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IMF Staff Completes 2023 Article IV Mission to Eswatini (IMF)
“Eswatini’s economy was comparatively resilient through the pandemic. Following a strong rebound of 7.9 percent in 2021, real GDP growth stagnated in 2022, at 0.4 percent. This reflects the continued dampening effect from civil unrest, government payment arrears, slowing growth in South Africa, and heavier than normal rainfall and industrial action on the sugar sector. Headline inflation rose to 5.6 percent at end-2022 due to higher food and transport prices. The government fiscal deficit is projected to widen to 5.4 percent of GDP by end-FY22-23 in the wake of lower SACU revenues and higher government spending. In the balance of payments, the current account balance has shifted to an estimated deficit of about 1.1 percent of GDP as the trade balance was negatively affected by higher import prices. Foreign reserves declined to $449 million, equivalent to about 2.3 months of import cover.
Mozambique Wants to Become Middle Income Country (allAfrica)
Mozambique intends to become a middle income country by 2030, leaving behind the indicators that characterize the least developed countries. Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane announced this intention at the end of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which took place in Doha, capital of Qatar.
“The transition will not be fast. It is going to be gradual so that our new system can develop with security’, Maleiane said, explaining that the transition to another level carries consequences because international support to Mozambique, as a least developed country, will cease.
Manufacturers, private sector ask govt to engage Kenya over ban on powder milk (Monitor)
Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda have appealed to government to engage its counterparts in Kenya over its decision to unilaterally ban importation of powdered milk products. The appeal follows a letter in which Kenya Dairy Board ordered for an indefinite suspension of milk powder imports. In a March 6 letter, Kenya Dairy Board said the expected rains this month will significantly boost milk production, thus reducing the need for imports.
“In anticipation of the long rains, government has stopped importation of milk powders to cushion the industry from surplus production and low producer prices,” Ms Margaret Kibogy, the Kenya Dairy Board managing director, wrote, noting that the board had temporarily suspended the issuance of milk import permits until further notice.
Mozambique Economic Update: Why Services Matter for Growth and Jobs (World Bank)
Mozambique’s economic recovery is picking up steam, with growth reaching 4.1% in 2022, despite global economic headwinds marked by rising fuel and food prices. The medium-term economic outlook is positive, with growth expected to accelerate to 6% over 2023-2025, driven by continued recovery in services, increased liquefied natural gas production, and high commodity prices. However, downside risks linked to climate shocks, security risks, and food and fuel price pressures could lower medium-term GDP growth to 4.5%.
The 9th edition of the World Bank’s Mozambique Economic Update (MEU) highlights the role of services in accelerating economic growth and job creation. The report calls for a shift from reliance on low-productivity agriculture and extractives to a development model based on diversified sources of growth, productivity, and jobs. It further outlines reform options to strengthen the role of the services sector as a backbone of the economy.
Uganda plans to start nuclear power generation by 2031 - minister (ZAWYA)
Uganda said on Thursday it expects to start generating at least 1000 megawatts (MW) from nuclear power by 2031 as it moves to diversify its sources of electricity and accelerate its energy transition, a key part of its climate change response.
Uganda has uranium deposits and President Yoweri Museveni has said his government was keen to exploit them for potential nuclear energy development. The east African country has signed a deal with China under which the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) would help Uganda build capacity in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
Kenya and Egypt to establish Visa Free Entry from April (Capital News)
Kenya and Egypt have agreed to establish free visa entry for diplomatic and official passports holders from April 1. Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua stated that they are working together to finalize a 100 percent visa free regime between both countries for ordinary passports within six months by October 1, 2023.
“In line with the African vision of AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) we agreed on Free visa entry for diplomatic & official passports of both countries from April 1st of this year and to start and finalize discussions towards a free visa regime for ordinary passports by October 1,” he said.
“This will enhance tourism, grow trade and support economic free flow of people and goods as envisioned by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.”
Egypt backs out of UN grains treaty, sparking concern (I24NEWS)
Egypt’s withdrawal from the Grains Trade Convention follows a period of turmoil in grains markets linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Egypt recently gave notice that it will withdraw by the end of June 2023 from a decades-old UN grains treaty, causing angst among other signatories to the convention.
The departure of Egypt – one of the world’s largest wheat importers – from the multinational Grains Trade Convention (GTC) follows a period of turmoil in grains markets linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns about global food security.
Egypt signed the GTC, the only international treaty covering trade in grains and which promotes market transparency to further trade cooperation, at its inception in 1995, and has been a member of the council that governs it since 1949.In February, it submitted a request to withdraw with effect from June 30, 2023.
Namibia, South Africa sign 90 trade deals (The Namibian)
NAMIBIA has signed more than 90 bilateral agreements with South Africa. This was announced at the opening of a meeting of senior officials during the third session of the Namibia/South Africa Binational Commission in Windhoek yesterday.
Penda Naanda, the executive director of international relations and cooperation, said the number of bilateral agreements signed between the two countries is remarkable, and that the implementation of these agreements should be key.
Naanda said there is a vital need to turn the vast resource potential between the two countries into bankable and practical actions that would positively change the living conditions of people from both countries.
Young people are innovators and change makers (SAnews)
Young people are change makers and agents of progress, President Cyril Ramaphosa says. “As young people, you demand to be part of decision-making and shaping a future that is yours,” said the President on Friday. He was speaking at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Youth Dialogue at the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, a platform for young people within the African continent to engage in constructive discussions on pressing socio-economic issues such as leadership and governance, free trade, labour migration and a just energy transition.
The dialogue brought together young people from 20 African countries including, among others, South Africa, Algeria, South Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Kenya and leaders from government, business, labour and civil society.
Africa and Global Economic Trends – January 2023 (AfDB)
In January 2023, out of 36 African currencies reviewed, 29 currencies depreciated against the USD on annual basis, while 7 currencies recorded appreciations (see Table 19). The highest currency depreciation against USD was recorded for the Zimbabwean Dollar at 57.5 percent. Of the seven currencies that recorded appreciations against the USD, the highest appreciation at 5.0 percent was recorded for the Guinea Franc.
On a monthly basis, between January 2023 and December 2022, 19 currencies depreciated against the USD, one remained unchanged, while the rest appreciated. The highest monthly depreciation against the USD was recorded for the Egyptian pound at 22 percent, while the highest appreciation against USD was for Madagascar’s Ariary at 4.4 percent.
Is the U.S. falling behind China in Africa’s lithium industry? (CNBC)
The demand for lithium is rising as it has become a critical component needed in electric vehicle batteries. In 2021, the world produced 540 thousand metric tons of lithium and by 2030 the World Economic Forum projects the global demand will reach over 3 million metric tons.
Reserves of lithium have been discovered throughout the entire African continent with Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali all having notable supplies. The price of lithium has skyrocketed. In May 2022, the price was seven times higher than it was at the start of 2021. Mineral-rich nations like Zimbabwe are taking note.
Zimbabwe has been mining lithium for 60 years and the government estimates that its Chinese-owned Bikita Minerals Mine, which is located 300 kilometers south of the capital Harare, has about 11 million metric tons of lithium resources. The country is the sixth largest producer of lithium, and the International Trade Administration projects that once it fully exploits its known resources it could potentially meet 20% of the world’s demand.
COMESA, partners hold high-level engagement on sidelines of CSW67 (COMESA)
COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the three regional economic communities which are jointly implementing the 50 Million African Women Speak digital platform (50MAWSP), held a high-level partners engagement on Wednesday 8 March to mobilise support for the next phase of the initiative.
The dignitaries took turns to emphasize the importance of 50MAWSP as a viable tool for the empowerment of women and appealed to partners to support its transformation, citing its untapped potential to create economic opportunities for women and youth. The speakers at the event unanimously agreed that undertaking significant platform feature enhancements would be key to unlocking this potential.
“The recommendations that have consistently featured in the feedback from users include the integration of e-commerce to enable the women to trade with each other on the platform, enhancement of the platform to support live trainings to build the capacity of women to manage their businesses better, integration with financial services providers to allow users to seamlessly access credit, for example by requesting loans in-platform,” COMESA Secretary General HE Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe said.
air cargo Africa’s sixth edition concludes in Johannesburg, South Africa (Air Cargo News)
The sixth edition of air cargo Africa, the continent’s most popular exhibition and conference for the air freight industry, concluded on Thursday February 23 at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.
air cargo Africa 2023 curated a meaningful experience for all participants with various touch points to exchange knowledge and ideas, as well as an opportunity to unlock value through partnerships. Some of the key conference topics covered logistics for the pharma and automotive supply chains, flowers and perishables, e-commerce, among many others.
Considering the expanding commercial opportunities on the African continent due to rising economic activity, fast adoption of digital technologies, and growing trade ties with the world, international air cargo service providers expressed strong interest to do business with Africa at the sixth edition of this trade fair.
ECOWAS: Gender inequality becoming alarming with technology advancement (TheCable)
Frances Ibanga, president of the women’s forum of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), says gender inequality is becoming alarming with the advancement of technology. Ibanga spoke on Wednesday at the women’s forum of the ECOWAS community court of justice to mark International Women’s Day (IWD).
“Framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of women are provided for in the ECOWAS vice treaty and annex protocols and convention,” Ibanga said. “This day provides a useful opportunity to reinforce the fact that everyone has a role to play in forging a more gender-balanced world and the importance of treating women fairly and equally, without any bias or prejudice. “This theme – exploring the impact of the digital gender gap widening economic and social inequalities – aims to highlight the importance of protecting the rights of women in digital spaces and the need to address ICT gender-based violence.
The upcoming Cemac Head of States summit will address major challenges within the community (Business in Cameroon)
The next summit of Cemac Head of States will take place next March 17 in Yaoundé, we learned from a letter signed by Daniel Ona Ondo, the President of the CEMAC Commission. Cameroon’s President and current President of CEMAC Paul Biya also sent invitation letters to his counterparts through his collaborators.
A Council of Ministers of the Central African Monetary Union (Umac) is scheduled for March 15, ahead of the actual summit. The preliminary workshop will discuss topics to be addressed during the summit, including the implementation of the Economic and Financial Reform Program (Pref-Cemac), the evolution of the rationalization process of the Central African Regional Economic Communities (Economic Community of Central African States -CEEAC, Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa -Cemac, and the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries -CEPGL); the CFA reform; the Russia-Ukraine war, cryptocurrencies, and appointments within Cemac bodies and institutions, given that some have reached the end of their terms.
Africa losing out for failing to own patents for drugs it makes (The East African)
Health experts have advised that African governments would have to ensure that they own the intellectual property (IP) rights of vaccines and drugs manufactured in their countries if they are to accrue tangible gains from the drug making momentum building on the continent. Although, some African states have invested in research and development of vaccines and medicines, they have ended up relinquishing or selling IP rights to foreign firms, setting the vaccine manufacturing efforts back.
Because of this, the African Union is, for instance, pushing to get back the IP technologies from the firms that bought them, which has proved to be an uphill task.
Global food crisis may persist with prices still elevated after year of war (IMF)
One year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended agricultural commodity markets, food prices remain elevated even after retreating from their record highs in early 2022.
With two of the world’s largest exporters of wheat and other crucial crops entering a second year of war, many vulnerable countries still face heightened food insecurity. Fragile and conflict-affected states, home to 1 billion people, are at particular risk.
Eleven straight monthly declines have pushed food prices down 19 percent from a peak last March, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Friday.
Leveraging South-South cooperation to finance the SDGs (Observer Research Foundation)
The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—which lay the foundations for lasting peace, prosperity and environmental sustainability in a globally connected world—remains more relevant than ever. The achievement of SDG1 on poverty and extreme poverty, for example, together with SDG8 on employment and decent work, are crucial to maintaining political stability and containing social tensions in the developing world, preventing dangerous slides of poverty-stricken areas into radicalism that in turn have repercussions on regional and global security. In the oil-rich Niger Delta in Nigeria, the combination of shortages in basic services provision by the central and local governments, pervasive poverty, and high youth unemployment, has created a breeding ground for piracy and robbery attacks on the oil industry. The insecurity, in turn, deters development and reinforces a vicious circle of poverty. At the community level, fights erupt among the poor who compete for limited resources such as water and land, deterring productive economic activities. Indeed, poverty from unemployment can create conditions for insecurity and extremism, in turn leading to conflicts; conflicts fuel even more poverty.
Seychelles is first WTO member from Africa to formally accept fishing subsidies agreement (WTO)
Seychelles’ Minister for Fisheries, Mr Jean-François Ferrari, and the Minister for Finance, National Planning and Trade, Mr Naadir Hassan, said in a joint statement: The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies presents a significant opportunity for Seychelles to promote sustainable fishing practices, protect its marine resources, and to aid in the conservation of fish stocks globally, especially within the African region. By depositing its Instrument of Acceptance, Seychelles reinforces its commitment to multilateralism and ensuring that concrete steps are taken towards limiting harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing as set out in Target 14.6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals whilst empowering and supporting coastal communities as they transition towards truly sustainable practices.”
Secretary-General calls for more engagement with Least Developed Countries to correct severe economic imbalance (The Commonwealth)
During the UN LDC conference, the Commonwealth Secretary-General spoke at the launch event for the LDC5 Monitor which is an independent partnership to monitor and assess the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) and provide suggestions on how international support measures should be adapted to better support LDCs. The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, has advocated for increased international support for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at a UN conference in Doha, Qatar this week.
Competitiveness of Global Aluminum Supply Chains Under Carbon Pricing Scenarios for Solar PV (World Bank)
As technology now stands, there is—and will be—no solar power without aluminum, which accounts for over 85 percent of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies.
While the aluminum industry counts many producers, production capacity has plummeted in many countries in the last decade because of low global prices and intense competition. At the same time, high capital, energy, and input costs have limited the development of new aluminum production.
A new report by the World Bank’s Climate-Smart Mining (CSM), Competitiveness of Global Aluminum Supply Chains Under Carbon Pricing Scenarios for Solar PV, examines aluminum competitiveness in the context of potential carbon prices.A key takeaway is that and ensuring that producers, including in low- and middle-income countries, can compete in an increasingly carbon-constrained world.
Least developed states’ summit ends in Doha with no massive aid pledge - UN (Africanews)
The 5th United Nations Conference of the least developed countries closed in Doha on Thursday (Mar. 9). It saw nations pledge to donated funds. Among them Germany, announced $200 million for the least developed countries, Saudi Arabia, who is donating $800 million, and Canada offering UNICEF $34 million.
Guterres started the summit by saying the 46 poorest states need a $500 billion a year stimulus to reach the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), a blueprint to end poverty and boost health and education by 2030. That goal was not met.
Multilateral lenders need to step up to the global ‘polycrises’ (African Business)
The world is at a crossroads: one where the choice is between investing in a better, more secure and prosperous future for all of us or a continued cycle of crisis and breakdown. Overlapping issues facing countries today, including the war in Ukraine, natural disasters, climate-related catastrophes, soaring inflation and a deepening debt crisis, coupled with continued global economic challenges are pushing many lower income countries to the brink. Failing to deal with these converging crises is only deepening the struggle in both advanced and developing economies. But for developing economies who were already struggling to provide education, food, and health services, the struggle today is even greater.
In part, this highlights a failure by global financial institutions specifically designed to tackle crises and poverty.
African debt distress was already a growing concern before the current polycrisis, but it has no doubt exacerbated it. Increased borrowing to respond to growing needs, higher interest rates and a strong dollar have all accelerated the next debt crisis.
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Provisional duties on imported tyres from China expire, but Itac investigation continues (Engineering News)
The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) has provided an update on an investigation it is leading into the alleged dumping of new pneumatic rubber tyres used in motor cars and on buses and lorries, originating in or imported from China. Itac gazetted a notice of the investigation in January.
The application was lodged by the South African Tyres Manufacturers Conference (SATMC), representing its members – Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear and Sumitomo. These firms account for all domestic production of these products in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) region.
The investigation was initiated after Itac determined that there was prima facie evidence that the products were being imported into Sacu at dumped prices, causing material injury and threatening to cause material injury to industry in the Sacu region.
South African economy sinks below pre-Covid levels (The East African)
South Africa’s economy tumbled below pre-pandemic levels in the last three months of 2022 as record power shortages hit activity, official data showed Tuesday. The gross domestic product of Africa’s most industrialised country contracted by 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter, worse than expected by analysts. “After rallying in the third quarter of 2022 ... GDP fell below pre-pandemic levels,” said the national statistics agency StatsSA. The economy had expanded by 1.6 percent in the July-to-September period.
Growth in Africa’s most industrialised country was weighed down in the final quarter by unprecedented levels of power outages.
The trade and finance sectors were the biggest drags to the economy’s growth between October and December, with exports decreasing by 4.8 percent. Mining agriculture and manufacturing also slumped.
South Africa’s economy was badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which amplified joblessness and poverty in one of the world’s most unequal countries. Economic growth had slowed for about two years.
Nigeria must build capacities to attain economic transformation, says expert (The Guardian Nigeria)
Senior Special Adviser to the President of Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Prof Oyebanji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, has advocated that Nigeria and other African countries must embark on building and developing national productive capability to attain economic transformation.
Oyelaran- Oyeyinka, who is also a development economist, stated this while delivering a lecture titled: “Building innovation capabilities for economic transformation in a post-pandemic world”, at the maiden NigeriaLics conference hosted by the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
“The failure to properly diversify the economies made most poor countries suffer hardships during the pandemic. All mineral-dependent economies suffered the most during the outbreak of COVID-19,” he said.
Ghana exports 31,922mt fertiliser in 2022 (Ghanaian Times)
Ghana exported a total of 31,922 metric tonnes (mt) of fertiliser in 2022 compared to 1,244mt in 2021, the 2022 Fertiliser Trade Statistics have revealed. The statistics also stated that out of a total of 486,203mt imported last year, 459,513mt were consumed by farmers as compared to 239,062mt and 242,334mt imported and consumed respectively in 2021.
