By Own Correspondent| Presidential Advisor and author Pettina Gappah has waded into the discussion on why Zimbabwe is not a member of the Southern African Union, SACU.

Responding to an article following the signing of a UK trade deal with SACU, Gappah said there is nothing to be alarmed about Zimbabwe failing to be part of the £9,7 bln deal which is set to increase in value.

It is ZimEye’s position that there are millions of benefits in being a member of the world’s oldest customs union.

But Gappah said a policy decision was taken some years ago not to join SACU and one of reasons for not joining was that “customs unions require an external common tariff for all constituent members…”

She added saying, “Zimbabwe relies on tariffs for revenue. It was felt that joining SACU would prejudice revenue collection.”

Meanwhile, she also said Zimbabwe signed another trade deal on its own, with the UK.