"Not many African countries have signed the EPAs so far and it is not too late to stop these agreements", said Rangarirai Machemedze of the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) of Zimbabwe.
"We can demand the parliaments of our [African] countries not to ratify the EPAs and we can organise marches to draw the attention to those agreements the EU wants to sign," Machemedze said at a public discussion in Windhoek on Wednesday.
SEATINI is linked to the Southern African People's Solidarity Network (SAPSN), a regional network embracing a wide range of civil society organisations, labour and social movements from all the countries of Southern African that held a closed workshop in Windhoek on Wednesday and ended with a public meeting on EPAs.Namibia initialled the controversial EPA three years ago but raised several concerns which it wanted to be addressed. These include infant-industry protection for Namibian-manufactured products against future EU imports and also preventing cheap cereals like wheat or maize from entering Namibia.