He said there were shortage of fertiliser in those countries and also they did not have the raw materials to produce the fertiliser blends, “so they had to fall on us to supply to them.”
Kenya Dairy Board suspends milk powder imports ahead of long rainy season (Capital Business)
Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has suspended the importation of milk powder to cushion local producers ahead of the long rainy season of March to May. The directive will apply to all importers in the country. KDB’s decision comes at a time when milk producers across the country expect high yields with the start of the rain.
“The board has temporarily suspended the issuance of these import permits until further notice,” KDB managing director Margaret Kibogy said in a statement seen by Capital Business. “We will however continue to monitor the production and demand for milk and milk products in the country and advise the government accordingly,” Kibogy added.
In Guinea-Bissau, Economic Growth Depends on Strengthening Gender Equality and Education (World Bank)
Guinea-Bissau has the highest proportion of natural wealth per capita in West Africa. However, poverty remains widespread, with high levels of inequality and increasing rural-urban disparities, while human development indicators remain among the lowest in the world, and low access to basic services contribute to exclusion and marginalization.
The structure of the economy in the country has barely changed in the last two decades and is almost entirely dependent on a single crop of cashew, which accounts for 90-98% of total export earnings. Agriculture accounts for more than 45% of GDP and employs 80% of the labor force, mainly women. The poorly diversified economy makes the country highly vulnerable to global shocks and adverse climatic conditions.
The Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) His Excellency Mr Elias M. Magosi has reiterated SADC’s commitment to the advancement of gender equity in innovation and technological change and to the empowerment of all women and girls in the SADC region.
While recognising that advancements in digital technology offer immense opportunities to address development challenges, H.E. Magosi said it is regrettable that the opportunities of the digital revolution present a risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality, with growing inequalities becoming increasingly evident in the context of digital skills and access to technologies, whereby women are left behind as the result of this digital gender divide.
In order to promote Women’s empowerment, address gender stereotypes, and explore how to embrace equity, the SADC Executive Secretary underlined the importance of implementing the provisions of SADC instruments that seek to elevate women’s participation in innovation and digital technologies.
SA to work with BRICS countries to advance African agenda (SAnews)
Through its chairship, South Africa will work with its BRICS partners to advance the African agenda for growth, development and integration and to advocate for the needs and concerns of the Global South. President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed these sentiments while updating Parliament on state capability for economic recovery and the fight against crime on Thursday in Cape Town.
South Africa is chairing the BRICS group of countries in 2023 under the theme: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism”.
“We are focusing in particular on opportunities that will generate economic growth on the continent, particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and infrastructure,” the President said.
With US making ‘game changing’ moves, China steps up African economic ties (South China Morning Post)
China is again increasing economic support for Africa after decades of building infrastructure and extracting minerals to match a new US bid for influence on the continent that depends heavily on foreign help.
President Xi Jinping said in a mid-February message to the 55-member state African Union that China was willing to “enhance cooperation” and “facilitate coordination” in international and regional affairs. Chinese state media reports have noted agriculture, trade and more infrastructure as priorities from 2022 onwards.
The African Development Bank and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) have officially launched a three-year support project to improve regional coherent and coordinated response to illicit financial flows. The project will help African stakeholders actively engaged in stemming such flows to improve domestic revenue mobilization in African countries.
The launch of the African Financial Integrity and Accountability Support Project (AFIAP) took place at the African Union headquarters on 7 March. The project aims to improve regional coordination of combating illicit financial flows and the oversight and accountability of public finances, for optimal revenue mobilization and management in African countries. It will support the coordinated implementation of recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows and the implementation of joint strategies and initiatives related to international taxation.
Africa must increase its share of global seed trade – AFSTA (The Herald)
Africa must target to increase its share of the total global seed trade value through easing barriers to the movement of quality seed between countries on the continent and to those outside. The call was made at the just-ended 23rd African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) annual congress which was held recently in Dakar, Senegal.
“Listening to various speakers, some three major lessons came out of the meeting. Africa must up its game to claim a bigger stake in the trade sector, we are not worth the 2 percent contribution we currently contribute,” AFSTA spokesman Aghan Daniel said. “Two, governments must ease seed movement across the continent. Three, seed companies in Africa must confront climate change henceforth.”
“We need a favourable regulatory policy environment to trade – including a simplified process of variety registration, affordable DUS trials and a favourable business environment to do business. We also need to strengthen regulation and enforcement of intellectual property rights and plant breeding,” said Dr Kulani Machaba, president of AFSTA.
Africa’s development suffers as West prioritises aid to Ukraine (The East African)
Africa is bearing the brunt of the war in Ukraine and remains ill-prepared to deal with the shocks linked to the crisis, including rising food and fuel prices as well as limiting access to critical imports such as wheat, fertilizer and steel. The war in Ukraine is consuming immense resources from the West and there is increasing pressure on international and multilateral institutions to channel more funding to reconstruction of Ukraine, which is likely to affect the flow of development finance that African countries urgently need.
“The Ukraine situation has turned things more less upside down. We are probably going to be hit hardest; still difficult at the moment,” Rwanda President Paul Kagame told a press conference on Wednesday. He noted that many of Africa’s development partners are now focused on the war in Ukraine.
Horn of Africa roots for infrastructure to grow trade (The Star)
Horn of Africa (HoA)countries have agreed to support shared infrastructure projects to boost free trade. Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday at the 15th Roundtable meeting of Finance Ministers, exchequer chiefs from the six countries led by Kenya’s Njuguna Ndung’u committed to finalising mutual infrastructure projects in the next five years. ”Trade is a game of numbers. We have close to 200 million people market, dense human resources and plenty of natural resources. It is time we bring this to the continental business table,’’ Njuguna said.
Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea agreed to relook at their individual trade agreements and identify areas of collaboration to ease the cost of doing business for their traders while capitalising on gains originating from diverse markets.
West African Economic and Monetary Union: Selected Issues paper (IMF)
Digitization best path to inclusion of African women in labor force (China Daily)
African countries on Wednesday marked International Women’s Day with a call to bridge the gap in women’s and girls’ adoption of digital technology in order to include African women in the modern labor force. This year, International Women’s Day focuses on celebrating women driving digital innovation and technological advancement.
While giving her statement to mark the day, Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, said in the African health sector women can be innovators and contribute to transforming the health of all people on the continent.
“According to a 2021 report by the Association of Mobile Operators, inadequate infrastructure, lack of digital skills for the internet and information communication technologies, and gender-related barriers around access to and control over resources are the main obstacles to meaningful connectivity for women and girls,” Moeti said.
She pointed out this challenge can be addressed by creating awareness about the digital gender divide, advocating for policies and legal frameworks to keep women and girls safe and promoting women’s participation in science and information communication technologies.
Many women producers, processors and traders in the agri-food sector in Africa face challenges when working in the informal sector, complying with legal requirements, and accessing market information, training, and finance, among other issues. This month, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) under its SheTrades Initiative launched the second phase of its programme: Empowering women and boosting livelihoods through agricultural trade: Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Spanning four countries – Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa –, the programme was developed in 2021 to promote women’s participation in the AfCFTA and increase their access to capacity building and higher-productivity activities, capitalizing on the new opportunities in regional trade created by the AfCFTA agreement.
African leaders have made the case for increased investment in technology and innovation to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The 9th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD), held in Niamey Niger, from 28 February to 2 March, was to follow-up and review progress made on achieving five selected SDGs on clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; sustainable cities and communities; and partnerships for the Goals. The meeting also formulated key messages on accelerating the implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
A post-Forum statement - The Niamey Declaration on accelerating the inclusive and green recovery from multiple crises and the integrated and full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union called on governments to invest in science and climate observations systems to trigger changes to meet the SDGS.
UK to host African Investment Summit in April 2024 (GOV.UK)
The Prime Minister will host a UK-African Investment Summit in London on 23-24 April 2024. The Summit will bring together Heads of State and Government from 24 African countries with British and African business leaders. It will strengthen UK-African partnerships to create jobs and growth, supporting British and African talent in sectors such as finance and technology, and promote women entrepreneurs.
During the next two years, faster economic growth is expected across Sub-Saharan Africa than the global average. And as the world faces the stark and shared challenge of climate change, the UK is working with African countries to support them to mitigate and adapt to its effects, recognising Africa’s abundant potential for renewable energies of the future.
A Trade Hope: The impact of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (UNCTAD)
The war in Ukraine sent shock waves throughout the global economy, in particular through trade disruptions of food and fertilizers from two of the world’s main breadbaskets, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This left millions of people in developing and least developed countries at the frontline of a food and price crisis.
In July 2022, two agreements were signed: one is the memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and the Russian Federation to facilitate the unimpeded access for their food and fertilizers exports to global markets. The second is the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), signed by the Russian Federation, Türkiye, Ukraine, and witnessed by the United Nations to allow the safe export of grain, fertilizers and other foodstuff from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
These agreements have helped to bring down the cost of food, stabilize global markets and keep them open.
However, this progress is fragile and price pressures remain. While food prices have gone down from their all-time high at the start of the war, they remain high compared to pre-crises levels. Moreover, currency depreciations prevent many developing countries from benefiting from global price decreases, and, in the most severe cases, prices have even gone up. Additionally, as is so often the case, the most vulnerable bear the brunt, particularly women.
Cooperation on standards at WTO could speed up steel sector decarbonization: Trade Forum (WTO)
The Trade Forum for Decarbonization Standards: Promoting transparency and coherence in the iron and steel sector brought together officials and business leaders from many of the world’s largest steel-producing economies for a dialogue on coherent and transparent standards in accelerating the global scale-up of low-carbon steelmaking.
Speaking at the Leaders’ Conversation at the start of the Forum, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that the iron and steel sector alone accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with 70% of global production of primary steel relying on carbon-intensive blast oxygen furnaces.
Decarbonization standards will be key in enabling the steel sector to become carbon-neutral, yet this effort is being undermined by policy fragmentation and incompatible carbon standards – with at least 20 different standards alone, each with different underlying methodologies, the DG noted.
How to unlock women’s potential in the digital economy (UNCTAD)
The theme for International Women’s Day, 2023, aptly chosen by the United Nations, is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. Within this domain, digital entrepreneurship can be a powerful avenue for women’s inclusion in the digital economy with new business opportunities, efficiency gains and better access to markets and global value chains.
While the digital economy is a very broad category, according to the International Finance Corporation, women could add over $300 billion to e-commerce markets alone in Africa and South-East Asia between 2025 and 2030.
There are three key advantages that e-commerce offers to women. First, it offers lower barriers to entry than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. This means that women entrepreneurs can start their businesses with lower start-up costs and without the need for a physical storefront, which can be a significant advantage.
Secondly, it can enable women entrepreneurs to reach customers all over the world. Women entrepreneurs can leverage this global reach to expand their customer base and grow their businesses beyond their local markets. Birame Sock, an entrepreneur from Senegal, has taken advantage of this opportunity as founder of Kwely, an online B2B wholesale sourcing marketplace for products made in Africa. The online platform gives buyers around the world access to quality and unique products made in Africa that meet international standards.
And thirdly, it offers a degree of flexibility in terms of work hours and location. Women entrepreneurs who may have caregiving responsibilities or mobility constraints can greatly benefit from digital technologies.
Despite these opportunities, women entrepreneurs are much less represented in the digital economy than men. This gap translates into missed economic opportunities and may aggravate existing gender inequalities.
It is time to boost LDCs’ integration into trading system — DDG Zhang at LDC5 Conference (WTO)
In the roundtable entitled “Enhancing the participation of LDCs in international and regional trade”, DDG Zhang noted that market access opportunities, policy flexibilities and targeted trade support are among the steps that WTO members have taken to help LDCs become more active players in global trade. He encouraged LDCs to remain focused on their trade interests as the global trading landscape evolves.
President of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye said: “While LDCs continue to face many challenges, progress has also been made to create an enabling environment for their integration into global trade. It is clear that we need more actions from all stakeholders if we are to achieve the goals we set in the Doha Programme of Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
Combat inequality amid global upheavals, Okonjo-Iweala and Lagarde urge on Women’s Day (WTO)
“Although we’ve made some progress, the recent crises we’ve experienced from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, to the existential threat of climate change have set us back,” DG Okonjo-Iweala said, pointing to data on the increase in poverty, the impact on women and girls, and estimates that gender parity will take more than a century to achieve. “I am really concerned we are sleepwalking into potential world conflict,” she said.
“This discussion is happening at a critical time,” President Lagarde said. “Geopolitical tensions and the fragmenting of world trade are threatening to roll back decades of advances in women’s economic empowerment. Since the great financial crisis, the global economy has been hit by a series of unprecedented shocks.” It is more important than ever, in this global climate, to ensure trade flows are unimpeded, the two leaders said.
The 2nd G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion Meeting (G20)
The second Meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) under G20 India Presidency concluded today in Hyderabad.
During the Plenary, the GPFI members discussed and agreed on the way forward for important deliverables for the year including those on Digital Financial Inclusion, SME Finance. A dedicated workshop was also organised for the development of GPFI Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) 2023 which will guide the financial inclusion work under G20 for 2024-26.
A Symposium on Digital Innovations in Payments and Remittances was also organised on March 6, 2023 on the side lines of the GPFI meeting for both G20 and non-G20 countries.
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Stainless steel sector well-positioned to supply African markets, despite loadshedding challenge (Engineering News)
The biggest hurdle stainless steel production and fabrication faces to date is loadshedding, with this challenge overriding all previous issues and leading to diminishing staff safety, motivation, productivity and increased living costs, and contributing to a visible decline in apparent consumption during 2022, says industry organisation Southern Africa Stainless Steel Development Association (Sassda) executive director Michel Basson.
“This is the time to rethink what we do and how we do it. The energy issue might be an opportunity to make the industry more energy efficient and less energy dependent,” he adds.
Zimbabwe Accedes to Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) Establishment Agreement (Afreximbank)
The Republic of Zimbabwe became the sixth signatory to the Establishment Agreement of the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), the development impact-oriented subsidiary of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). The Agreement was recently signed by His Excellency Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. This accession marks another significant step forward in Afreximbank’s efforts to mobilize its Member States to sign and ratify the Establishment Agreement of FEDA. It also demonstrates the growing support for FEDA as a new multilateral development platform.
Following the announcement of its first close of US$ 670 million in September 2022, FEDA continues to build momentum for strategic interventions on the Continent.
Angola 2022 Article IV Consultation (IMF)
Angola achieved macroeconomic stabilization amid a very difficult environment in 2020 and growth began to recover in 2021. The recovery picked up pace in 2022, aided by high oil prices. President João Lourenço was reelected in August 2022. Angola continues to face significant challenges, including debt vulnerabilities and the need to diversify the economy as oil production declines over the long term. The authorities’ reform agenda, including their upcoming 2023–27 National Development Plan, is focused on these challenges.
Ghana seeks economic cooperation with Angola (Angop)
Ghana ambassador to Angola, Mavis Esi Kusorgbor, said Sunday in Luanda that she is determined to translate the political will of the leadership of both countries into the implementation of viable initiatives for mutual economic benefits. Speaking to ANGOP, ahead of Ghana’s 66th independence anniversary to be marked on March 06, the ambassador said the government and people of Ghana are determined to contribute to boost global sustainable development through solid policies.
Egypt’s exports to African markets planned to hit $15B (EgyptTpday)
Egypt plans to increase its exports to Africa to reach up to $15 billion in the upcoming years by training Egyptian exporters on how to deal with the African markets, identifying the markets’ needs and increasing the exporters’ access to African markets. Despite their great potential, Egyptian exporters are faced with a lot of challenges when expanding to African markets, like the absence of banks providing credit facilities and long shipment period for goods, which can reach up to four months.
As a result, Egypt has established six logistics centers – out of 12 – in six African countries (Kenya, Morocco, Mauritius, Nigeria, Zambia, and Algeria) to facilitate access to African markets.
All Set For The Maiden Ghana Automotive Summit 2023 (Peacemfonline)
The Automobile Assemblers Association of Ghana will host its maiden Automotive Summit on the 20th of March 2023, at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) Grand Arena. The theme for the summit; ‘Creating A New Economic Backbone for Ghana and The Sub-Region,’ will present the opportunity for leading experts and industry professionals in the sector to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the automobile industry. The summit will concurrently run along an exhibition of over 20 vehicle models locally assembled in Ghana by the members of the AAAG.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in partnership with the Office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Côte d’Ivoire and the National Steering Committee for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) of Cote d’Ivoire, organized this day in Abidjan, a validation workshop of the diagnostic study of Côte d’Ivoire on PPPs in infrastructure.
Scheduled for March 6-7, 2023, this workshop, which brings together representatives of ministries in charge of Planning and Development, Budget, Transport, the National PPP Steering Committee and the private sector aims to examine the findings of the scoping study on PPPs in infrastructure in Côte d’Ivoire, raise awareness and guide the debate on PPPs in infrastructure and their financing modalities in Côte d’Ivoire, and then develop an action plan for a short and medium term intervention.
Cote d’Ivoire’s diagnostic study and related action plan are part of the ECA’s “PPP for Infrastructure Financing” project, an initiative aiming, among other things, at increasing the number of infrastructure projects financed by Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and accelerating infrastructure development in Africa. Six (6) African countries are involved in this process, namely Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
Platform urged to scale up its support to African countries (New Business Ethiopia)
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed called on developing Africa’s common positions on emerging issues in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Africa Union’s Agenda 2063. She made the remark during a meeting of “heads of regional UN entities across Africa to accelerate the collective delivery of strategic results at the regional level by providing more transformative support to Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams in 54 countries on the continent”.
