Free Trade Agreements signed by Mauritius: Updates

At the second meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Free Trade Agreement held recently, the following observations were highlighted:

 

• exports to China and India increased by 148% and 60% respectively in 2021
• Mauritius had been selected as one of the countries for the African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA) Guided Trade Initiative

 

It will be recalled that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Mauritius and China, which was the first FTA entered by China with an African country, was signed in October 2019 and took effect as from 1 January 2021.

 

On the other hand, India and Mauritius signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22 February 2021. The CECPA is the first trade Agreement signed by India with a country in Africa. The CECPA was recently updated to include the General Economic Cooperation Chapter and the Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism.

 

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Mauritius was one of the first African countries to ratify the AfCFTA in October 2019.  The AfCFTA is the continent's most ambitious integration initiative whose main objectives are to:

(a )Create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments;

(b) Expand intra-africa trade; and

(c) Enhance Africa's competitiveness and support its economic transformation.