WINDHOEK – The announcement that Namibia and the European Union (EU) have initialled the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the set deadline of 1 October for signing is a huge step in the right direction for trade between the two parties, and the EPA comes with Namibia’s own conditions taken into consideration.
The Namibian Manufacturers Association (NMA) says it is “more commendable that the final signed EPA takes into account the needs of the Namibian market and producers, and the EU eventually had to heed the calls of the small Namibian nation that only has itself and its raw materials to bargain with.”
“It just proves the EU is pretty vulnerable without Africa’s fabulous resources and huge market,” the NMA says in its latest newsletter says.
Namibia has been snubbing signing the EPA Agreement in principle in a bid to protect its budding industries, protect the market from the projected influx of heavily subsidised EU goods and also to assure growth for its producers.
Namibia’s unwavering position proves to the world that preferential trade does not have to come in a one-way command where the rich dominate the poor, the NMA states.
When Namibia took its grandstanding stance not to sign the EPA in a bid to protect its local businesses, prophets of doom had a field day with some arguing that the country was sitting on a delicate decision that had the potential to kill the lucrative market for local producers.
Others argued that since the EPA came with reduced tariffs for Namibian goods while entering the European market it should be taken as it was.
The delay in the EPA actually confirms the reality that although the EU has the wallet it is virtually meaningless without the raw materials.
“After the pronouncements that the two parties found common ground three months ahead of the negotiating deadline, reality is that the world has changed and preferential trade now comes in its true meaning, you either play the ball with us or you play alone. Namibia has also shown the world that there are also other potential markets that could have replaced the EU like Asia and the booming Chinese economy,” NMA says.