During three hours of in-depth dialogue, the Deputy Secretary-General emphasized the urgent need for a course correction to rescue the SDGs and the AU Agenda 2063. “We are totally off track with the SDGs, and we were already off before COVID-19. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis all exacerbated the situation,” she said.
Just Energy Transition must consider Africa’s needs (SAnews)
Africa must be given the space to transition from high carbon usage to low carbon at a pace and cost that it can afford, says Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe. The Minister was speaking at the Africa Energy Indaba held in Cape Town on Tuesday.
“Their voice [African people] on the Energy Transition must be heard. That is the voice that says, energy production in Africa must be aligned to Africa’s socio-economic development. This means that there must be a balance between energy demand for socio-economic development and energy supply that is premised on low carbon emissions.
“Differences about the pace, scale and how to balance the transition will always exist, however, as African leaders, we are duty bound to act with determination to resolve the intricate problems that beset our continent without the encirclement pressure to please others first. We must be pragmatic in our approach to a low emissions future,” he said.
African-made renewable energy products could benefit continent – SAIEE (Engineering News)
Although Africa is going through an “unavoidable” energy transition, South African Institute of Electrical Engineers president Prince Moyo believes the continent can “leapfrog” the trajectory of Western nations if it finds ways of making renewable energy components on the continent. Speaking at an Energy Day event organised by power systems developer Hitachi Energy Southern Africa on March 7, he said the future of electricity development was heading away from industrial users, and towards being more energy efficient and renewable energy information systems instead.
Moyo said key lessons could be learnt from fellow Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) bloc countries, especially China and India, in terms of long-term planning. He explained that both China and India are rapidly developing because they prioritised long-term electricity generation and now have the generation base to power large industries.
The digital connectivity divide separating the globe’s least developed countries (LDCs) from the world as a whole shows no sign of narrowing. In fact, it is widening on key factors, according to ITU’s Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries. While the share of the population in LDCs using the Internet has increased since 2011 from 4 per cent to 36 per cent, about two-thirds of the LDC population remains offline. LDCs also still face numerous barriers to meaningful connectivity, including lack of infrastructure, affordability, and skills. Although no single figure can capture all aspects and complexities of the digital divide, the gap between LDCs and the world in the share of people using the Internet has actually increased from 27 percentage points in 2011 to 30 percentage points in 2022.
New trade report: Improving food security in least developed countries (ITC)
Trade can increase the availability and affordability of food in least developed countries (LDCs), where more than 60% of people deal with food insecurity – twice as much as in developing countries, and six times as much as in developed countries. In the context of increasing global instabilities, a new report by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the lead United Nations agency supporting least developed countries highlights trade policy options to help them work towards sustainable, trade-led development, in the face of crises.
ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton and Rabab Fatima, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), launched the LDC Trade Report 2023: Improving Food Security today during the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) – a conference that takes place once a decade – this time in Doha, Qatar.
Ms. Coke-Hamilton said: “Least developed countries continue to depend on commodity exports almost twice as much as other developing countries, and they continue to be more vulnerable to global instabilities. We as the global community have to do more, and we have to do better. This joint report with OHRLLS highlights concrete policy actions we can take to make a difference for them.”
On Monday at the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), a series of roundtable discussions saw global leaders, civic actors and UN officials confront two of the most fundamental hurdles facing LDCs: how to make better use of science, technology and innovation (STI), and how to promote structural transformations that can help overcome the real impediments faced by those on the margins of society.
STI plays a critical role in LDCs’ efforts to drive poverty eradication, transition to sustainable development and become globally competitive. However, these vulnerable countries are often unable to reap the full economic and social benefits of technological development due to structural constraints, as there are significant disparities between LDCs and other countries.
DDG Ellard: We need to make trade work for women (WTO)
The global economy is not gender-neutral. It is estimated that women represent 39% of the global workforce worldwide, and their earnings are on average between 10 and 30% lower than those of men. In addition, women spend two to ten times more time on unpaid household work, and this burden increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, the pandemic has had a disproportionately adverse effect on women’s labour market outcomes. Women lost more than 64 million jobs in 2020, a 5% loss, compared to a 3.9% loss for men.
Trade is also not gender-neutral. There is evidence that women face higher obstacles than men in accessing the global market and the economic opportunities created by trade. Women entrepreneurs face higher trade costs than men, which prevent them from trading internationally. In particular, women face greater barriers to finance, higher costs of doing business, and more limited access to information and markets. Such structural challenges in the global economy prevent women from fully reaping the benefits of trade. As a result, only 1 in 5 female-owned small businesses is exporting.
Investment facilitation talks advance work towards finalizing negotiating text (WTO)
The co-coordinators of the negotiations, Ambassador Sofía Boza of Chile and Ambassador Jung Sung Park of the Republic of Korea, reported on their consultations with groups of members in various configurations. In those consultations, participants reiterated their support for the April “sunset approach” — the need to set a deadline to discard issues in the Annex which do not have wide support and therefore are not seen by participating members as “fit” to be part of the future IFD Agreement.
DG Okonjo-Iweala: Delivering meaningful outcomes at MC13 “not beyond our reach” (WTO)
In addressing the first General Council meeting of 2023, the Director-General said leaders, ministers and other stakeholders she met during her recent outreach appealed to the WTO to “work towards delivering further results for the benefit of people around the world — with MC13 being a key opportunity to do so”.
The Director-General also noted the discussions which took place at the 28 February meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, where several members cited the need to avoid overloading ministers’ plates with outstanding issues at the last minute. “This means we must now prioritize a few issues and build as much convergence on them as possible,” she said. “If we sustain the positive spirit from last week's meeting over the next 10 months, then delivering meaningful, quality outcomes is not beyond our reach.”
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South Africa is exporting more food. But it needs to find new growth frontiers (The Conversation)
South African agricultural exports were up for the third consecutive year in 2022, reflecting favourable production conditions and higher commodity prices. The export numbers for the full year have not yet been published.
The major export crops continued to be maize, wine, grapes, citrus, berries, nuts, apples and pears, sugar, avocados, and wool.
These products have been the drivers of exports over the past couple of decades. In particular, fruit and wine have increasingly become the leading export products. These have driven a rise in the value of agriculture (and agro-processing) exports, which have averaged 11% of the South Africa’s overall exports, up from 9% in the decade before.
South Africa now exports roughly half of its agricultural produce in value terms. Citrus, table grapes, wine and a range of deciduous fruits dominate the export list. Increasingly, we are seeing the encouraging uptick in beef exports.
South African trade moves away from air cargo as ocean rates tumble (The Loadstar)
South Africa is set to see a shift from air freight as importers and exporters eye tumbling sea freight rates and improved ocean reliability. The automotive industry in particular will rely less on air, delegates heard at last week’s Air Cargo Africa event in Johannesburg.
“The market has been very volatile,” explained Renaj Moothilal, executive director of South Africa’s component manufacturer association, NAACAM. “The component market depends on a globally integrated value chain. You can’t have 99% of components, you need 100%.
“In the past, we’ve moved mostly by sea freight, but over the [pandemic] years, we’ve had a huge uptake towards air. Sea had issues. We’ve seen a 60% to 70% increased use of airfreight over the last three or four years.”
But he added: “The component sector is cost-sensitive, and cost will always be a key decision driver. But to avoid being the cause of an assembly line shutting down, the use of aircraft became a lot more prevalent.”
Duty-free sugar imports dock at port of Mombasa (Business Daily)
Consumers may see the price of sugar come down in the coming days as the ships carrying the first consignment of the duty-free sweetener docks at the port of Mombasa. Imports of the commodity would normally attract a duty of 50 percent. A ship manifest from the Port shows that the first ship will arrive on Tuesday with a second one docking on March 1.
These are the first consignments of duty-free imports to get to the country after the government gave a waiver for maize, sugar and rice last year.
The government opened an import window in December that would see traders ship in 100,000 tonnes of sugar outside of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) region to curb an imminent shortage in the country that has pushed up the cost of the sweetener to Sh312 for a two-kilo packet.
Kenya imports hit Sh2.5trn on costly fuel, foodstuff (Business Daily)
Kenyan importers spent an equivalent of three-quarters of the country’s annual budget to bring in goods from abroad, hurting job opportunities for growing skilled youth and exerting pressure on the shilling against major global currencies. Expenditure on imports rose 16.21 percent to Sh2.49 trillion on the back of the increased cost of importing fuel and food, official data collated by the Central Bank of Kenya shows. The import bill is equivalent to 73.45 percent of the Sh3.39 trillion original budget for the current year ending June.
Elevated import bill against a narrow basket of export goods helped widen the country’s goods trade deficit by 15.26 percent last year.
The trade deficit – the gap between merchandise imports and exports – rose to Sh1.62 trillion in 12 months through last December from Sh1.41 trillion the year before. Kenya has over the years struggled to narrow its goods trade deficit partly due to reliance on traditional farm produce exports such as tea, horticulture and coffee despite pledges by successive governments to expand the basket of merchandise and incentivise exporters who add value to produce.
Namibia to pocket oil billions after 2030 (New Era)
Oil and gas exploration in Namibia are the talk of the global town, following significant discoveries in the offshore Orange Basin last year, which is creating expectations of massive future government oil revenue. But a leading Namibian wealth management outfit said Namibia will only reap the rewards of these discoveries in a few years. Oil majors have in the meantime stepped up their exploration activities in Namibian waters.
This past weekend, Upstream, a reputed news source, reported that “Shell looks to have a third significant oil discovery on its hands in Namibia’s red-hot Orange basin play, and could make an announcement within hours or days”.
Producers urged to increase production to curb trade deficit (Daily News)
THE Office of Chief Government Statistician- Zanzibar (OCGSZ) has released the monthly balance of trade statistics showing that the international trade deficit increased in January this year compared with the corresponding month last year.
“Balance of Trade (BOT) showed a deficit of 118.5bn/- in January this year, increased by 76.5 percent compared to the corresponding month of 2022 and by 30.3 percent compared with the previous month. Trade ratio decreased from 9.5 percent in December 2022 to 6.9 percent in January this year,” said Mr Bakari Khamis Kondo from OCGSZ.
“Total exports of goods by Standard International Trade Certification (SITC), food and live animals was down with 7,1bm/- last month compared to December last year 7.4bn/- and the 24.7bn/- for the corresponding month- January 2022,” Kondo explained.
He said that India led the top five trading partners for exported goods in January this year, accounting for 64.3 percent of the total value of exported goods. Beverages and tobacco export followed, but it also dropped from 84.7bn/- in December last year to only 3.1bn/-
Namibia, Botswana sign historic border crossing deal (New Era)
Namibia and Botswana on Friday signed a historic agreement that will see the citizens of both countries using only their national identity documents to cross their borders. Namibian President Hage Geingob and his Botswana counterpart Mokgweetsi Masisi signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) at the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno common border in the east of Namibia.
The launch is the first of its kind in southern Africa. In signing this agreement, the two countries are following the objectives of the SADC Protocol on the Facilitation of the Movement of Persons Treaty, which encourages the free movement of people within the region. The treaty is yet to be fully implemented across theregion.
Why Nigeria’s trade deficit depressed to $20mln in November 2022 — Report (ZAWYA)
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its monthly economic report (MER), said Nigeria reported a trade deficit amounting to $20 million in November 2022, which was as a result of lower export receipts from crude oil due to the decline in crude oil prices at the international market. This was a 60-percent dip month over month from $50 million in October 2022.
According to the CBN report, Nigeria recorded a 6.2 percent month-on-month decline in imports to $4.35 billion in the same period. The decline is attributed to the decline in the import of petroleum products to $0.89 billion from $1.24 billion in October. Non-oil imports, on the other hand, increased by 1.7 percent to $3.46 billion, up from $3.41 billion in the previous month.
Non-oil imports accounted for 79.5 percent of total imports, while oil constituted the remaining 20.5 percent.
America lists trade deal with Kenya on its 2023 agenda (Business Daily)
President Joe Biden’s administration has prioritised the proposed bilateral trade pact with Kenya in its agenda this year ahead of the September 2025 expiry of the duty- and quota-free deal.
Washington expects to “make rapid progress” in negotiating 11 pillars of the proposed US-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP), which will replace the two-decade-old Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
“In 2022, we kicked off ambitious initiatives with Taiwan and Kenya to deepen our trade and economic relationships with both partners, and we aim to make rapid progress on both initiatives in 2023,” the Office of the United States Trade Representative wrote in the 2023 Trade Policy to the Congress on March 1.
Could a poultry meat import ban in Africa hurt local households? (Poultry World)
Cheap imports of chicken – mainly coming from the European Union and to a lesser extent from the USA and Brazil – have increased rapidly over the last 20 years, receiving a lot of attention in public debates about trade liberalisation, food security, and poverty. On the one hand, developing countries may benefit from cheap imports, which help to keep domestic prices low and thus improve poor people’s access to nutritious foods. On the other hand, cheap imports of chicken have long been criticised for hurting the local poultry production sector, including smallholder farmers.
“The topic is much discussed when it comes to poverty, international trade and Europe’s role in the agricultural sector in Africa,” says Prof Dr Matin Qaim of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn.
Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University of Göttingen used the example of Ghana to calculate and better understand what would happen if the African country were to significantly increase import tariffs (50%) for poultry meat, or to even stop poultry meat imports altogether.
Should Ghana significantly increase its import tariffs for poultry meat, domestic prices would rise. If imports were stopped altogether, local producers would get over a third more for selling their chicken. However, the researchers note that according to insights, most households in Ghana would not benefit because prices for consumers would also increase. “And there are significantly more consumers than poultry producers,” explains lead author Isabel Knößlsdorfer of the University of Göttingen.
Africa should build battery metals value chain to capitalise on its mineral resources (Mining Weekly)
The world must decarbonise its growth models and shift to renewable energy sources to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, the United Nations’ (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) acting executive secretary Antonio Pedro has said.
Speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Building a regional battery mineral value chain in Africa’ earlier this week, he said the shift to renewable energy sources was a resource-intensive path that required greater production of a variety of minerals – many of which are found in Africa – that are central to decarbonisation efforts.
“We have clear opportunities not only from the global green mineral boom, but also from our domestic achievements, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area to facilitate the development of regional value chains for these green economy products,” said Pedro.
He also noted that several innovative financing mechanisms had been developed to support initiatives such as the battery and electric vehicles (EVs) value chains.
Post-Covid recovery spawns new face of East Africa tourism (The East African)
In their post-Covid recovery plans, East African countries are promoting regional tourism while tapping emerging tourist markets such as China.
Cruise, adventure, culture and sports tourism are niche products expected to spur growth in the sector as countries seek to reduce over-reliance on traditional source markets in Europe and the US, whose economic crisis and travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2020 brought the sector to its knees, with massive job losses.
“To revamp the sector, our focus from 2023 will include developing strategies that will impact a wider population thus improving Kenyans livelihoods. This will include promotion of regional tourism to enhance performance of the African markets and development of niche products such as cruise tourism, adventure tourism, culture and sports tourism,” said Peninah Malonza, the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Tourism.
Creation of single currency will help successful implementation of AfCTTA - GITFiC (Ghana News Agency)
The Ghana International Trade Finance Conference (GITFiC), has stated that the creation of a single currency is essential to the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area-AfCFTA. “Although there are doubts due to the Euro crisis and the failure to establish the single currency in WAMZ by the deadline, it is still timely and relevant. With the introduction of the single currency, these nations will have the possibility to resolve their myriad monetary problems.
It said West African countries currently faced serious externally-created monetary problems that none of them could resolve on their own and where international monetary cooperation mechanisms perform insufficiently.
“Such is what is currently happening to the currencies of Member States, after a three year Global Pandemic. In order to win the public’s full support and make policy decisions related to the adoption of the single currency that would unavoidably include lifestyle adjustments and adaptations on their side, it is crucial to broadly inform the populace of the project’s stakes.”
National Experts meet to discuss the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth (ECOWAS)
The ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, organised a virtual regional meeting on 16 – 17 February 2023 on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Women and Youth, in preparations for the negotiations.
In his opening remarks on behalf of the Minister for Trade and Industry of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, the Chair of the meeting Mr Júlio COLONIA, Chief Negotiator and Director of Trade Agreements’ Section
highlighted that women and youth constitute an important part of the West African population, and as such they have a role to play in making the AfCFTA a reality. He stressed the fact that half of the African population is young and therefore the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth promises a better future for the continent.
PAP President Charumbira pushes for quick implementation of Africa free trade area (The Herald)
Pan African Parliament (PAP) President Chief Fortune Charumbira has jolted the legislative continental body’s committees to prioritise review of their work plans and ensure that activities, aimed at facilitating the accelerated implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), take precedence.
Speaking today during a PAP Bureax meeting in Midrand, South Africa, which is the seat of PAP, he noted that speedy implementation of AfCFTA would engender socio-economic transformation on the African continent.
“The Committee Sittings are going to be held under the African Union Theme for 2023, “The Year of AFCFTA: Acceleration of AFCFTA Implementation.” At the recently concluded AU Summit, the major concern was the slow implementation of commitments made by Member States to the actualization of the AFCFTA. The PAP thus had a pivotal role to play collectively at the continental level and as PAP Members at the national level, to ensure that Member States are held to account for the commitments they make towards the implementation of AFCFTA.”
The African Union Commission – through its Departments of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE); and Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining (ETIM) hosted a successful investor round table on the Common Africa Agro-Parks (CAAPs) Initiative at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jointly organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), and the Africa Export, Import Bank (Afrexim bank) the event took place on 17th February 2023 in the margins of the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union. A CAAPs Steering Committee meeting was held on the 16th February.
