A Made in Africa rule

One issue under negotiations at the AfCFTA are Rules of Origin (RoO) which some would say is key to the creation of an AfCFTA. As the AU Trade Commissioner said during the Africa Integration conference, what is need in Africa is a “Made in Africa” label to promote goods made on the Continent. In order to prevent foreigners from importing all the parts of a product (for example a smart phone) and then simply assembling the phone somewhere in Africa and applying the “Made in Africa” sticker. On the other hand, some products are partially manufactured in Africa with some imported parts – what about those? Origin rules have to be strict – and strictly applied. India has applied strict rules recently (see the previous Newsletter), which has forced ecommerce companies to start working with sellers to ensure that are in compliance, following pressure from the government to comply with the rules to disclose the country of origin on products listed on their platforms. Uganda is said to be considering similar rules.