Southern African Customs Union | |
|---|---|
 Logo | |
 Members of the SACU | |
| Headquarters | Windhoek |
| Largest city | Johannesburg |
| Official language | English (de facto)a |
| Demonym | Southern African |
| Type | Customs union |
| Membership | 5 states |
| Leaders | |
• SACU Chair |  Lesotho[1] |
• SACU Executive Secretary | T.D. Khasipe[2] |
| Establishment | 1910[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,672,830 km2 (1,031,990 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2021 estimate |  68,358,016[4] |
| GDP (PPP) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $950.7 billion[5] |
• Per capita | $13,907 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2021 estimate |
• Total | $457.3 billion[6] |
• Per capita | $6,689 |
| Gini (2015) |  59.0[7]high inequality |
| HDI (2021) |  0.696medium |
| Currency |
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| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Website sacu | |
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TheSouthern African Customs Union (SACU) is acustoms union among five countries ofSouthern Africa:Botswana,Eswatini,Lesotho,Namibia andSouth Africa. Itsheadquarters are in the Namibian capital,Windhoek. It was established in 1910.
The SACU is the oldest existing customs union in the world.[8]
The first customs union in the area was established in 1889 between the BritishCape Colony and the Boer republic of theOrange Free State. In 1891British Bechuanaland andBasutoland joined, followed byBechuanaland Protectorate in 1893 andNatal in 1899. Parallel to this process, the Boer republic of theSouth African Republic andSwaziland (then a protectorate of the South African Republic) formed a customs union in 1894.
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Following theSecond Boer War, and the establishment of British control over the Boer republics, the Southern African Customs Union was formed in 1903 with the signing of anew Convention and replaced the previous arrangements. It consisted of Cape Colony (to which British Bechuanaland had been annexed in 1895), Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Natal,Orange River Colony (the former Orange Free State),Transvaal Colony (the former South African Republic), andSouthern Rhodesia. Swaziland joined in 1904 andNorth-western Rhodesia joined in 1905. In 1906 another convention was signed which superseded the 1903 agreement and retained all of the previous members.[9][10] In its current configuration it was established in 1910[11] pursuant to a Customs Union Agreement between theUnion of South Africa and the High Commission Territories ofBechuanaland,Basutoland andSwaziland. Southern Rhodesia and North-western Rhodesia (later to become Northern Rhodesia after 1911) had declined to join the 1910 Agreement[12] but did maintain a common tariff and free trade arrangements with South Africa and the High Commission Territories (with some variations and exceptions) from 1910 until 1935. An attempt was made in 1949 to re-establish a customs union between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, but it ultimately failed to do so.[9]
With the advent of independence for the High Commission territories, the agreement was updated and, on 11 December 1969, it was relaunched as the SACU with the signing of an agreement between theSouth Africa,Botswana,Lesotho andSwaziland. The updated union officially entered into force on 1 March 1970. AfterNamibia's independence from South Africa in 1990, it joined SACU as its fifth member, although it had been effectively a part of the customs union from the time of its conquest by South Africa in 1915[13] (with the situation formalized in 1921 with arrangements between South Africa and theSouth West Africa).[9] Historically SACU was administered by South Africa, through the 1910 and 1969 Agreements. The customs union collected duties on local production and customs duties on members' imports from outside SACU.
As of 2007, the Executive Secretary of the SACU was Tswelopele C. Moremi. Paulina Mbala Elago, a Namibian national, became executive secretary on 1 April 2014 for a period of five years. Thabo David Khasipe was appointed as executive secretary on 1 February 2023.[14]
| Country | Area (km2)[16] | Population |
|---|---|---|
 Botswana | 581,730 | 2,630,296 |
 Eswatini | 17,360 | 1,201,670 |
| Lesotho | 30,360 | 2,305,825 |
 Namibia | 824,290 | 2,567,012 |
 South Africa | 1,219,090 | 59,893,885 |
The union meets annually to discuss matters related to the Agreement. In addition, the Customs Technical Liaison Committee, the Trade and Industry Liaison committee and the Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Agriculture each meet three times a year.
Its aim is to maintain the free interchange of goods between member countries. It provides for acommon external tariff and a common excise tariff to this common customs area. All customs and excise collected in the common customs area are paid into South Africa's National Revenue Fund. The revenue is shared among members according to a revenue-sharing formula, as described in the agreement. South Africa is the custodian of this pool. Only theBLNS Member states' shares are calculated, with South Africa retaining the residual. SACU revenue constitutes a substantial share of the state revenue of the BLNS countries.