In her welcome remarks at the investor round table, H.E. Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), acknowledged all CAAPs program partners that were present during the roundtable and for the commendable actions taken by each institution. She emphasized that in the context of The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the CAAPs program has the potential to transform the continent’s agriculture and boost the continent’s integration through trade and industrialization.
‘‘Implementing the CAAPs is no longer an option, and we shall not allow any distraction to the realization of this important vision of Africa’’.
Africa’s sustainable growth hinges on science, technology, and innovation (UNECA)
Achieving the ambitious targets of the 2030 and 2063 Agendas requires leveraging the power of science, technology, and innovation (STI) to fight multidimensional vulnerabilities so Africa can move from crisis to sustainable development. During a session on STI at the Ninth African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development , experts emphasized the crucial role of STI as a key driver and enabler for ensuring economic growth, improving well-being, mitigating the effects of climate change, and safeguarding the environment.
They also underscored the need to strengthen national and regional STI ecosystems by fostering innovation, promoting entrepreneurship, and investing in research and development.
The experts highlighted that despite advances in STI, significant gaps remain in bridging the scientific and technological divide between developed countries and Africa. The highly uneven global distribution of scientific capacity and access to knowledge threatens to derail the goal of leaving no one behind, which is the central and transformative promise of Agenda 2030.
Fresh commitment, investment needed to achieve SDGs in Africa (UNECA)
Africa needs a paradigm shift to deliver sustainable development by making a fresh commitment and increasing investment to realize the SDGs, the Economic Commission for Africa’s Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist, Hanan Morsy, urged African states. “A big part in our quest to deliver the SDGs, we need a new paradigm, we need to accelerate action and we need to deliver green and inclusive recovery from the impact of multi crises, which have beset the world,” Ms. Morsy said in closing remarks at the 2023 African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) which ended on 2 March in Niamey, Niger.
Analyses by the ECA show that Africa will need around $438 billion of adaptation funding by 2030. Apart from the threats of climate change, security threats were also undermining efforts to make lasting development progress.
EAC and ESAMI to partner on capacity building on regional trade issues (EAC)
The EAC Secretary General Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki and the Managing Director of the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI), Dr. Martin Lwanga, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a framework of collaboration in jointly developing training and capacity-building activities in trade-related areas, in a bid to foster greater business development and enhance the region’s competitiveness. The partnership between ESAMI and EAC will further undertake to provide training programs in all trade and trade-related areas of interest to the EAC and within the capacity of the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (TRAPCA).
TRAPCA is one of the centers of ESAMI, which was established in 2006 as a result of collaboration between ESAMI, the Lund University of Sweden, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). It has a mandate of building and enhancing capacity in trade policy matters in the developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa among others, covering areas such as trade in goods, trade in services, SMEs and MSMEs, e-commerce, trade and environment, trade and gender and trade facilitation with a view to building a pool of East African experts within the Secretariat and officials from the Partner States.
Implementation of the €8m Regional ICT Programme Reviewed (COMESA)
The Steering Committee of the programme on Enhancement of Governance and Enabling Environment in the ICT sector (EGEE-ICT) in the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean region (EA-SA-IO) meeting began today in Nairobi, Kenya to review the programme’s performance, since it was launched two years ago.
The eight million euros programme aims at enhancing the governance and enabling environment in the ICT sector in the EA-SA-IO region. It supports the review and development of regional policy and regulatory frameworks in a harmonized manner, thus contributing to enhanced competition and improved access to cost effective and secure ICT services. The four-year programme is funded by the European Union.
The Principal Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology and the Digital Economy in Kenya Eng. John Tanui opened the meeting. He urged countries in the region “to seize the significant socio-economic opportunities that digital technologies offer.”
DDG Zhang calls on international community to redouble efforts to improve welfare of LDCs (WTO)
At the meeting of the UN Secretary-General with UN principals, DDG Zhang underscored how trade can improve economic welfare in LDCs. “We have a shared responsibility to redouble our efforts and find ways to improve the lives of 1 billion people in LDCs before the end of the decade,” he said. Highlighting the key outcomes achieved by WTO members at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in June 2022, he said: “MC12 outcomes directly contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Doha Programme of Action for LDCs - from the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to steps for addressing food security to ensuring access to vaccines.”
“Integrating LDCs more fully into the global economy is at the heart of LDC5. We can bring about transformative changes in the lives and livelihoods of more than a billion people living in the 46 LDCs by harnessing their trade and investment potential,” said Rabab Fatima, High Representative and Under Secretary-General of UN-OHRLLS.
On 5 March, the WTO co-organized a session entitled: “LDC trade development: towards new frontiers” with the UN-OHRLLS and the EIF.
Inequality of access to resources and opportunities hinders development, says Seychelles’ President (Seychelles News Agency)
The potential for least developed countries (LDCs) and small island states (SIDS) to have rapid growth and development could be realised if they had equal access to resources and opportunities, Seychelles’ President Wavel Ramkalawan said in a plenary session on Sunday. Ramkalawan was speaking at the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar.
“Seychelles has graduated to the high-income status, however, our presence here is a sign of solidarity, regional and global support for our fellow SIDS and Africans and a strong expression of seeking greater standing and cooperation. No state should be punished for progress. Let not the so-called graduation be another hurdle in meeting the needs of our people and its communities,” he said.
AfCFTA would revive economies of LLDCs and SIDS (Ghana Business News)
The fundamental role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in overcoming the peculiar challenges faced by Africa’s Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was highlighted in Harare at a high-level event jointly organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).
Coordinator of ECA’s African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), Mr. Melaku Desta underscored that LLDCs and SIDS can often be differentiated by the specific challenges they face, but are also confronted with many common challenges, particularly those related to the economic, social, and environmental factors that are global in scale.
Mr. Desta further stressed that all six of Africa’s SIDS and 15 of the 16 African LLDCs have ratified the AfCFTA, as a sign of their readiness to leverage the opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.
Buhari seeks duty-free market access for least developed countries (The Guardian Nigeria)
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on developed and developing nations to grant duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from the world’s 46 least-developed countries to ensure their integration in regional and global value chains.
The president strongly criticized the current structure of the global financial system which places an unsustainable external debt burden on the most vulnerable countries.
The Nigerian leader challenged developed countries, civil society actors, the private sector, and the business community, to partner with the LDCs in order to provide necessary resources and capacity to deliver development outcomes in the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the 2030 Agenda.
On trade issues, the president said: “It is important to put in place modalities to facilitate transit cooperation, transfer of technologies, and access to global e-commerce platforms, as they are critical for the integration of LDCs into the regional and global value chains and communications technology services.
UNCTAD calls for urgent global action to support the world’s 46 least developed countries (UNCTAD)
The world’s 46 least developed countries (LDCs) are being hit the hardest by multiple crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, growing inequalities, rising debt burdens and economic shocks.
The LDCs face the challenge of high debt costs while having inadequate liquidity to provide essential services. In the last decade, debt service costs in LDCs have jumped from around 5% in 2011 to over 20% today.
To address this, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is rallying global action to help these countries build resilience to economic shocks and safeguard their hard-won development gains.
UNCTAD is calling for effective debt relief and international support to build stronger productive capacities as the basis for economic and export diversification and a just, balanced and sustainable low-carbon transition in these nations.
UNCTAD supports LDCs to access the benefits of the global economy, promoting structural transformation, fostering economic and export diversification, building links to global and regional value chains and supporting a new development strategy for these countries to be able to graduate from LDC status.
No more excuses; Guterres calls for ‘revolution of support’ to aid world’s least developed countries (UN News)
Three years after the world began its epic struggle against COVID-19, the least developed countries (LDCs) – already grappling with severe structural impediments to sustainable development and highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks – have found themselves stranded amid a rising tide of crisis, uncertainty, climate chaos and deep global injustice.
“Systems are stretched or non-existent – from health and education to social protection, infrastructure, and job creation. And it is only getting worse,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, known as LDC5, taking place in the Qatar capital from 5 to 9 March.
He said that the global financial system, created by wealthy countries to serve their own interests, is extremely unfair to LDCs, who must pay interest rates that can be eight times higher than those in developed countries. “Today, 25 developing economies are spending over 20 per cent of government revenues solely on servicing debt,” said the UN chief.
In the face of such deep challenges, the UN chief stated that the LDCs “need a revolution of support” across three key areas.
Why the least developed countries need urgent action (UNCTAD)
LDCs are characterized by limited productive capacities and multiple structural constraints to tackle today’s polycrisis that can have disproportionately damaging effects on their economies. It comes when the 46 LDCs are sharply hit by multiple crises: geopolitical fragmentation, a pervasive climate crisis, high inflation, rising debt, poverty and hunger.
Investment flows to least developed countries affected disproportionally by global crises (UNCTAD)
Investment Promotion in LDCs: A Needs Assessment (UNCTAD)
Global Business Community Launch New Generation of Partnerships for Least Developed Countries
LDCs: We must ensure that low carbon transitions don’t harm poor countries
UN delegates reach historic agreement on protecting marine biodiversity in international waters (UN News)
“This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health, now and for generations to come,” said the UN chief in a statement issued by his Spokesperson late Saturday evening just hours after the deal was struck at UN Headquarters in New York, where tough negotiations on the draft treaty have been under way for the past two weeks.
Already being referred to as the ‘High Seas Treaty’, the legal framework would place 30 per cent of the world’s oceans into protected areas, put more money into marine conservation, and covers access to and use of marine genetic resources.
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South Africa must prioritise decarbonisation, as $1.5bn of exports to EU are at risk (Engineering News)
South Africa should prioritise its decarbonisation strategy, as it has a carbon intensity much higher than most countries, and $1.5-billion of exports to the European Union (EU) are at risk in the short term.
That figure is likely to increase when more products are covered under the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), said policy development research institution Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS).
The EU is one of South Africa’s major export destinations, accounting for 19% of its total exports in 2019. The CBAM is a carbon border tax on embedded greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions of carbon-intensive products imported into the EU.
Kenya: State Warns Buyers Against Transporting Avocadoes In Open Pick-Ups (Soko Directory)
Buyers transporting avocadoes in open pick-ups will be arrested in the government’s latest move to ensure the sale of quality products.
Speaking during a sensitization forum in Murang’a County, director of horticultural crops directorate Benjamin Tito said transporting the fruit in open pick-ups breaches the crops and horticultural regulations of 2022 that provide that they should be well packaged in crates and transported in well-designed vehicles to maintain their quality.
Kenya is Africa’s top exporter of avocados and the sixth-largest exporter of fruit globally. The country accounts for 81.6 percent of EAC avocado fruit produce. The Hass variety which is the most grown variety in Kenya has generated a lot of interest in the export markets owing to its long shelf life and taste.
South Africa: CGA says time is running out for citrus impasse in EU to be resolved (Engineering News)
The Citrus Growers Association (CGA) has again written to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Patel Ebrahim, requesting with urgency that he convene a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel to adjudicate on the European Union’s (EU’s) new citrus import regulation.
The CGA says it is grateful for the support shown by the national government, including the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, requesting consultations at the WTO level with the EU over the new regulations.
However, these consultations have not resolved the current impasse, and so the CGA urges Patel to put further pressure on the EU by calling for the establishment of a WTO panel to adjudicate on the matter before the 2023 export season starts at the end of the month.
Mpumalanga, Mozambique bolster agri ties (Food For Mzansi)
The National African Farmers Union (Nafu) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Federation of Agrarian Associations of Mozambique (Fenagri). The MOU is aimed at improving agricultural collaboration between South Africa and the East African country.
The president of Nafu in Mpumalanga, Jabu Mahlangu, said they recently visited Mozambique to engage with the leadership of Fenagri.
“The collaboration agreement between Nafu and Fenagri is meant to improve the collaborative environment in, and between the two agrarian communities in the respective countries,” Mahlangu told Food For Mzansi.
Nigeria: Processed wood exporters seek share of $152.94bn market as FG lifts ban (Guardian Nigeria)
Exporters of processed woods have intensified efforts to reap from the exportation of the product with market value put at over $152.94 billion for the year 2023 following the recent lifting of ban for its exports by the Federal Government.
They are also targeting the exportation of charcoal with a current market value put at over $5.41 billion respectively.
The government has conditionally lifted the ban on charcoal and processed wood export in a bid to revamp businesses, especially those converting waste to wealth and thereby increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
South African trade moves away from air cargo as ocean rates tumble (The Loadstar)
South Africa is set to see a shift from air freight as importers and exporters eye tumbling sea freight rates and improved ocean reliability.
The automotive industry in particular will rely less on air, delegates heard at last week’s Air Cargo Africa event in Johannesburg.
“The market has been very volatile,” explained Renaj Moothilal, executive director of South Africa’s component manufacturer association, NAACAM. “The component market depends on a globally integrated value chain. You can’t have 99% of components, you need 100%.
Key actions to accelerate SDG 9 implementation (UNECA)
Niamey, 2 March 2023 (ECA) - The 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development held in Niamey from 28 February to 2 March featured a session to discuss progress, challenges, opportunities, and priority actions needed to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9).
Representatives from various African countries and organizations, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), were in attendance.
The session called for increased efforts to help firms increase exports, attract foreign direct investment, and facilitate technology transfer. Participants also urged countries to build resilient regional value chains to develop productive and competitive economies that can take full advantage of the opportunities to implement the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area.
African companies prefer trading with non-African countries, ignoring local FTAs (North African Post)
African exports to other continents surpass the continent’s intercontinental trade, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has found, with Africans preferring import tariffs provided by the United States, European Union, Canada, and Japan (the “Quad nations”).
Despite growing calls for increased intraregional trade, companies in Africa are taking advantage of preferential trade deals with the other continents and ignoring local free trade accords. African traders are taking advantage of favorable import tariffs provided by the so-called “Quad nations” under different preferential trade agreements (PTAs), which has led to significant exports to these quad nations.
A research, conducted by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), has also revealed that enterprises are not fully utilizing comparable advantages under local regional economic communities.
Implementation of the €8m Regional ICT Programme Reviewed (COMESA)
Nairobi, Thursday, 02 March 2023: The Steering Committee of the programme on Enhancement of Governance and Enabling Environment in the ICT sector (EGEE-ICT) in the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean region (EA-SA-IO) meeting began today in Nairobi, Kenya to review the programme’s performance, since it was launched two years ago.
The eight million euros programme aims at enhancing the governance and enabling environment in the ICT sector in the EA-SA-IO region. It supports the review and development of regional policy and regulatory frameworks in a harmonized manner, thus contributing to enhanced competition and improved access to cost effective and secure ICT services. The four-year programme is funded by the European Union.
The Principal Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology and the Digital Economy in Kenya Eng. John Tanui opened the meeting. He urged countries in the region “to seize the significant socio-economic opportunities that digital technologies offer.”
Stop Exporting Cancer Causing Products to Africa, Tayebwa Tells EU (All Africa)
The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa has rallied developing countries to jointly reject what he described as unfair trade and deceitful practices by the European Union.
Speaking at the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Parliamentary conference in Brussels, Belgium, Tayebwa condemned the EU member states for exporting banned pesticides and products to developing countries.
He rallied ACP member states to speak as a team against the double standard arrangement citing the "vulnerability we all have".
AfCFTA: Intra-African trade increased by 20% in 2022 says UNECA (The Cable)
The United Nations Economic Commission For Africa (UNECA) says the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) increased trade between countries in the region by 20 percent in 2022.
Antonio Pedro, acting executive secretary of UNECA, spoke on the success of the AfCFTA project on the sidelines of the 9th session of the Africa regional forum on sustainable development in Niamey, Niger Republic.
The commission, in 2018, estimated that the AfCFTA would increase intra-Africa trade by 52 percent by 2022.
Speaking on whether the objective of 52 percent intra-African trade was achieved, Pedro said the level of trade had increased but not up to its target.
UNECA adopts payment mechanism for AfCFTA (The Sun News Online)
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has adopted a system of payments for proceeds made from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Antonio Pedro, the Acting Executive Secretary of UNECA, said this on the sideline of the ongoing 9th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in Niamey, Niger.
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is a cross-border, financial market infrastructure enabling payment transactions across Africa. Pedro said that the continent has many currencies and PAPSS was a platform to make intra-African trade easy.
Help remove trade barriers, Tanzania contractor asks Ruto (The Star Kenya)
The Tanzanian contractor working on the LPG plant project at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa has appealed to President William Ruto to help remove trade barriers hampering businesses in the EAC region.
Rostam Aziz, the brains behind Taifa Gas Investment SEZ Limited that's undertaking the Sh16 billion Liquefied Petroleum Gas project said it's cheaper to import goods from say China to Tanzania than from Kenya.
"Cross-border business between our countries is hard and faces a lot of barriers. It is way cheaper to import goods from China, India or Dubai but importing goods from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda is a very hard task. Mr President this is not okay, we should not be like this," Aziz said.
COMESA Holds Jumia Accountable for Third-party Goods Sold on its Platform (Investors Kind Ltd)
Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce platform, has been notified by the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) that it will be held accountable for goods sold by third-party merchants on its platform.
The regional economic community in Africa has compelled Jumia to review its clauses and disclaimer and amend its terms and conditions. This means that Jumia will have to recall any defective or unsafe products sold by third-party agents and will be held responsible when customers cannot get a refund or replacement from vendors.
COMESA’s statement said that Jumia had disassociated itself from the transaction, even though the consumer deals only with Jumia, as it is the one that receives the orders, payments, and delivers on behalf of the seller.
Tax bodies agree on measures to boost Uganda-South Africa trade links (The Independent Uganda)
Uganda and South Africa have eased tax procedures for exporters on both sides, aimed at enhancing the movement of goods between the two countries.
During the South Africa Uganda Business Forum in Pretoria, the two countries’ revenue bodies signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement on Authorities Economic Operators, AEOs.
