiations between African countries and the European Union aimed at finalizing free trade deals known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are continuing apace. As part of the process that will finalise EPA deals sometime in 2007, Eastern and Southern Africa countries have just submitted a draft EPA document to the EU. But, in this article, Richard Kamidza documents the astonishing lack of consultation in the negotiating process, claiming that in some cases even cabinet ministers don’t know the details.
BIO-IPR: Draft EU-Eastern and Southern Africa EPA
A recent draft of the EPA between the EU and 16 Eastern and Southern Africa countries gives a taste of what these treaties might spell out in terms of rights to local biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
East Africa: African states warn EU on trade talks
Trade talks between European Union and Eastern and Southern Africa countries are set to be stormy as ESA countries warned the EU against reneging on its earlier promises.
Civil society groups want African leaders to stop trade talks with EU
African Civil Society has called on the governments to stop negotiations on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union EU, saying it would undermine development and lead to increased poverty.