Swazi Observer

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SWAZI HAWKERS OPTIMISTIC ACFTA WILL HELP THEM TRADE ACROSS AFRICA

By Hlengiwe Ndlovu | 2018-04-05

THE recently launched African Continental Free Trade Area (AcFTA) was received with mixed feelings from different quarters as those who are for it herald it as the much needed instrument to stimulate intra continental trade while those who are against it wonder if it will ever work.

Local hawkers, however, are ecstatic about the AcFTA as they feel it will help them pull free from limitations which have bound them to date. Most hawkers in Swaziland buy their wares either from South Africa or Mozambique and nowhere else.

A handful of hawkers and boutique owners have recently made the discovery of overseas hubs like China as they travel afar to purchase clothes and other commodities not ordinarily found in the local market.

Chairman of Butimba Bemaswati Hawkers Association Isaac Masombuka feels that hawkers are constrained by many things such as the lack of choice in the goods they purchase. The association comprises about 270 men and 470 women hawkers, whose source of income is buying goods in South Africa and Mozambique to sell them in Swaziland.

He said South Africa, for instance, was regarded as a hawkers haven, when in reality, all that country mostly has to offer are China produced goods for the average Swazi hawker and very little else. In Masombuka’s view, apart from the made-in-China products, South Africa has a good range of upmarket products which are mostly too expensive for the target market in Swaziland.

Basis

Local hawkers normally travel to South Africa in groups by bus or in mini-buses on a weekly basis where they purchase goods such as clothing, bedding, jewellery, household wares and other items to sell in local markets or to individual customers in Swaziland.

Masombuka said as far as he understands it, the African Continental Free Trade Area would give hawkers like himself the opportunity to explore other African countries apart from South Africa and Mozambique with ease to get diversified products which they can introduce to the local market.

He was also optimistic that this new trade agreement would open up the Swazi market for other African countries to come and experience pure Swazi products like the Swazi Secrets range of beauty products made from Marula fruits.

Masombuka also spoke about aloe which grows naturally and organically in large quantities in some parts of the country.

“In my view, when the new trade agreement starts working, perhaps people living in communities with a lot of aloe will wake up and realise that they literally have gold in their neighbourhood which can be processed into many fantastic medicines and beauty products.

Some African countries do not have aloe and I think there is a lot we can do with ours to sell to our brothers who do not have it in their backyards or mountains,” he said.

One other often overlooked organic product that sells well in South Africa is incense (imphepho) which grows naturally in rivers and mountains. “I am not sure if imphepho grows naturally in South Africa like it does in Swaziland, but people there just love our imphepho and many Swazi women make good money from this organic product in South Africa.

Who knows maybe people in other African countries would also fall in love with it and the trade agreement would help us export it with ease without attracting hefty duties and customs payments in borders”.

Masombuka’s main worry though is the fact that even though the ACFTA is now in place, he still barely knows what other countries in the SADC region let alone those in the broader African region have to offer. “As far as I know, Swazi women make the most amazing handicraft which is in demand not just in South Africa but in overseas countries lately.

But my big problem now is I do not know what Zambia, for instance, has to offer to the Swazi market. Yet, surely, they do have something to offer,” he said.

Masombuka fears that even though the ACFTA is now in place, big companies and corporations will get the greatest benefit because they are in a better position to scan different markets while budding business people barely have the information on at least what other countries have to offer. More than 40 African Heads of State signed the ACFTA in the Rwandan capital Kigali to create the world’s largest market after the World Trade Organisation.

It is envisaged that the AfCFTA will progressively eliminate tariffs on intra-African trade, making it easier for African businesses to trade within the continent and cater to and benefit from the growing African market, said the African Union.

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