The deal between Uganda Revenue Authority-URA, and the South Africa Revenue Services was described as vital for trade facilitation among the two African countries as AEOs from either country will access faster controls and reduced supervision for customs clearance.
According to the World Customs Organisation, an AEO is “a party involved in the international movement of goods that has been approved by, or on behalf of a national customs administration as complying with WCO or equivalent supply chain security standards.”
WTO issues note on trade policy developments following one year of war in Ukraine (WTO)
The WTO Secretariat on 2 March published a Trade Monitoring Update providing a brief factual overview of trade policy developments following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The note sheds light on trade measures introduced in the context of the war, in particular in the food, feed and fertilizer sectors.
The information contained in the note — entitled “A Year of Turbulence on Food and Fertilizers Markets” — is based on research undertaken by the WTO Secretariat in the context of the WTO Trade Monitoring Reports circulated on 13 July and 22 November 2022, including trade measures submitted or verified by WTO members and observers, and continuous monitoring of trade policy trends.
The note points out that immediately following the outbreak of the war, several export restrictions on wheat, barley, sugar and seeds from Ukraine and the Russian Federation were implemented. Together, Ukraine and the Russian Federation are major food and agricultural exporters and ranked in 2021 amongst the top exporters of wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seed and sunflower oil. Additionally, the Russian Federation is a top supplier of fertilizers.
This is how war in Europe is disrupting fertilizer supplies and threatening global food security (Gavi)
The war in Ukraine is having a major impact on the global supply of agricultural fertilizers, potentially undermining food security around the world.
Russia, together with Belarus, is one of the world’s largest sources of mineral fertilizers. After its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many nations, including the United States and the European Union (EU), imposed sanctions on the country.
Although there were specific exemptions in the sanctions regime to permit Russia and Belarus to continue to supply fertilizers, exports have fallen foul of other measures designed to isolate the region.
The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Global Risks Report ranked a looming food supply crisis as one of the top four threats facing the world, predicting that “the lagged effect of a price spike in fertilizer” would hit food production across the world in 2023.
Uk Food and Drink Sector Saw Record High Exports In 2022, FDF Data Finds (Grocery Gazette)
The UK food and drink industry reported has seen a record breaking number of exports in 2022, new data of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector has revealed.
According to the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) full-year trade snapshot, there has been a huge resurgence in food and drink exports as most categories now exceed pre-pandemic levels, reaching a record £24.8 billion.
The organisation reported that exports to Europe rose 22% to £13.7 billion – with fast-growing economies like Vietnam nearly doubling compared to this time last year. For the very first time, exports to non-EU markets have broken through the £10 billion barrier, hitting £11.1 billion.
Signing of U.S.-Taiwan trade pact to be foundation for future full-scale BIA: Source (Focus Taiwan)
Taipei, March 3 (CNA) Taiwan and the United States will be signing an agreement under a trade initiative "in the coming weeks" that would pave the way for a full-scale bilateral trade agreement (BIA) should Washington wish to explore that option, said a senior Taiwan government official familiar with trade talks on Thursday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in Taipei that both sides would be signing a deal under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade "very soon."
The sealed deal will be a "de facto BIA" without touching on the issues of tariffs and free trade. It will be the first trade-related pact that U.S. President Joe Biden has signed with a foreign country since assuming office in January 2021, the source added.
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International Trade Centre Launches Toam in Seychelles for Facilitating Trade (All Africa)
Seychelles' private sector can now report the obstacles and challenges it encounters through a digital platform called the Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) platform launched on Tuesday.
TOAM is an international initiative of the International Trade Centre (ITC), developed in collaboration with public and private institutions at the national and regional levels.
Headquartered in Geneva, the ITC is a multilateral agency which has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Export: Nigerian SMEs need to be positioned for global market –Solarin (Daily Sun)
“Export for survival will continue to be a cliche till we become more deliberate about positioning Nigeria’s small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) for the global market.”
Founder of Dasun Integrated Farms Ltd and DIFL Nigeria, Bosun Solarin, made the remark during the Talking Trade and Investment Global February webinar with the Theme: Creating a sustainable Non-Export-Driven-Economy: What Nigeria Must Do.
Solarin noted that Nigeria cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results, adding that as a nation, we must act with sustainable strategies to realise a better Nigeria we hope for, one that is driven and flourishing based on non-oil export.
Ugandan investors decry continued restrictions in cross border trade (The Independent Uganda)
Ugandan entrepreneurs have questioned the willingness of the political leadership of the East African Community-EAC to make the region one trading bloc and investment destination, as challenges to cross-border trade persist.
The investors, mainly manufacturers, say they cannot ably trade across the region despite assurances by the EAC leadership and the national governments about abolishing non-trade barriers.
This comes as the business community in the region prepares for the East African Procurement Forum and Business Expo at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds from March 23rd to 26th.
Botswana’s diamond trade is expected to depreciate due to reduced demand (Business Insider Africa)
In 2022, the total mining production increased by 8.2%. Although Botswana is the continent's biggest producer of diamonds, this year's improvements in copper and coal will not make up for the fall in this commodity.
About the majority of Botswana's diamonds are produced by Debswana, a joint venture between the government of Botswana and De Beers, a division of Anglo American Plc (AAL.L). In 2022, production increased by 8% to 24.1 million carats. Trading in diamonds increased 41% in the last year, with Botswana also benefiting from Western consumers avoiding Russian stones as a result of its invasion of Ukraine.
Botswana anticipates that the production of diamonds would fall by 1% in 2023 and that growth in the diamond trade will decrease to 7% from 41% in 2018.
Egypt's net foreign assets decline by $1.7bln in January (ZAWYA)
CAIRO - Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) declined by 160.2 billion Egyptian pounds in January, likely due to debts maturing and importers clearing backlogs from ports.
NFAs deteriorated to a negative 654.43 billion Egyptian pounds from a negative 494.3 billion at end-December, central bank data showed.
This works out to a decline of $1.70 billion using end-of-month central bank exchange rates, according to Reuters calculations. The central bank allowed the Egyptian pound to depreciate by nearly 24% in January.
Training helps more women in least developed countries benefit from trade (UNCTAD)
Women drive trade in least developed countries (LDCs), with many running small businesses across borders. But they face security risks and significant constraints in accessing productive and financial resources.
To help more women in these countries benefit from trade, UNCTAD trains policymakers on how to design and implement policies that tackle gender inequalities. It also trains academicians and representatives of civil society and the private sector so they can better contribute to this cause.
The online courses equip them with the knowledge to analyse the two-way relationship between trade and gender, and to formulate gender-equitable policies.
“This training has reinforced my desire to support women’s leadership and participation,” said Namizata Binaté-Fofana, one of the 104 participants who took the latest online course on the links between trade and gender.
Namibia, Zambia to revive joint trade committee (The Namibian)
NAMIBIA and Zambia have agreed to revive the joint trade and investment committee (JTIC) to strengthen bilateral cooperation on trade, trade-related and investment matters.
The agreement came after the minister of industrialisation and trade, Lucia Iipumbu, held consultations last week with her Zambian counterpart, Chipoka Mulenga, to explore export market opportunities, and to strengthen existing bilateral cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.
According to a statement issued by ministry spokesperson Elijah Mukubonda, Iipumbu visited Zambia from 21 to 24 February for consultations with Mulenga on trade, industry and investment.
“The meeting was instrumental in supporting and collectively driving the enhanced trade relations agenda between the two countries,” the statement says, adding that the ministers reached agreements on trade relations, as well as the implementation of policies for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
Trans-Sahara Highway: Niger section almost complete (CCE News)
The Trans-Sahara Highway, linking West Africa to North Africa from Lagos to Algiers, has entered its final construction phase.
The 9,400-kilometer road is critical to establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The African Development Fund, the African Development Bank Group’s concessional lending window, is one of the key financiers.
In Niger, the junction between North and West Africa, cross-border traffic is increasing following the construction of the Farié bridge. The Bank Group’s project manager in Niger, Albéric Houssou Olaya Cestmir, speaks about this pan-African integration project.
Trademark, Tony Blair Institute join hands to boost intra-Africa trade (The East African)
Pan-African cross-border trade promoter Trademark Africa and its subsidiary Trade Catalyst Africa (TCA) have entered an agreement to work together with governments adviser Tony Blair Institute (TBI) to accelerate cross-border trade on the continent.
The three non-profit organisations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday agreeing to combine efforts in helping accelerate the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Facilitating trade development on the continent, they said, could hasten the gains of AfCFTA, which include lifting at least 30 million people from poverty by 2035 as intra-Africa trade grows by over 50 percent.
US apparel imports from Africa at $3.49 bn in 2022 (Fibre2Fashion)
Trousers and shorts were the dominant products among the total apparel imported by the US from the African continent in 2022. In the country’s total imported garments worth $3.491 billion, trousers and shorts grabbed a share of 45.20 per cent, valued at $1.578 billion. Jerseys, shirts, T-shirts, and innerwear were the other top five products.
The imports of trousers and shorts jumped more than 55 per cent in the last two years after a decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. US’ imports of trousers and shorts slipped 14.21 per cent to $1.014 billion in 2020 but bounced back up by 32.88 per cent to $1.347 billion in 2021. Inbound shipments from African countries further jumped by 17.09 per cent to $1.578 billion in the recently concluded year 2022, according to trade data obtained from Fibre2Fashion’s market insight tool TexPro.
The Third Edition Of The AmCham Business Summit On US – East Africa Trade And Investment To Be Held In March 2023 (Africa.com)
The third edition of the AmCham Business Summit – the premier U.S. – East Africa trade and investment forum – will be held on 29-30 March 2023, in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Summit will provide a strategic platform for enhancing two-way trade and investment between the United States and the East Africa region.
The Summit will be the first high-level event on the continent following the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit and comes when the United States and Kenya have just concluded a productive first round of talks on the U.S. – Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP). The Summit is expected to drive new ideas on re-energizing the region’s economy through two-way trade and investment with the United States.
Goods barometer declines further, hinting at fourth quarter trade slump (WTO)
World merchandise trade growth appears to have lost momentum in the fourth quarter of 2022 and is likely to remain weak in the first quarter of 2023, according to the latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer issued on 1 March. The overall barometer index continues to point to weakening trade growth in volume terms after falling to 92.2, down from 96.2 in the previous release and well below the baseline value of 100.
The Goods Trade Barometer is a composite leading indicator for world trade, providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends. Barometer values greater than 100 signal above-trend trade volume while values less than 100 suggest that goods trade has either fallen below trend or will do so in the near future. The barometer index (represented by the blue line above) also finished below the merchandise trade volume index (represented by the black line), which stood at 106.6 in the third quarter thanks to resilient exports in Europe and the Americas. Preliminary data suggest that the merchandise trade index will follow the barometer index down once quarterly trade volume statistics for the fourth quarter are released.
US will continue partnering with India to promote transparent, rules-based trading system: Biden administration (Financial Express)
The United States will continue to partner with India to tackle shared challenges, build resilient supply chains, and promote a transparent and rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies, the Biden Administration said Wednesday. The United States and India share a dynamic and important trade and investment relationship, the US Trade Representative said in its President’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda.
In 2021, the two countries relaunched the Trade Policy Forum (TPF), which had not met since 2017, it said, adding that India and the US convened the 13th meeting of the TPF in Washington in January last year. “Our governments discussed the tremendous potential for growth between our economies and how we can work together to bring a positive impact to working people in both countries,” it said.
“The United States will continue to partner with India to tackle shared challenges, build resilient supply chains, and promote a transparent, rules-based trading system for market economies and democracies,” the USTR said in its India section of the report. According to the USTR, throughout 2022, the US engaged with India on an ongoing basis in response to specific concerns affecting the full range of the bilateral trade relationship.
GCC bilateral trade with Asia to surpass advanced economies by 2028 (Consultancy-me)
Bilateral trade between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Asia will accelerate in the coming years, and is set to reach $578 billion by the end of this decade as Gulf economies increasingly pivot to the fast-growing East.
According to new research by UK-based think tank Asia House, two-way trade between the GCC and Asian markets will grow at almost 6% per year over the next decade, in the process seeing the East surpass the GCC’s trade value with advanced economies by 2028.
“Rapidly expanding ties between the Gulf and Asia are creating a fundamental global shift that will have far-ranging implications for international trade, business and politics. The investment corridor is growing in both directions and across various industries, including oil and non-oil sectors,” said Freddie Neve, an Associate at Asia House and co-author of the report.
Applications now open for WTO Training Course on Trade and Gender (WTO)
The WTO will hold an in-person training course on trade and gender for government officials from 2 to 5 May 2023 at its headquarters in Geneva. The course aims to help government officials develop trade policies that promote gender equality and integrate gender considerations in their work. It supports the work of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on seeking to increase women’s participation in global trade. The deadline to submit applications is 15 March 2023.
The WTO Training Course on Trade and Gender conducted in English, will assist participants in improving their knowledge of the trade and gender nexus and the role of the WTO on this issue. At the end of the course, participants will be able to utilize trade and gender concepts and tools in the analysis and development of trade policies.
The programme is built around lectures, discussions, group exercises and interactive brainstorming in eight live training sessions over four days. The course forms part of the WTO's 2022-2023 Biennial Technical Assistance and Training Plan.
EU, US ag leaders discuss plan to thwart Russian control of Ukraine grain trade (Agri-Pulse)
Exports of Ukrainian corn and wheat that supplied Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the European Union all but halted a year ago after Russia invaded the country, closing down Black Sea ports.
Now, there is a scheme to lessen the impact if those ports are closed again, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski tells Agri-Pulse.
Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi has proposed that Western allies build dedicated rail lines to allow Ukrainian farmers to ship corn and wheat directly to ports in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, where ships can take the grain all over the globe, according to Wojciechowski, who said he discussed potential U.S. involvement during meetings last week with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
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South Africa swings into a R23 billion trade deficit (Business Tech)
South Africa recorded a preliminary trade balance deficit of R23.05 billion in January 2023.
Despite recording a full-year total trade surplus of R211.6 billion (exports of R2.02 trillion and imports of R1.81 trillion) in 2022, South Africa is importing more than it was exporting at the start of 2023.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) said that the preliminary trade balance deficit of R23.05 billion for January 2023 is due to exports of R139.36 billion and imports of R162.41 billion.
Call to improve trade between SA and Uganda (SAnews)
There is room for improvement in South Africa and Uganda’s trade relations, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “When it comes to trade and investment linkages between South Africa and Uganda there is certainly room for improvement,” President Ramaphosa said on Tuesday. The President was speaking at the SA-Uganda Business Forum held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand
President Ramaphosa said he hopes to see a strong showing from Ugandan and South African business at the inaugural Africa Free Continental Trade Area (AfCTA) Business Forum that will be hosted in Cape Town in a few months’ time.
“In 2022, our two-way trade amounted to US$ 130 million, or just over R1.8 billion at the time. We should aim to more than double this to at least R4 billion within the next five years. “South Africa is open to increasing the quantity and diversity of products we source from Uganda, because the success of intra-Africa trade hinges on each of us sourcing from one another and prioritising ‘made and grown in Africa’ products and services.”
South African Envoy: Power Crisis Heightens Focus on Clean Energy Plan (Global Atlanta)
During a short visit to Atlanta last week, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States said an electricity crisis gripping the country is all the more reason to embrace an energy transformation plan focused on renewables. Ambassador Nomindiya Mfeketo said the government has declared a “state of disaster” and has outlined a plan to address persistent blackouts and power rationing at households and businesses that has slowed the machinery of the continent’s most industrialized economy.
Nigeria, PAPSS sign MoU to accelerate cross-border transactions (The Sun Nigeria)
In its bid to connect payments and accelerate Africa’s trade by transforming and facilitating payment, clearing and settlement for cross-border trade across the continent, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday.
This partnership is expected to stimulate an efficient payment system and enhance market liquidity – the current challenges in the securities and trade markets across the continent.
“The dream is becoming a reality and it is coming at an opportune time. The fact is that we cannot promote investments in our securities market without looking at a structure at which cross border transactions can be integrated.
We have a fragmented system and unless we take control of our capital, we cannot promote trade in a fragmented system and this is what we need to unlock and so I am happy with the PAPSS initiative as it will power the effective payment and settlement of cross border transactions”, President, Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah said.
Niger is Africa’s fastest growing country – how to feed 25 million more people in 30 years (The Conversation)
Niger, a landlocked country in the dry Sahel region of Africa, struggles to feed its 25 million people. It currently ranks 115th out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index, and the number of people not getting enough to eat has increased from about 13% of the population in 2014 to 20% in 2022.
Things could deteriorate even further as Niger confronts a “perfect storm”. The country has one of the highest population growth rates in the world, with few signs of slowing down. Its fertility rate – at an average of seven children per women – is the highest in the world.
To make matters worse, Niger is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change. It has high exposure to heat and a low ability to adapt to changes in climate, like increasingly unpredictable rainfall.
We identified three interventions to address food availability: better food supply, with accelerated investments in agricultural research and development less food demand through slower population growth global market integration.
Three RECs resolve about 90% of non-tariff barriers to ease trading as ECOWAS lags (The Guardian Nigeria)
No less than 716 out of 796 (88.9%) of NTBs registered in the online reporting system implemented by the three regional economic communities (RECs), COMESA, East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community have been resolved, leaving only 80 NTBs left unresolved.
The main NTBs include restrictive licensing, permitting, and other requirements applied at the border. Barriers behind the border, such as unwarranted technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures are equally prevalent.
For the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, the challenge has been various NTBs in the form of infrastructure, language, movement of people and goods among others.
