Africa: Southern Africa grasps trade subsidy nettle

Leaders of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreed on Friday to reconsider how they share their trade duty revenues, a move that could hit Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho very hard. Tensions have been mounting within the 100-year-old SACU, the world's oldest customs agreement, because of a perception in South Africa, easily its biggest economy, that its customs receipts are bankrolling its four smaller neighbours.