Africa regional integration is useful for commercial and radical social development of countries.... more Africa regional integration is useful for commercial and radical social development of countries. Pursuant to the tenets of its Agenda 2063 and its fast-track implementation plan, the African Union leaders congregated in Kigali, Rwanda on Wednesday 21 March 20015, to officially launch the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the first time. The objective of this paper is therefore to gauge the degree of readiness of Namibia (as a ratified member state) for implementing the provisions of the AfCFTA with particular focus on labour-related issues. Using a conceptual desktop approach, the research detects a great omnibus of good and bad potential outcomes of the agreement, severally and individually for member states. It further takes the view that, largely, the AfCFTA will remain an ideal trapped in bureaucratic statutory inertia short of a sense of emergency, like its sub-regional conduits at RECs levels. The paper therefore points out labour-related aspects needing imperative attention and recommends expediency, boldness, and not-business-as-usual approach by continental leadership, holistically giving due credence to cross-border accessibility and harmonization of health, social protection, educational, and employment benefits, for all continental citizens and its migrant workers. Among others, the paper proposes a minimum wage framework as a point of departure in compliment to labour productivity, job grading, while highlighting the need for affirmative action to marginalised sections of society. The limitations of this study are a conceptual desktop review, ushers' opportunities for empirical research, practice, and policy, among others; distribution of skills across the continent, role of trade unions in a free trade continent.
Africa regional integration is useful for commercial and radical social development of countries.... more Africa regional integration is useful for commercial and radical social development of countries. Pursuant to the tenets of its Agenda 2063 and its fast-track implementation plan, the African Union leaders congregated in Kigali, Rwanda on Wednesday 21 March 20015, to officially launch the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the first time. The objective of this paper is therefore to gauge the degree of readiness of Namibia (as a ratified member state) for implementing the provisions of the AfCFTA with particular focus on labour-related issues. Using a conceptual desktop approach, the research detects a great omnibus of good and bad potential outcomes of the agreement, severally and individually for member states. It further takes the view that, largely, the AfCFTA will remain an ideal trapped in bureaucratic statutory inertia short of a sense of emergency, like its sub-regional conduits at RECs levels. The paper therefore points out labour-related aspects needing imperative attention and recommends expediency, boldness, and not-business-as-usual approach by continental leadership, holistically giving due credence to cross-border accessibility and harmonization of health, social protection, educational, and employment benefits, for all continental citizens and its migrant workers. Among others, the paper proposes a minimum wage framework as a point of departure in compliment to labour productivity, job grading, while highlighting the need for affirmative action to marginalised sections of society. The limitations of this study are a conceptual desktop review, ushers' opportunities for empirical research, practice, and policy, among others; distribution of skills across the continent, role of trade unions in a free trade continent.
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Papers by Kretha Mbambo