Tanzania imposed a ban on all South African agricultural imports last month, in retaliation for what it said was a South African ban on the import of Tanzanian bananas.
The ban lasted all of two days. Tanzania lifted it, together with a similar ban on agricultural products from Malawi, saying it was doing so to allow for “a diplomatic ministerial discussion”.
Agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo investigated, and reported that South Africa had never banned Tanzanian bananas – there had been no imports because Tanzania had never requested market access for its bananas in South Africa.
“This is a vital step and a formal procedure for importing agricultural products. It is not just applied to Tanzania but to all countries,” he wrote in a blog.
He also doubted that, with the required agreement, Tanzania would be able to compete on price with bananas from Mozambique, which supplied 74% of South Africa’s banana imports, Eswatini (19%) or Zimbabwe (2%).
Sihlobo thought the Tanzanian government had over-reacted, and that the temporary ban had possibly violated the free trade area rules of the Southern African Development Community.
He believed the issue resulted from inadequate communication, and said the correct course for Tanzania would be to engage with South African agricultural authorities.
South Africa’s minister for internal relations and co-operation, Roland Lamola, diplomatically welcomed Tanzania’s lifting of the banana ban, saying it underscored the strong relations between the two countries.
