In his recent whistle-stop tour of four African states, including Botswana, European Union trade commissioner Karel De Gucht had the kind of visit international affairs brokers only dream about.Picking up where his peers left off and in his very first visit since his appointment in 2010, De Gucht joined an elite group of international dealmakers who have sealed long-drawn out affairs favourably for both their principals and those across the table.As he left Gaborone for Brussels last Friday, De Gucht would have drawn comfort from the knowledge that his diplomatic efforts had drawn SADC states around the common and now more achievable goal of finalising trade talks this year.
However, he may also have felt the slight twinge of the farmer who locks the stable door after the horses have bolted or the international trade broker who seals the deal after the target of his interests has slipped away.In the 13 years that the EU and SADC have struggled to coalesce around a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), trade winds have been blowing from the east and the south piquing local policymakers interest.Chinese and the South-South trade suitors have come knocking on SADC's door with offers of more mutually beneficial trade deals and the slow pace of the EPA talks has only served to sweeten these alternative proposals. Ten years ago, in 2004, merchandise trade between Botswana and China amounted to P93.1 million comprising mainly textiles, footwear, hides and skins. For 2012, Statistics Botswana measured trade between the two countries at P2.05 billion comprising an array of products including machinery and electrical equipment.
