Southern Africa Leaders Meet to Save 100-Year-Old Customs Union
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Southern African leaders begin meeting today to discuss the possible enlargement of the world’s oldest customs union, even as a rift over trade accords threatens the five-nation group’s existence.
Talks being held in Pretoria today and tomorrow will discuss the possibility of Mozambique and other countries joining the group and renegotiating the terms under which SACU’s five members share revenue. SACU’s income accounts for more than half of Lesotho’s and Swaziland’s budget revenue and more than 20 percent of Namibia’s and Botswana’s.