Zones/Special Economic Zones & Regional Trade Agreements

Free Trade Zones/Special Economic Zones and Regional Trade Agreements in Africa

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2KO's courses in Free Trade Zones/Special Economic Zones and Regional Trade Agreements will assist with:

 

Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Introduction and background to Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Definition and legal framework underlying Free Trade Zones
Overview of types and characteristics of Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Investment incentives for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
Overview of impact of Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on economic development in African countries
Case studies of existing Free Trade Zones (FTZs)/Special Economic Zones (SEZs

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)

Introduction and background to Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
Definition and legal framework underlying Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
Overview of types of RTAs
Opportunities and challenges of African RTAs
African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)
Status of negotiations and implementation
RTAs and importance of Trade Facilitation

Guest Speaker
Niel Joubert - Director of Trade Law Chambers

Niel Joubert is a commercial lawyer specializing in international trade and investment law with extensive experience in World Trade Organization (WTO) law as well as the commercial legal aspects of cross-border trade and investment. He has been a director with Trade Law Chambers for more than eleven years. He is an admitted, practising South African attorney and a qualified Solicitor of England and Wales.

Niel regularly provides advice to governments, regional trade organizations and private and public sector clients on international trade and investment law. He has also participated as a senior legal expert in a number of trade-related capacity-building projects internationally and in Africa.

Niel completed his legal training with the commercial law firm Bowmans (previously Bowman Gilfillan) in South Africa where he also served as the firm’s International Trade Lawyer. Prior to that he worked at the WTO in Geneva in their Legal Affairs Division as a Legal Affairs Officer, where he gained first-hand experience in WTO dispute settlement assisting panels in a number of trade disputes between WTO members.

Niel is well versed in capacity building in international trade and investment law having spent three and a half years with the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (tralac) where he worked on various projects throughout Eastern and Southern Africa involving trade negotiations, trade remedies, regional free trade arrangements, trade policy and training programmes for government and the private sector.

Niel has lectured on various university programmes on international trade and investment law, including the University of Stellenbosch Business School, the University of the Western Cape, the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), the WITS Business School as well as the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique.
Niel holds B Com Law, LLB and LLM in International Trade Law degrees from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a Masters degree in International Law and Economics (MILE) (magna cum laude) from Switzerland's World Trade Institute (WTI).