VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Kingdom of Lesotho’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Shelile, has called for a renewed commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), describing it as a transformative social compact rather than a mere technical agreement. Speaking at the High-Level Dialogue on Trade Justice held in Sandton, South Africa, Mr Shelile warned that the new U.S. tariffs, including a 10 percent blanket duty on all imports, signal a deepening crisis in the global trading system.
“AfCFTA must be about women-led enterprises, informal economy workers, and ecologically sustainable production,” Mr Shelile stated, adding that Lesotho is currently developing an implementation strategy that prioritises women traders, MSMEs, and green industrialisation. He urged regional collaboration to monitor AfCFTA outcomes through a gender-sensitive lens and cautioned that the agreement must not reproduce the same hierarchies of exclusion that have long plagued global trade. SADC PF is also moving to reinforce regional parliamentary oversight of trade and to support a Regional Trade Justice Framework that reflects the needs of women, youth, and marginalised communities.
The chief executive of the Southern Africa Trust, Alice Kanengoni, has also called for a bold reimagining of trade justice in Southern Africa, urging a shift away from exclusive technical approaches to inclusive, people-driven frameworks that centre those most affected by current trade rules. “We are here to ask hard questions of the models we’ve inherited; to forge a Trade Justice Framework that speaks from the ground up, across borders, and across thematic silos,” she said. The dialogue is expected to produce a set of recommendations that will be tabled at upcoming SADC and continental trade meetings.