AU’s approval of AfCFTA draft protocols paves way for more trade (The East African)
The African Union has approved the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) draft protocols on investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy paving way for their implementation. The move signals conclusion of the AfCFTA Phases I and II protocols that provide a legal basis for the start of trading and gives members the greenlight to domesticate the protocols.
“The Assembly takes note of the executive council recommendations for the consideration and adopts the following Draft Legal Instruments: draft protocol to the agreement establishing the AfCFTA Competition Policy, Investment and on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR),” the AU Communique reads.
Despite West Africa's agricultural potential, young men and women are in a vulnerable situation and face age-specific difficulties, even though they are key operational and political actors in the transformation of agri-food systems (production, processing, storage, distribution and use of food).
In spite of these challenges, there is a largely untapped reservoir of employment opportunities in agriculture to help young people build a better life for themselves while contributing to more productive, efficient and resilient agri-food systems towards the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. To take advantage of all these opportunities, there is a need to invest more in the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries (ASPH) sector and make it more competitive, modern and attractive to all young people, especially young rural migrants who may consider agricultural work to be arduous and unrewarding. This would not only harness their potential labour force for development, but also provide opportunities and a better future and thereby reduce the use of "negative" coping strategies (migration, drugs, crime, terrorism, etc.).
Economic integration: ECOWAS moves to ensure seamless communication in sub-region (The Sun Nigeria)
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, has kick-started a process aimed at ensuring seamless communication within the West African sub-region.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Delocalised Meeting of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications and Information Technology/Education, Science and Culture/Trade Customs and Free Movement in Niamey, Niger Republic, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, said issues concerning telecommunications, mobile roaming and its tariffs were quite critical and constitute major ingredients in the ECOWAS Integration Process.
Tunis also said in a study on Mobile Internet Adoption in West Africa, conducted by the Bonn Institute of Labour Economics in 2021, it was found that the widespread adoption and use of digital technologies have multifold potential for the sub-region.
Africa must combat illicit trade in natural resources - reports (The North Africa Post)
To protect its abundant natural resources, African countries need to make concerted efforts to combat illicit resource trade, according to reports from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Africa boasts a significant amount of the world’s natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, including arable land, oil, natural gas, minerals and wildlife. The continent contains 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, 8% of natural gas reserves and 12% of oil reserves, according to the UNEP data. Africa holds 40% of the world’s gold reserves, up to 90% of the world’s chromium and platinum reserves, the world’s largest cobalt, diamond, platinum, and uranium reserves. It has 65% of the world’s arable land and 10% of the world’s internal renewable fresh water supply.
Africa as a whole stands to benefit greatly from banding together and utilizing its abundant natural resources to fund development and achieve greater prosperity. But to achieve this, it must ensure that future resource development and exploitation are goal-oriented, climate resilient and sustainable.
Closing the gap for the illegal trade in natural resources can help raise some of the funds that Africa needs to support inclusive prosperity. The unrecorded exchange of natural resources that undermines the economic advancements of the larger African civilization is referred to as “illicit commerce” in this context.
What will it take to boost Africa’s vaccine production? (SciDev.net)
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of vaccines in controlling infectious disease in sub-Saharan Africa and renewed interest in vaccine research and development across the continent. Yet at the moment, Africa produces just one per cent of its routine vaccines.
“Africa has to build that capacity to produce vaccines,” Ebere Okere, senior technical advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for global change and honorary senior public health advisor of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, tells SciDev.Net.
This insufficient capacity to produce vaccines leaves the region dependent on imports for its vaccine needs, and makes it vulnerable to a vaccine crisis during health emergencies.
Innovation seen as key to growth for Africa (China Daily)
Leaders and experts have called on African countries to invest in research and development if the continent is to realize sustainable development, industrialization and economic diversification.
Experts who spoke at the fifth African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum held on Sunday and Monday said many nations had underfunded research and development.
Antonio Pedro, acting executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, or ECA, said the allocation for R&D was just 0.5 percent of GDP in most African states. Many countries have fewer than 100 researchers per million inhabitants.
“To build on the innovative spirit, we need to strengthen the enabling environment through informed policies, increase investment in R&D, and harness the support of the private sector more effectively,” he said.
The AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) is the latest development designed to boost trade in the Africa’s continent-wide free trade zone. The GTI was launched in October 2022 with the aim of testing meaningful, continuous trade under AfCFTA and to assist in the development of regional value chains that will allow for more climate-friendly, sustainable trade across the continent.
The GTI will test AfCFTA’s policies, legal framework and operational and institutional environments. There are eight countries participating in the GTI that have all met the minimum requirements in terms of AfCTA’s tariff book and rules of origin – Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia. The GTI will allow the shipment of goods from these countries through customs clearance, including ceramic tiles, sisal fibre, batteries, and beverages and foodstuffs, including tea, coffee, processed meat products, corn starch, sugar, pasta, glucose syrup and dried fruits. African countries receiving these goods will benefit from reduced tariff treatment (and possibly eventually from zero tariffs). The GTI will also focus on increasing opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), youth and women in trade.
Namibia hosts regional transport system (New Era)
The launch of the Transport Registers and Information Platform System and the Corridor Trip Monitoring System took place yesterday in Windhoek.
Namibia is providing facilities for hosting the TRIPS and CTMS on behalf of the tripartite regional economic communities to facilitate intra-regional trade and cross-border transport and transit. The tripartite is made up of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
TRIPS is an information communication technology (ICT) gateway or switch that inter-connects national transport information systems in order to improve information-sharing and authentication of transit documents, licences, permits and vehicle and driver particulars between and among the 25 participating member states’ regulatory and law enforcement agents within the tripartite region.
African businesses seem to prefer trading with non-African nations over intercontinental trades (Business Insider Africa)
African traders are taking advantage of favorable import tariffs provided by the US, Canada, EU, and Japan (the “Quad nations”) under different preferential trade agreements (PTAs), which has led to significant exports to these quad nations.
This information is according to findings by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) which showed that enterprises are not fully utilizing comparable advantages under local regional economic communities.
Because of this, commerce between the regional blocs has trailed substantially behind transactions with the Quad nations.
During the same period of exports to the Quad, nations sat at 77.3% while interregional exports came in at 60.8% Uganda and Burundi are two examples of nations that reported exceptionally low levels of PTA usage while utilizing cross-border free trade agreements.
We meet at a crucial moment for Africa and for us all. Our world is experiencing a series of cascading crises that are undermining hard-fought development gains and threatening current and future generations alike. Africa is taking the impact full on, with socioeconomic fall-outs of COVID-19, the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine, all of which Africa have least contributed to.
We do so with the common understanding that through African-led solutions, born on African soil, we can change course and rise to the challenge of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. Intra-African trade is rising in the region and the Continental Free Trade Agreement has the potential to lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty. Thanks to the leadership in the African Union.
African Heads of State have also endorsed an action plan on sustainable industrialization and economic diversification. We must ensure that the emerging green and digital economies better serve Africa’s people and natural environment. And key to implementation will be the inclusion of our young population.
Africa’s energy transformation is at the heart of these efforts. The development of a sustainable value chain for electric vehicle battery minerals by Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and other development partners is a promising example.
Mobilizing finance for a just transition, inclusive recovery through innovative partnerships (UNECA)
Addressing the climate crisis and achieving the goals of the historic Paris Agreement require transitioning to a just net-zero economy for which finance is a major lever.
It is against this backdrop that a high-level panel was organized at the ninth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development to explore how to mobilize finance for a just transition and achieve an inclusive recovery as the financing agenda for a just transition moved into a new phase with the announcement at COP27 by richer nations to pay for loss and damage to accelerate the pace towards inclusive growth as we build back better.
A lot has changed since the United Nations charted a reasonable and sustainable route for our people and planet in 2015 to achieve inclusive growth. The effects of climate change, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine are remaking societies and worsening their economic outlook. In Africa, meeting the goals for Agenda 2030, Agenda 2063 and adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change and the fallouts of the pandemic require access to finance to deliver an inclusive recovery to a sustainable economy.
Scaling up Climate Finance for Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (IMF)
Financing needed to meet adaptation and mitigation goals are estimated at trillions of US dollars annually until 2050. But so far, we are seeing only around 630 billion dollars a year in climate finance across the whole world—with only a fraction going to developing countries.
This is particularly concerning—because emerging and developing economies have vast needs for climate finance. And it underlines why it’s so important for advanced economies to meet or exceed the pledge of providing $100 billion per year in climate finance for developing countries.
This is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.
Global nature of trade will prevail, MSC CEO tells TPM23 (Africa Aviation News)
Container shipping will serve as the bedrock for the growth of international trade and commerce, and “global trade will prevail” despite the disruptions of Covid and geopolitical factors, according to MSC CEO Soren Toft.
Speaking for the first time at this year’s Transpacific Maritime Conference known as TPM23, Toft said: “The world will continue to be globalised, but with a more distributed supply chain,” Toft said while giving a detailed overview of the company’s continued growth, expectations for economic recovery, and efforts to realise sustainable shipping.
“The world has seen through the supply chain crunch just how important the logistics and shipping industry really is – we keep global trade moving,” Toft said in an interview with Journal of Commerce’s Peter Tirschwell. “It has really displayed the fundamental role that we have, and customers are now thinking about how to make their supply chain resilient for the future.”
Recommendations of the High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth (World Bank)
A new joint report from an international panel of development experts outlines recommendations needed to support a pathway to green, resilient, and inclusive development. The report, “The Big Push for Transformation through Climate and Development – Recommendations of the High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) on Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery and Growth,” summarizes insights derived from meetings, consultations, and studies conducted during the 18 months of the HLAG.
“The world is at a pivotal moment. Hard-fought development progress has been eroded by a devastating convergence of recent and ongoing crises. Despite these challenges, there are unique opportunities—from astonishing advances in technology and innovation to unprecedented alignment among international organizations on the approach to green, resilient and inclusive development. The HLAG recommendations provide the world community a path for the necessary action - action at scale and speed”, says Mari Pangestu, HLAG cochair and World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships.
DDG Ellard calls for strengthening global ocean governance at World Ocean Summit (WTO)
The adoption of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June 2022 gave considerable justification for optimism about multilateral ocean governance, DDG Ellard said at the discussion moderated by The Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes. Noting that the Agreement was adopted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a food crisis, DDG Ellard said this gives hope that members can put their differences aside to address issues concerning the global commons.
DDG Ellard further emphasized that two-thirds of WTO members have to deposit instruments of acceptance at the WTO for the Agreement to enter into force and start delivering its benefits for ocean sustainability.
DG Okonjo-Iweala: “We cannot afford to have an MC13 that does not deliver” (WTO)
“Excellencies, exactly on this day next year, Ministers will be in Abu Dhabi for MC13,” the Director-General told members. “We have less than a year to ensure that the meeting yields meaningful outcomes. Ten months is a short time in WTO negotiations, so we have to step up our efforts, starting now.”
“We need to show that we can deliver ourselves, even as our sister organizations are under pressure to reform and perform,” the DG continued. “So we cannot afford to have an MC13 that does not deliver.”
MC13 is due to take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, during the week of 26 February 2024.
Fight against climate change will worsen existing inequality in global trade: CSE and DTE (Down To Earth Magazine)
In the name of climate action, countries are introducing policies which can spark trade wars Developed countries of the world are reneging on free trade in the name of climate change, says a new analysis and the subject of its latest cover story by Down To Earth (DTE) magazine. Armed with massive subsidies and tariffs, the US and EU are leading this trend towards protectionism. This may change the global trade system as we know it.
Farm talks restart with positive momentum, focus on food security (WTO)
At a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session — the Committee’s negotiation arm — on 27 February, the recently elected chair, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye, said his extensive consultations revealed members’ strong commitment to achieving an outcome with a focus on food security at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) slated for February 2024. He highlighted the importance of adopting a new mindset as negotiations resumed and said he planned to convene a series of seminars at end-March to gain a better understanding of the issues under negotiation.
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Infrastructure is key to SA’s development (SAnews)
Improving government’s performance as a contributor to the construction sector is key to unlocking the country’s economic and social development, says the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. “Government is a key player in the construction sector accounting for about 40% of the country’s total infrastructure budget,” the department said in a statement. At least R117.5 billion in budget was allocated to infrastructure in the 2022/23 financial year and it is estimated that government expenditure will total R903billion over the next three years.
SA business people pleased with trade leads generated in UAE (SAnews)
South African businesspeople who participated in the Gulfood Exhibition that took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates last week, have said they are pleased with the trade leads that they generated. They recorded over 4 000 promising trade leads that they hope will soon translate into substantially tangible deals.
The 16 agro-processing companies, including the South African Fruit and Vegetables Canners Export Council (SAFVEC), showcased their products in a National Pavilion that was set up by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic). The main objective of the support provided by the dtic
SA has an action plan to get off the grey list (SAnews)
Government is determined to address the concerns raised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as quickly as possible with the fundamentals in place to get off the “grey list”. In his weekly newsletter to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa said government has gone through a rigorous process of addressing the issues that FATF has raised.
This comes after South Africa was put on a “grey list” last week by the FATF for falling short of certain international standards for the combating of money laundering and other serious financial crimes.
Uganda-South Africa Business summit kicks off today (New Vision)
The first Uganda-South Africa, Trade, Tourism and Investment Summit gets underway Monday (today) in Pretoria, South Africa. The summit that ends on Wednesday is expected to attract 300 delegates, both private and public, who include the business community, heads of government agencies, and policymakers among others, according to Uganda Investment Authority (UIA).
UIA says that the summit will provide a platform for the private sector, government and business regulatory agencies to exchange views, ideas, and information on how to facilitate investment and also identify existing business and investment opportunities for Uganda. Areas of discussion at the summit include Tourism, Trade and Investment, Finance, Insurance, Professional Service, Manufacturing, Mining, Energy Resources, Agro-processing, ICT, Power Generation, education, and Infrastructure development among others.
NamRA ensures Namibia pockets billions (New Era)
Preliminary outturns in many respects point to improving fiscal fundamentals aligned to positive domestic economic growth prospects and buoyancy arising from tax administration reforms, Finance and Public Enterprises Minister Iipumbu Shiimi has said.
Tabling his 2023/24 national budget last week in the National Assembly, he noted that by the end of January 2023, preliminary revenue outturn stood at N$56.2 billion, reflecting a collection rate of 87.8% over 10 months.
Total collections of N$74.7 billion are estimated for FY2023/24. The significant boost to revenues stems from an upward revision in receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) pool to N$24.3 billion.
Kenya proposes lavish spending amid missed revenue targets (The East African)
Kenya’s National Treasury plans to raise government expenditure by 15.9 percent to Ksh3.66 trillion (about $29.2 billion) in the next financial year, anchored on a projected increase in tax revenue. But latest figures show that Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has failed to meet current targets.
The draft medium-term national Budget Policy Statement released this past week shows that the government plans to increase the budget size to $40.5 billion by 2026, supported by an expected sustained increase in tax revenue.
The Treasury expects revenue to increase to $23 billion next year, a 15 percent rise, and to at least $33.4 billion by 2026, mostly driven by anticipated growth in tax revenue and a slight improvement in appropriations in aid.
Kenya and Uganda opt for border post to stop bandits (The East African)
Kenya and Uganda have initiated talks for the opening of a one-stop border post in Lokiriama in northwest Kenya, that will seek to open up trade and fight livestock raids. Kenya’s Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo said the border post would enhance movement and trade between the two nations and investments in the cross-border road network and improved security and surveillance.
The two countries revived their September 2019 memorandum of understanding that sought to enhance cross-border trade between the Turkana and Karamoja, by establishing immigration and customs border points at Lokiriama, Nawountos and Nakitong’o.
“The two governments should mobilise resources for peace dividend projects and to facilitate peace-building initiatives in the region for sustainable peace and security,” the joint statement concluded.
Lack of cash crumbling business activities, livelihood in Nigeria (Africanews)
Africa’s most populous country Nigeria has withdrawn 200-, 500- and 1000-naira notes from circulation following the redesign of the Nigerian currency. After the unveiling of the notes people have been struggling to access them from banks and Automated teller machine (ATM) cash points. Since the full implementation of the policy on February 1, and the deadline for validity of the old notes passed, getting the new naira notes has been a challenge.
While people continue to grapple with the scarcity of cash challenge, the industrial sector is also lamenting the policy, Francis Meshioye the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said the scarcity of the Naira is having an impact on production output.
Speaking on the impact of the scarcity, Meshioye said ‘it is affecting all economy and manufacturing sector in particular, because inability of people to access cash particularly for products that cannot be easily procured by electronic transfer will imply, they will be backlog in the stock of those goods.’
Govt scouts for more value chain development aid (The Zimbabwe Independent)
Government says it hopes to increase financial resources towards value chain development following the recently announced US$22,5 million revolving fund to support the endeavour. Speaking at the validation workshop for the fertiliser, pharmaceutical and packaging subsector in Harare on Friday, Industry and Commerce minister Sekai Nzenza said they had placed innovation hubs to nurture and develop local ideas and solutions to industrial challenges.
“The government is also making efforts to avail financial resources to support value chain development. A total of US$ 22,5 million was availed under the Retooling for New Equipment and Replacement for the Value Chains Revolving Fund,” she said.
“The government has also put in place innovation hubs to nurture and develop local ideas and solutions to industrial challenges. In this regard, we exhort the private sector to partner with institutes of higher learning and provide them with the challenges they are facing, so that we may develop local solutions to these challenges.”
AfCFTA won’t be used for dumping, Kgafela assures (Mmegi Online)
Last Sunday, President Mokgweetsi Masisi officially submitted the country’s instruments of ratification to the African Union (AU) Commission, ending a four-year journey of negotiations over the pan-African trade deal. Botswana was the 46th country to ratify the deal out of 54 African countries that signed the original African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2018.
