This week’s Star is the Attorney General Sacky Shanghala for his office’s urgent work to review the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and giving advise to the Presidency, which saw President Hage Geingob signing the TFTA declaration in Egypt on Wednesday. Last week, Cabinet’s stance on TFTA declaration was that “signature could be considered when negotiations on the outstanding work have been finalised, and the Draft Agreement as well as all its components have been cleared by the Office of Attorney General”. However, the AG reviewed the declaration components in time for Wednesday’s Heads of State summit. “We cleared everything and the declaration is prepared for signing,” Shanghala told New Era, adding that Namibia agreed to the TFTA at the joint COMESA-EAC-SADC ministerial committee meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on May 29 and 30. The common market created by TFTA comes into force in 2017 and would encompass 51 per cent of the continent’s GDP – about US$1 trillion annually.
*This section, which recognises newsmakers, who have made outstanding contribution during the week, will appear in New Era every Friday.