The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to boost intra-African trade by more than 81 percent in the next decade. To ensure such advantages are obtained, a number of AfCFTA Protocols have been developed to facilitate sustainable investment and harmonize policy and regulations across African Union member states, including a Protocol on Investment. The Investment Protocol provides the continent with a clear set of guidelines and principles to expedite financing and investment across the continent’s new free trade zone. With trade finance considered a critical enabler of cross-border investment in Africa, the Investment Protocol is also assisting development finance institutions, increasingly important in bridging Africa’s trade finance gap, to more seamlessly support such investment.

The South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition recently published a White Paper on the manufacture, sale and use of Electric Vehicles in South Africa. The move is a decisive step on the path to the transformation of the country’s automotive industry.

In the case of Lance Dickson Construction CC v. Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service, the High Court had to determine whether the Tax Court’s confirmation of SARS’ decision to levy understatement penalties was correct. This article discusses the decisions made by the Tax Court and, subsequently, the High Court, which have important implications for taxpayers, SARS, the courts, and tax practitioners in South Africa.

South Africa’s trade relationship with China is growing, resulting in several announcements regarding trade at the BRICS Summit in August 2023. Among the announcements was the news that Chinese companies had signed deals to buy South African products worth around USD 2.2 billion. Also announced were plans for China to import more South African beef and other South African agricultural products, as well as the donation of Chinese energy equipment worth USD 8.9 million to South Africa, in addition to a grant valued at USD 26.9 million to assist the country with its energy crisis.

It was recently announced that South Africa’s Health Promotion Levy on sugary beverages was to be extended to pure juice. The South African government is expected to publish a discussion paper on the levy soon. This is intended to aid consultation on the proposals to extend the levy to pure fruit juices and lower the four-gram threshold.

Today’s global economy demands that businesses expand beyond borders, but they face hurdles from customs, as well as regulatory barriers in different countries and regions that make this expansion challenging. The South African Revenue Service Authorised Economic Operators programme offers numerous benefits for businesses trading within the regional market of the Southern African Custom Union and internationally. Such businesses include manufacturers, importers, exporters, brokers, carriers, consolidators, intermediaries, ports, airports, terminal operators, integrated operators, warehouses, distributors, and freight forwarders.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows duty- and quota-free exports from eligible African countries into the United States, is due to expire in 2025. There has been much speculation that it might be replaced with new trade agreements between the two regions that will follow the free trade policies of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and the reciprocal trade initiatives promoted as part of the US’s Prosper Africa initiative. It has also been suggested that an evolved AGOA might be the way forward, creating an increasingly mutually beneficial trade relationship between the two regions.

The annual quota for frozen bone-in cuts of the species Gallus Domesticus originating in, or imported from, the United States has been increased from 71,290 tonnes to 71,632 tonnes, with retrospective effect from 1 April 2022.

The introduction of an augmented and accelerated capital expenditure deduction for the cost of constructing renewable energy infrastructure in South Africa is a boon for companies that have not yet reached their Environmental, Social and Governance goals. It provides the opportunity to undertake reportable ESG initiatives and simultaneously enjoy a reduction in tax costs. Fully leveraging this opportunity will require a comprehensive understanding of the mechanics of amended incentives and the dynamics of ESG reporting.

The main objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement are to create a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of business persons and investments, and thus to pave the way to accelerate the establishment of a customs union in the future.
The AfCFTA agreement has the ultimate goal of increasing the ease of trade and investment across African borders as well as eliminating tariffs on intra-African trade, reducing unemployment, increasing infrastructure development and creating a more competitive and sustainable environment for cross-border trade.
The AfCFTA entered into force on 30 May 2019, and trade under the AfCFTA started on 1 January 2021.