Kgafela said the AfCFTA provides protections such as anti-dumping provisions, countervailing and anti-countervailing as well as protection of infant industry that will cover local businesses from dumping, especially in key manufacturing sectors.
The fundamental role of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in overcoming the peculiar challenges faced by Africa’s Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was highlighted today in Harare at a high-level event jointly organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).
Research and development: key to Africa’s industrialization and economic diversification (UNECA)
Investing in research and development by African countries will deliver sustainable industrialization and economic diversification on the continent, says Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). This will enable the continent harness technology for a green, inclusive and resilient Africa.
Mr Pedro was speaking at the opening of the Fifth African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum 2023, a side event ahead of upcoming 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) in Niemey, Niger. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Accelerating development and diffusion of emerging technologies”.
“To build on the innovative spirit, we need to strengthen the enabling environment through informed policies, increase investment in the research and development, and harness the support of the private sector more effectively,” noted the ECA executive secretary, adding that Africa should be at the forefront of a green transformation to accelerate growth, diversify economies and deliver on the SDGs and Agenda 2063. “One key opportunity for us lies in the renewable energy market. The value in this market in 2020 was estimated at $881.7 billion and is projected to reach $1,977.6 billion by 2030”
EAC secures funds for feasibility study on the Northern Corridor (The Standard)
The East African Community (EAC) has secured over Sh1.5 billion ($1.4 million) for a feasibility study on a key section of the Northern Transport Corridor linking Kenya and Uganda. EAC Planning and Infrastructure Deputy Secretary General Steven Mlote told The Standard that the funding – from the African Development Bank – is for conducting a feasibility study on the 256km multinational Kisumu-Kisian-Busia/Kakira – Malaba-Busitema-Busia expressway project.
Mlote said that part of the funding would also be for the feasibility studies for upgrading the Malaba, Busia and Lwakhakha border posts along the Kenya-Uganda border.
To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, the SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063, the world must decarbonize its growth models and shift to renewable energy sources, says Acting Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Antonio Pedro. Speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Building a regional battery mineral value chain in Africa,’ Mr Pedro said the shift to renewable energy sources was a resource-intensive path that required greater production of a variety of minerals that are central to decarbonization.
“We have clear opportunities not only from the global green mineral boom but also from our domestic achievements, such as the African Continental Free-Trade Area to facilitate the development of regional value chains for these green economy products,” Mr. Pedro said, noting several innovative financing mechanisms that have been developed to support initiatives such as the battery and electric vehicles value chains.
Africa needs to curb emissions to attract investments (UNECA)
The Institute for Development and Economic Planning (IDEP) held on Saturday 25 February a webinar on “How Africa can go green through a clean energy strategy” in preparation for the 9th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development scheduled to take place in Niamey (Niger) from 28 February to March 2nd, 2023.
Urbanization and population growth are putting intense pressure on Africa’s energy infrastructure. Demand is significantly outstripping supply leading to power cuts and limiting economic development.
Rising demand and oil prices, the looming depletion of global oil stocks and climate change mean that Africa’s traditional reliance on conventional energy sources is no longer a viable option. However, the continent’s clean energy transition is not without challenges either.
Africa is the continent with the highest renewable energy potential in the world and is the one with the least access to it, said Andrea Renzulli, Senior Expert at RES4AFRICA Foundation. Against global trends, the continent’s renewable energy investments have reached a historical low, accounting for only six percent of total investments in renewable energy.
The President of the Republic of Seychelles, His Excellency Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan, has called for concerted efforts among members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to harness the potential of tourism, blue economy and wildlife as drivers of economic growth, regional integration and development.
The President stressed the importance of putting issues of environment, climate change, maritime security, and blue economy among the key priorities of the SADC regional development agenda, as the people of Seychelles, like other Island nations, depend on the ocean resources for their sustenance and livelihood. On this note, the President called for regional preparedness against disasters emanating from climate change which, in the case of Seychelles, affect the tourism and fisheries sectors, two of the key pillars and contributors to Seychelles Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment and foreign exchange.
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) in collaboration with the African Development Bank and the Wangari Mathai Institute have concluded a three-day regional forum on the future of resilient food systems in Africa.
The Forum, called the Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa – AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate provided training aimed at strengthening the capacity of stakeholders from across Eastern Africa to design and implement solutions to improve food security and climate resilience and to facilitate knowledge sharing among farmers on approaches to scale up the use of Digital climate-informed advisory services, or DCAS.
Republic of Mali follows Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso in adopting factoring law, developed in collaboration with Afreximbank (Afreximbank)
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) celebrates the adoption and enactment of a factoring law in the Republic of Mali. Afreximbank’s Factoring Model Law was used as a guide for the development of La Banque des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO’s) factoring law, which the Republic of Mali has adopted. This conforms to the Bank’s Factoring Strategy, which aims to provide legal and regulatory support to African countries in their pursuit of factoring as an alternative financing option.
The enactment of the law in Mali creates a facilitative legal and regulatory environment for factoring to thrive in the country, thereby supporting SMEs with access to another form of financing. The move, which follows similar legislative developments in Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso, constitutes a crucial milestone in the broader African effort to increase its share of global factoring transactions from its current level of around 1%. Moreover, Mali’s decision may well encourage other BCEAO’s Member States to adopt and domesticate the law.
Factoring offers an alternative trade finance instrument to African businesses, and therefore having a robust legal regime that promotes factoring will provide a major boost to the emergence and growth of SMEs and factoring companies in the Republic of Mali and beyond. By creating a legal infrastructure which diversifies SME financing, and provides credibility and assurance to investors, the law will significantly improve access to finance for previously excluded small and medium sized businesses in Mali.
Ugandan president Museveni: UK ‘missing trade opportunities’ with Commonwealth amid food shortages (The Grocer)
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni said the UK was “underutilising” its trade links with many African countries in light of fruit & veg shortages. Museveni – who has been in power for over four decades – said the UK could have “absolutely” avoided the current fruit & veg shortages if it had set up more robust trade deals with Uganda and other African nations post-Brexit.
The president told The Grocer the UK was “missing opportunities” for trade with its Commonwealth partners like Uganda, and that farmers in the East African nation were ready to ramp up exports of fresh produce and coffee.
In major economic shocks best response combines all out large scale policies (IMF)
Economists will be studying the pandemic for generations to learn from the dramatic global downturn and the ensuing credit crunch, but one important lesson about the scope of action needed to contain the next global crisis is already coming into focus.
During the pandemic, countries often used all-out responses that combined large fiscal, monetary, and prudential policies like grants, credit facilities, and relaxed capital requirements. As we demonstrate in a new working paper, this kind of expansive response may be needed to support corporate borrowing and credit growth in major future crises that combine global supply and demand shocks.
Our findings are based on an analysis using a dataset we made available last year tracking national announcements of economic and financial policy responses to the pandemic. Over the course of 2020, countries most frequently used packages of more than one fiscal, monetary, or prudential policy, while standalone policy announcements were rare.
With global growth set to slow in 2023 and remain below its historical average, too many people in too many countries are struggling to make ends meet—a point that I highlighted in my recent blog on policy priorities for the G20. The international community, therefore, has a responsibility to come together to find solutions for the most vulnerable members of our global family. This calls for urgent action to strengthen the international financial architecture, especially in the area of debt resolution and strengthening the global financial safety net.
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Uganda - South Africa Investment Summit opens next week in South Africa (Monitor)
The Ugandan business community has been flagged off in preparation for the South Africa Trade Investment and Tourism summit, scheduled at the Gallagher Convention Center, Midrand, South Africa, from February 27th to 28th.
Organised jointly by the Government of Uganda and the Republic of South Africa, under the theme "Boosting Trade and Investment Relations Between South Africa and Uganda", the summit will provide a platform for the business community and government agencies to identify existing and emerging business and investment opportunities of mutual benefit.
The purpose is to bring buyers and sellers from both countries along with investors in the value chain of the key export products from Uganda, together.
Uganda has a target of US$6 billion in non-oil exports between 2023 and 2028, to stave off growing unemployment, restore sustained growth in key sectors of the economy post Covid-19 and increase value addition in agriculture along with more manufacturing in country.
Tanzania: 2023 Article IV Consultation (IMF)
The authorities’ reform program aims at strengthening the economic recovery, preserving macroeconomic stability, and supporting structural reforms toward sustainable and inclusive growth.
Key policy actions of the reform program focus on strengthening fiscal space to allow for much needed social spending and high-yield public investment, advancing structural reforms to create an enabling environment for investment and job creation, and modernizing monetary policy and financial supervision to safeguard macro-financial stability and promote financial deepening.
IMF Executive Board concludes 2022 Article IV Consultation with Angola (IMF)
Angola’s economy continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, supported by higher oil prices, improved oil production, and resilient non-oil activity. Non-oil growth was broad-based despite a challenging external environment. Growth is estimated at 3.5 percent for 2023. Headline inflation declined significantly to 13.8 percent y/y at end-December 2022, driven by lower global food prices, a stronger kwanza, and previous efforts by the central bank to tighten monetary policy.
Uganda’s export earnings increased by 10.7 percent – Finance (Monitor)
Uganda exported merchandise worth $371.81 million in December 2022, indicating an increase of 10.7 percent from $335.77 million registered the month before, helping the government to raise funds to cater for the needs of citizens.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said in the performance of the economy monthly report of January 2023 released on February 21 that the growth was attributed to increased receipts for maize and mineral products, among others.
The Ministry of Finance said during the month of December 2022, maize exports increased from $4.34 million in November 2022 to $20.48 million in December 2022. The rise was partly due to the onset of the maize harvesting season as well as the heightened demand for Uganda’s maize by the neighboring countries.
Kenya Ports Authority moves cargo handling services to e-portal (The East African)
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has moved its cargo handling services to the government portal e-Citizen to comply with the current administration’s target of going paperless in its transactions. Various port users have applauded the KPA for adopting technology and going paperless in its transaction by going live on the e-Citizen platform starting Tuesday this week.
Uganda still Kenya’s top regional tourism source market, report says (The East African)
Uganda has for another year running retained its spot as Kenya’s biggest tourism source market in the region according to new data released by tourism authorities in Nairobi.
This data is contained in the new Kenya’s tourism sector performance report for 2022 released Wednesday at the Fairmont Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi by the country’s Tourism Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza.
The report noted that Uganda contributed 12 percent of total arrivals to Kenya in 2022, coming only second to the United States which took the top overall spot with a 16 percent contribution.
European Union signs $27m funding to boost Kenya’s exports (The East African)
The European Union on Tuesday signed a $27 million funding for TradeMark Africa to facilitate a five-year programme that will boost Kenya’s exports and support the government in creating a conducive business environment. The signing that took place during the EU-Kenya Business Forum was witnessed by Kenya’s President William Ruto, the EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger and Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, among other dignitaries.
The facility, named Business Environment and Export Enhancement Programme (Beeep) will be implemented in partnership with the government of Kenya. Beeep will complement the goal of the Integrated National Export Development and Promotion Strategy (INEDPS) that seeks to grow agricultural exports by an average of 25 percent annually.
The overarching goal is to close the persistent negative balance of trade through export growth, factor productivity and stimulate economic development and job creation, in a sustainable and inclusive manner. “As matters stand now, the EU is the largest destination for Kenya’s exports accounting for about Ksh170 billion ($1.3 billion) in 2021, said Ruto when he officially opened the two-day EU-Kenya business forum, which brings together 500 business people – 250 from Kenya and 250 from the European Union.
Morocco is Africa’s 3rd Most Attractive Country for Tourism, 4th for Trade (Morocco World News)
Spanish consulting firm Bloom Consulting has ranked Morocco as one the best places for investors and tourists interested in Africa, with the firm ranking the North African kingdom as the continent’s third most attractive destination for tourism and the fourth best country for trade on the African continent.
Bloom Consulting has published its 2022-2023 Country Brand Rankings for tourism and trade, featuring a total of 80 countries worldwide. The tourism ranking examines the participating countries’ economic performance, digital appeal, online performance and presence, as well as the Country Brand Strategy (CBS).
Kenya, Uganda start talks to create one-stop border post in bandit-prone area (The Independent Uganda)
Kenya and Uganda have initiated talks for the opening of a One-Stop Border Post in Lokiriama in northwest Kenya to boost trade and open up the far-flung area, the Interior Ministry said Monday evening. Kenya’s Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo said the border post would enhance movement and trade between the two nations and investments in the cross-border road network and improved security and surveillance.
“Kenya is also keen on reviewing and revising the agreement signed with Uganda in support of the cross-border program for sustainable peace and development to align with its new priorities and emerging issues,” Omollo said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Close to 90% of Non-Tariff Barriers reported in the Tripartite region have been resolved (COMESA)
Overall, 716 out of 796 (88.9%) of NTBs registered in the online reporting system implemented by the three regional economic communities (RECs), COMESA, East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community have been resolved. Only 80 NTBs remain unresolved.
The main NTBs include restrictive licensing, permitting, and other requirements applied at the border. Barriers behind the border, such as unwarranted technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures are equally prevalent.
The tripartite NTBs Online and SMS Reporting, Monitoring and Eliminating system www.tradebarriers.org has been operational since 2010 and has remained an effective tool in the resolution of cross-border trade challenges. It was established to support market integration by implementing a harmonized NTBs elimination programme in COMESA, EAC and SADC tripartite region.
Feature: Africa’s natural resources and illicit trade (The Zimbabwe Independent)
Africa’s natural resource wealth necessitates concerted efforts to combat illicit resource trade. Natural resources abound in Africa, including arable land, oil, natural gas, minerals and wildlife. The continent contains a significant amount of the world’s natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, Africa contains 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, 8% of natural gas reserves and 12% of oil reserves.
The continent as a whole stand to benefit greatly from banding together and utilising its abundant natural resources to fund development and achieve greater prosperity.
It must, however, ensure that future resource development and exploitation are goal-oriented, climate resilient and sustainable.
African Development Bank holds first industrial and trade business opportunity forum in Egypt (AfDB)
The African Development Bank, in collaboration with the Egyptian Commercial Services (ECS) department of the Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Trade, has ended its first Industrial and Trade Business Opportunity Seminar (IT-BOS) dedicated to establishing business relationships with Egyptian manufacturers and exporters.
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, African Development Bank Director of Industrial and Trade Department, delivered the opening address on behalf of Solomon Quaynor, Vice President of Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialization.
He highlighted the purpose of the seminar: “to establish solid business relations and explore collaboration opportunities with the Egyptian industrial business community for growth in the domestic market and to deepen Egyptian regional integration in Africa.”
“African investments in Africa are below acceptable levels, Africa has endless business opportunities that are often unknown to businesses in neighboring countries – a cardinal sin in this information technology age. We should develop a common manual of doing business to facilitate intra-Africa trade we should proactively address the sources of high cost of doing intra-Africa business,” underscored Ambassador, Mohamed El-Badry, Assistant to the Minister for African Affairs.
AfCFTA International labour standards deficit must be addressed (IndustriALL)
Trade unions want standards that include the decent work agenda: creation of decent jobs, respect of fundamental rights at work, social dialogue, and social protection. They were clear that they want the decent work agenda and international standards on labour migration to be incorporated as clauses in the protocols when the agreement is up for review.
he Africa Union, has declared 2023 as the “Year of the AfCFTA” with a focus on implementation of the agreement in tourism, transport, communication, financial, and other services. However, unions also want the trade agreement to help facilitate the transition from informal to formal economies, and to contribute to economic development, regional integration, and the industrialization of the continent. Further, they want the agreement to promote youth and women employment to reverse their marginalization and exclusion from economic activities.
Regional integration is key to food and energy security, says US envoy (Arab News)
In an effort to encourage and support regional cooperation in efforts to combat climate change and improve food and energy security, the US is working with Oman, the UAE and India to develop projects that benefit the region and the wider international community, a leading American official said on Thursday.
Speaking during a briefing at the end of official visits to the UAE and Oman, Jose W. Fernandez, the US under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said he had discussed projects related to food security, clean energy and space with government officials and business leaders from both countries.
Members’ discussion on e-commerce work programme highlights need to bridge digital divide (WTO)
India presented its proposal on the role of digital public infrastructure in promoting e-commerce. The proposal outlines issues limiting access to and adoption of digital technologies. The proposal notes that a digital public infrastructure underpins digital transactions and enables more inclusive service delivery and innovation across public and private sectors. The proposal further outlines features that are important to obtain an ideal infrastructure.
WTO note finds global trade resilient following one year of war in Ukraine (WTO)
The note titled “One year of war in Ukraine: Assessing the impact on global trade and development” estimates that trade growth in 2022 was above the WTO trade forecast of 3% issued in April and substantially higher than its estimates for more pessimistic scenarios for the year. The stability of global trade was also evident in global supply chains, confirmed by the 4% year-on-year growth of trade in intermediate goods in the second quarter of 2022.
“Global trade has held up well in the face of the war in Ukraine. Despite the devastation we have seen one year on, trade flows remained open. We have not seen the worst predictions foreseen at the onset of the war. Sharply higher food prices and supply shortages have not materialized thanks to the
World warming at rate well above what Paris Agreement requires, Anglo CEO warns (Engineering News)
The world is on a trajectory to reach 2.7 °C of warming above pre-industrial levels, which is quite a long way mathematically from the 1.5 °C that is required by the Paris Agreement. This was pointed out by Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad, quoting independent sources such as Climate Action Tracker.
“It was a tough year with extreme weather… there are disruptions that we’re seeing more frequently in extreme weather events,” said Wanblad, following the release of the London- and Johannesburg-listed company’s second-highest set of 2022 financial results following its record performance
The developing world is facing a giant shortage of capital, energy, and growth potential. With interest rates rising and currency depreciation pushing prices up, the risk of financial stress is particularly acute among emerging and developing economies, especially those with large current account deficits and reliance on foreign capital inflows. Some face a full-blown financial crisis.
