South Africa

South Africa signed an important FTA with the European Union back in 1999. That deal not only had lasting impacts on South Africa itself, but it set the stage for a stronger drive from the EU (and from EFTA) to get African nations to sign on to deeper liberalisation of trade and investment policies in the following decade, especially through the EU-ACP EPA negotiating process.

South Africa is member of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) which has been negotiating an FTA with the US since many years. In 2006, SACU signed an FTA with Mercosur. In 2007, they sealed a deal with EFTA.

On its own, South Africa has a bilateral FTA with SADC (Southern Africa Development Cooperation). It also has preferential agreements with Malawi, Zimbabwe and Croatia plus a non-reciprocal trade arrangement with Mozambique. At present, it is considering further bilateral deals with Kenya, Nigeria, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and India. In late 2011, it rejected a proposal from Turkey for an FTA claiming this would bring about destructive competition which would undermine South Africa’s industrial and employment objectives.

South Africa is also part of IBSA, the India-Brazil-SA triangle that is hoping to forge a trilateral South-South FTA.

last update: May 2012
Photo: Maersk/CC BY-SA 2.0


IOL | 12-Feb-2024
South Africa’s trade benefits under the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) are in jeopardy after US Congressmen last week sought a full review of the bilateral relationship with South Africa.
ZAWYA | 12-Jul-2023
A South African government delegation will embark on a charm offensive in the US this week aiming to defuse tensions with the African nation’s second-biggest trading partner over foreign policy and retain its preferential access to American markets.
IOL | 18-Oct-2022
South Africa aims to become Saudi Arabia’s gateway for African markets in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Bloomberg | 16-Mar-2020
The announcement immediately drew criticism from the US government, which previously threatened to exclude South Africa from a preferential trade agreement after a disagreement over the levies in 2015.
Business Day | 11-Jun-2019
In 2018, SA and other African nations signed the CFTA agreement, which aims to create a single continental market for goods and services
Daily Maverick | 19-Jun-2017
The Trump Administration has signalled its impatience to replace the AGOA preferential trade deal with Africa with normal two-way free trade agreements.