A NORMALLY bustling border crossing between Tanzania and Malawi was noticeably quieter than usual on Thursday as a result of an escalating regional trade row.
From midnight, Tanzania banned the entry of all agricultural imports from Malawi and South Africa in response to what it sees as restrictions on some of its exports.
South Africa has for years prohibited the entry of bananas from Tanzania. Malawi last month blocked imports of flour, rice, ginger, bananas and maize from its northern neighbour.
“We are taking this step to protect our business interests… in business, we must all respect each other,” Tanzania’s Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe said on Wednesday, confirming the ban.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the trade issues have so far failed but Bashe said fresh talks were ongoing.
The row comes at a time when Africa is supposed to be moving towards greater free trade through the establishment of a continent-wide free-trade area, which began operating four years ago.
South African exports of various fruits, including apples and grapes, to Tanzania will be hit. Meanwhile, landlocked Malawi, which has relied on Tanzanian ports to carry its exports such as tobacco, sugar and soybeans to the rest of the world, will have to reroute its goods.
Malawi’s ban on the import of certain produce, announced in March, was designed as a temporary measure covering goods from all countries to protect local producers, according to the authorities in Lilongwe.
“It is a strategic move to create an environment where local businesses can thrive without the immediate pressure of foreign competition,” Malawi’s Trade Minister Vitumbiko Mumba said at the time.
Tanzania’s agriculture minister said Malawi’s move had “directly affected” his country’s traders and described the restrictions as “unfair and harmful”.
While confirming the import ban, Bashe assured Tanzanians that it would not threaten their food security.
“No Tanzanian will die from a lack of South African grapes or apples,” he said, adding that, “we are taking these actions to protect Tanzanian interests”.
Neither South Africa nor Malawi have commented on Tanzania’s move.