Following the formation of the Government of National Unity in South Africa in April 1994, member states concurred that the existing agreement should be renegotiated to democratise SACU and address needs of the SACU member states more effectively. With this in mind, the Ministers of Trade and Industry of the five member states met inPretoria on 11 November 1994 to discuss the renegotiation of the 1969 agreement. The Ministers appointed a Customs Union Task Team (CUTT), which was mandated to make recommendations to the Ministers. CUTT has met on numerous occasions in the member states, and declares that good progress has been made in the renegotiation process.
At a meeting of Ministers of Trade and Finance Departments from the SACU member states, held in Centurion, Pretoria on 5 September 2000, the Ministers reached consensus on the principles underpinning institutional reform in the SACU. The institutional administrative structure of the revenue pool was agreed as follows:
SACU ministers further agreed that the revenue share accruing to each member state should be calculated from three basic components:
By agreement, these components would be distributed as follows:
While SACU entered into a free trade deal with the four-nationEuropean Free Trade Association on 1 July 2006, its negotiations with the United States for afree trade agreement have stalled (as of 8 January 2008).[17]
SACU is involved in negotiations for a free trade agreement – theEconomic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) – with the EU, and the organisation corresponded with theEU Trade Commissioner,Karel De Gucht, between February and March 2010, to request that the EU not demand ratification and implementation of the EPAs at the next round of negotiations without the concerns of the SACU countries being addressed. De Gucht replied that he would like to "invite the SADC EPA countries concerned to swiftly complete signature, notification and implementation of the interim EPA" and that "in the meantime, the EU is more than willing to address all pending issues and concerns."[18][19][20]
| African Economic Community | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pillar regional blocs (REC) | Area (km²) | Population | GDP (PPP)($US) | Member states | |
| (millions) | (per capita) | ||||
| EAC | 5,449,717 | 343,328,958 | 737,420 | 2,149 | 8 |
| ECOWAS/CEDEAO | 5,112,903 | 349,154,000 | 1,322,452 | 3,788 | 15 |
| IGAD | 5,233,604 | 294,197,387 | 225,049 | 1,197 | 7 |
| AMU/UMA 4 | 6,046,441 | 106,919,526 | 1,299,173 | 12,628 | 5 |
| ECCAS/CEEAC | 6,667,421 | 218,261,591 | 175,928 | 1,451 | 11 |
| SADC | 9,882,959 | 394,845,175 | 737,392 | 3,152 | 15 |
| COMESA | 12,873,957 | 406,102,471 | 735,599 | 1,811 | 20 |
| CEN-SAD 4 | 14,680,111 | 29 | |||
| TotalAEC | 29,910,442 | 853,520,010 | 2,053,706 | 2,406 | 54 |
| Other regional blocs | Area (km²) | Population | GDP (PPP)($US) | Member states | |
| (millions) | (per capita) | ||||
| WAMZ 1 | 1,602,991 | 264,456,910 | 1,551,516 | 5,867 | 6 |
| SACU 1 | 2,693,418 | 51,055,878 | 541,433 | 10,605 | 5 |
| CEMAC 2 | 3,020,142 | 34,970,529 | 85,136 | 2,435 | 6 |
| UEMOA 1 | 3,505,375 | 80,865,222 | 101,640 | 1,257 | 8 |
| UMA 2 4 | 5,782,140 | 84,185,073 | 491,276 | 5,836 | 5 |
| GAFTA 3 4 | 5,876,960 | 1,662,596 | 6,355 | 3,822 | 5 |
| AES | 2,780,159 | 71,374,000 | 179,347 | 3 | |
During 2004. Sources:The World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database. Smallest value among the blocs compared. Largest value among the blocs compared. 1: Economic bloc inside a pillar REC. 2: Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation. 3: Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures. 4: The area 446,550 km2 used forMorocco excludes all disputed territories, while 710,850 km2 would include the Moroccan-claimed and partially-controlled parts ofWestern Sahara (claimed as theSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic by thePolisario Front). Morocco also claimsCeuta andMelilla, making up about 22.8 km2 (8.8 sq mi) more claimed territory. | |||||
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