Global activity is expected to remain below its pre-pandemic trend for the foreseeable future, and the years between 2020 and 2024 are set to be the weakest five years for global growth since at least 1960 due to the multiple crises.
A key issue in the evolution is the financing of global public goods. This is already an important focus, and our financing for GPGs has expanded dramatically. It more than tripled over the past decade, and doubled during my presidency, reaching over $100 billion in the three-year period FY20-22, with over half of this amount in climate finance. Our upcoming report on the Enablers of Inclusive Cities, a G20 request for the Infrastructure G20 agenda, will review policy instruments for urban resilience and sustainability.
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Ministers welcome 2023 Budget (SAnews)
Government Ministers have welcomed the 2023 Budget Speech, saying Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana did his best to extricate the country from an economic conundrum. “The conditions under which the minister had to work were extremely toxic but he has done his best,” Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, told SAnews. “He doesn’t have to mention department by department but we have our letters of allocation. The main thing for the Department of Home Affairs in the letter of allocation is to increase the border guards at the border gates,” he said, in reference to the newly established Border Management Authority (BMA).
In this regard, National Treasury in the 2023 Budget Review document, an annexure in Minister Godongwana’s speech, said R3.3 billion would over the next three years be allocated to setting the BMA’s wheels in motion.
Govt aims to stimulate renewables investment with R9bn in tax incentives, reworked bounce-back scheme (Engineering News)
South Africa’s 2023 Budget includes tax incentives worth R9-billion to support businesses and households invest in renewable energy, including rooftop solar, in a bid to offset the impact of intensifying power cuts.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the decision to incentivise renewables investments had been taken to enable customers to alleviate pressure on the grid, but also stressed that it was not an open-ended incentive.
He announced that the tax incentive available for businesses to promote renewable energy would be temporarily expanded beyond its current design, which allowed businesses to deduct the costs of qualifying investments over a one- or three-year period, creating a cash flow benefit in the early years of
Namibia tables bigger fiscal budget for 2023/24 financial year (China.org.cn)
Namibian Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi on Wednesday proposed an 84.6 billion Namibian dollars (about 5.7 billion U.S. dollars) budget for the financial year 2023/2024. Speaking at parliament while tabling the national budget speech, Shiimi said the earmarked amount includes 2 billion Namibia dollars in development projects funded outside the State Revenue Fund and 10 billion Namibia dollars in debt servicing costs.
According to Shiimi, 2023/2024 national budget is anchored on three fiscal pillars of pro-sustainability under which it aims to reduce the budget deficit, pro-poor by providing support for the poor via various social safety nets, and pro-growth by optimizing economic growth.
On the revenue front, total collections of 74.7 billion Namibia dollars are estimated for the financial year 2023/24, about 16.5 percent higher than the revised estimates for the financial year 2022/23, he said, adding that the significant boost to revenues stems from an upward revision in receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) customs pool to 24.3 billion Namibia dollars, around 6.4 billion Namibia dollars higher than the previous estimates.
Donated clothes an environmental disaster in disguise for developing world (RFI)
As much as one third of the clothing sent from the wealthy west to developing countries every year may be ending up as landfill. Unwearable polyester garments are little more than “plastic waste in disguise,” according to a report on Kenya by the Changing Markets Foundation. Kenya is the destination for 900 million pieces of used clothing every year.
Much of the clothing shipped to the country is made from petroleum-based materials such as polyester.When the clothes cannot be used, they end up burning in landfills near Nairobi, exposing waste pickers and local residents to toxic fumes.Tonnes of textiles are also swept into waterways, eventually breaking down into microfibres which enter the foodchain.
“More than one in three pieces of used clothing shipped to Kenya is a form of plastic waste in disguise and a substantial element of toxic plastic pollution in the country,” the report by the Changing Markets Foundation says.
Rwanda Economic Update: Nature-based Tourism Holds Tremendous Economic Potential (World Bank)
The Rwandan economy continued to achieve strong growth in 2022 despite global headwinds and an unprecedented increase in food prices, according to the 20th edition of the Rwanda Economic Update report.
Rwanda’s GDP grew by 8.4 percent in the first three quarters of 2022, after reaching 11 percent in 2021. Growth was spurred by the services sector, especially the revival of tourism, leading to the improvement of employment indicators to levels similar to those at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
However, rising food prices may have exacerbated poverty and food insecurity, according to the Rwanda Economic Update. The increase in international commodity prices, related to the war in Ukraine combined with the poor harvest in Rwanda, have led to substantial increases in energy, transport, and food prices, with urban inflation rising to 21.7 percent in November 2022. Rising food prices particularly affected the poor, who devote a large share of their spending to food and appear to have faced higher food inflation than richer households did. Measures adopted by the government to mitigate the effects of inflation over the past year include an increase in subsidies (primarily on fuels, fertilizers, seeds, and public transit), increased spending on social protection, and increases in teachers’ salaries, as well as government contributions to school feeding programs.
‘Seize industrial park opportunities’ (The Herald)
With African countries pursuing the ambitious industrialisation agenda through the establishment of Common Agro-Industrial Parks (CAIPs), the private sector should ride on the “goodwill and strategic intentions” already shown by some Governments, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza said last week.
Zimbabwe and Zambia are jointly exploring various value chain possibilities through the establishment of a CAAPs, focusing on cotton, maize, wheat, rice, soya beans, sugar, livestock, leather as well as dairy.
With support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the sub-regional office for southern Africa, milestones achieved to date include the development of a detailed roadmap and action plan, a pre-feasibility study on the proposed CAIPs between the two countries and a study on the regulatory and policy framework.
East Africa: Tanzania and Burundi ordered to adopt EAC bloc’s roaming rates (Ecofin Agency)
Since 2014, East African Community member countries have been implementing measures to harmonize roaming rates. Four countries have implemented the measures. They are namely Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan. The East African Community (EAC) Sectoral Council on Transport, Communications, and Meteorology has ordered Tanzania and Burundi to harmonize their roaming rates with community standards by August 30, 2023. The two countries are required to present the tariff harmonization status at the next EAC Heads of State Summit.
Push for Universal Energy Access: Joining Hands to Accelerate the Pace of Electrification in Africa (World Bank)
A presidential roundtable on the side-lines of the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union has called for the acceleration of financing for energy access in Africa with clear targets and steps for ensuring the achievement of universal energy access by 2030.
In her opening remarks H.E. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy accentuated that energy is a bedrock for the success of every development sector and thus increased effort is required in ensuring affordable and reliable access. Dr Amani stated that “Africa’s key priorities and initiatives including industrialisation, AfCFTA, agricultural development, food security, poverty alleviation, job creation and regional integration, as well as the achievement of the SDGs, are all dependent on modern and universal energy access and services.”
The African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM) was noted to be a key strategic element of facilitating energy access and enhancing energy security in Africa and, therefore, the AU Member States, regional economic communities and their specialised institutions were urged to play their part in facilitating its operationalisation.
China’s strong partnership can help Africa deliver AfCFTA (Capital News)
African Union leaders have concluded this year’s Summit with a rallying call to expedite the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
One of Africa’s enduring international partners in the economic development domain is China. During the AU Summit, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent congratulatory message; reaffirming Beijing’s readiness to work with the Africa in generate enduring development. Already, China is Africa’s largest trading partner and third largest foreign direct investor. Chinese firms have been key in setting up the base to realize many of the AfCFTA aspirations; contributing over 20% to Africa’s economic development over the last decade.
Africa has long struggled with inadequate infrastructure, which has impeded its growth and development. China’s development experience, particularly in infrastructure development, could help Africa become more integrated, prosperous, and peaceful. As of 2021, China had invested over $150 billion in infrastructure projects in Africa, making it the continent’s largest infrastructure partner.
African countries face significant funding gaps in infrastructure development, with estimates suggesting that the continent needs up to $170 billion annually to meet its infrastructure needs. China’s approach to infrastructure financing, which emphasizes concessional loans, grants, and infrastructure investment funds, could help African countries mobilize the required resources for infrastructure development. China could also share its experience in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure financing, which have been used extensively in China to leverage private sector resources for infrastructure development.
China’s development experience in regional integration could help Africa overcome its fragmentation and achieve greater economic integration. African countries could learn from China’s experience in regional integration and apply it to the AfCFTA.
Heads of African Union member states have called for more commitment and accountability in Africa’s effort to achieve continental and global goals for nutrition ahead of the 2025 World Health Assembly Nutrition target deadline. The leaders took part in a nutrition-themed side event during the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union
The event was held on Friday 17 February, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane. Its theme: “Progress and Achievements in Addressing Malnutrition in Africa: Accountability for results in achieving continental and global targets for nutrition,” centered on long-lasting measures to curb malnutrition and food security on the continent.
African Union: future role in BRICS+ and G20 (Modern Diplomacy)
On January 23, 2022, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was embarking on a new tour of Africa. During the week, the high-ranking Russian delegation paid a visit to several countries on the continent: South Africa being the traditional “mainstay” of Russia’s foreign policy in Africa, the continent’s smallest kingdom of Eswatini, the Russia-friendly Portuguese-speaking Angola, and the little-known Eritrea, which was once even under Russian sanctions. That said, Moscow did not hesitate to announce the terminal point of the visit, the specifics of the secretive Eritrean statehood probably playing a part here.
Amid preparations for the second Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum, which is anticipated in St. Petersburg in July 2023 after repeated postponements, Moscow needs to not only embrace a constructive agenda for the discussions but also ensure a high representativeness of their participants—all that in a more challenging geopolitical situation than it was in 2019.
Fight against illicit financial flows (IMF)
Illicit financial flows refer to the movement of money across borders that is illegal in its source (e.g. corruption, smuggling), its transfer (e.g. tax evasion), or its use (e.g. terrorist financing).
Illicit and tax avoidance related financial flows (ITAFF) can have a significant impact on the economic stability of a country and the global financial system. They can drain foreign exchange reserves, distort competition, inflate prices for real estate and other assets, lower tax receipts, and reduce government revenue. They divert resources from public spending and can cut into the capital available for private investment. Illegal flows also can encourage further criminal activity, undermine the rule of law, erode trust in public institutions, and threaten a country’s political stability. In addition, ITAFF can have a negative impact on the broader economy, with potential spillovers into other economies, including by deepening inequality and weakening social cohesion across and within countries.
What is being done to combat ITAFF? For decades, the IMF has played a key role in international efforts to combat these opaque and often destabilizing transfers. It also has longstanding concerns with flows that are not strictly illegal but are associated with tax avoidance.
Policy priorities for the G20: One earth, one family, one future (IMF)
At a time of heightened uncertainties for the global economy, India’s strong performance remains a bright spot. So, it’s fitting that Group of Twenty finance ministers and central bank governors will gather in Bengaluru this week.
This will be another challenging year. But it could represent a turning point—with inflation declining and growth bottoming out. Indeed, while our latest projections show global growth slowing to 2.9 percent this year, we anticipate a modest rebound to 3.1 percent in 2024.
One year into Russia’s war, a key global food security deal hangs in the balance (POLITICO)
“The grain deal is absolutely critical for the response to the food crisis,” said WFP economist Friederike Greb. There was already a “toxic mix” of factors — from climate change to debt — driving hunger before the war. The world cannot now afford another spike in food prices, she told POLITICO, making it vital to extend the deal.
Russia claims that most Ukrainian cargoes have headed to Europe and other rich countries; not to those in Africa and Asia bearing the brunt of the global food crisis.
With the deal up for renewal March 19, rhetoric is escalating on both sides — as Ukraine seeks greater access to world markets and Russia pushes back against Western sanctions that it says are to blame for rising food insecurity.
Trade thoughts, from Geneva, by DDG Anabel González (WTO)
Policymakers and businesses are increasingly wary about the risks of economic interdependence. Securing supply chains, avoiding over-dependence on too few (or “unfriendly”) suppliers, and ensuring continued access to goods in critical sectors have become top-of-mind, as have strategies to accelerate the transition to net zero carbon emissions.
In this increasingly complex landscape, the world needs a system to tackle challenges of the global commons, diffuse trade conflicts, and tap into new growth opportunities. Only a revitalized World Trade Organization (WTO) can serve this purpose. Contrary to misguided views of the WTO as an irrelevant outfit or a strait jacket that obstructs the pursuit of legitimate national goals, the WTO matters. Now, more than ever.
Of course, reforming the WTO will not be easy, but it can be done. The global trading system has confronted challenges before, and governments have found ways to reinvent it. We owe this in no small measure to the trading system’s flexibility.
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Parliament passes Agricultural Amendment Bill (SAnews)
The National Assembly (NA) has passed the Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Bill and the National Veld and Forest Fire Amendment Bill during its hybrid plenary on Tuesday.
The Agricultural Product Standards Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990; to provide for the auditing of a product for management control systems; to make provision for the setting of tariffs by assignees on a cost-recovery basis, and to make further provisions for the Minister to make regulations pertaining to audit and management control systems.
Ghana and Gambia plan to build tech-based economies (Quartz)
As legacy economies continue to fall out of favor the world over, Ghana and Gambia are ramping up efforts to build tech-based economies. In a time when most economies run by oil, manufacturing, and agriculture are shifting to digital economies, the two countries with a combined population of 35 million don’t want to be sidelined.
Now, they have joined Nigeria, Rwanda, Morocco, and Djibouti as members of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) that aims to link Africa and Gulf countries in the realization of a common digital economy agenda. Other members are Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, and Pakistan. They collectively represent nearly $2 trillion in GDP and a market of nearly 600 million people.
Africa faces funding shortfalls in tech infrastructure, challenges in implementing data protection policies, and slow adoption of frontier tech skills, but hopes that partnerships supporting its digital economy agenda could unlock financing.
Uganda wants stern laws against East Africa trade barriers (The Citizen)
Uganda wants stern laws enacted against barriers inhibiting trade in the East African Community (EAC) region. The member of the seven-nation bloc wants the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) to spearhead the exercise.
“I urge Eala to pass laws that would drastically reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers,” said Thomas Tayebwa, the deputy Speaker of the Uganda Parliament.
He said during the visit to the National Assembly in Kampala by Eala Speaker Mr Joseph Ntakirutimana that such barriers have significantly impacted on trade.
Mr Tayebwa also called on Eala to come up with a resolution that would compel the council to impress upon their respective partner states to comply with the Summit directives.
New Commonwealth’s Nairobi office to boost Kenyan exports (Business Daily)
Commonwealth’s official business networking organisation will on Wednesday open an office in Nairobi to support East African businesses seeking export markets for their goods and services. The Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC) chairperson Lord Jonathan Peter Marland says the office will be used as a hub to grow trade and investments by offering opportunities such as business networking and legal advice for firms eyeing cross-border deals.
“We are opening our office here (Nairobi) this Wednesday as part of our territorial outreach so that we can help businesses achieve international connectivity,” said Mr Marland.
Nairobi becomes the fourth hub for CWEIC in the African continent after Accra (Ghana), Lagos (Nigeria) and Douala (Cameroon). CWEIC has been keen on supporting opportunities in areas such as food security, climate change and technology. Mr Marland said part of the specific focus in Kenya will be on supporting agri-tech to improve food security.
Mauritius has made significant strides in bolstering its public procurement system, but there is room for improvement in electronic procurement and capacity-building for practitioners.
These are among the findings of an assessment report the African Development Bank launched virtually on 15 February from Port Louis, the capital. The bank undertook the study in partnership with the Mauritius government using the MAPS framework, a universal standard for evaluating public procurement systems.
The report also provides recommendations for the government’s next steps in implementing the reforms.
Strengthening governance, investing in human capital with a focus on education, and improving the business climate are key pillars for Guinea-Bissau to break out of the fragility cycle towards sustainable and inclusive growth and make progress on gender equality. These are the main recommendations of the Economic Update and the Country Economic Memorandum, two new reports launched by the World Bank in Guinea-Bissau.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have revealed the vulnerabilities of the country’s economy to external shocks. It is important that Guinea-Bissau implement structural reforms over the medium term to support economic recovery and improve human capital and gender equality indicators, strengthening the country’s resilience”, said Anne-Lucie Lefebvre, World Bank Resident Representative in Guinea-Bissau.
The reports present a comprehensive overview of the country’s economic sector and its constraints and offer recommendations for the post-COVID-19 development, focusing on policies that can stimulate a rapid recovery and support sustainable and inclusive growth.
SACU chair announces the finalisation of the SACU Tariff Offer to AfCFTA (Namibia Economist)
The current Chair of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), Cleopas Sipho Dlamini officially announced the finalisation of the SACU Tariff Offer on 18 February during the 36th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dlamini in a statement reiterated SACU’s commitment to Africa’s integration and specifically the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The submission of the Tariff Schedule speaks to that commitment with the view to ensuring that the SACU business community leverage on the benefits of the AfCFTA.
According to the statement, SACU submitted an initial Tariff Offer in November 2020, in preparation for the commencement of trading in January 2021 which needed further work to comply with the agreed modalities.
Subsequently, the region worked tirelessly to meet the threshold of 90%t products to be liberalized. This process has now been completed as noted by the 11th Meeting of AfCFTA Council of Ministers responsible for Trade and Industry held from 11-12 February 2023, in Gaborone, Botswana.
The statement further said that the Tariff Offer of 7111 tariff lines, which represents 90% of the SACU Tariff, Book in line with the Agreed Modalities for Tariff Liberalisation, was submitted to the AfCFTA Secretariat on 13 February 2023 for verifications
EAC-Comesa-SADC tripartite trade deal in place by April, Ruto says (The Star)
The EAC-Comesa-SADC tripartite agreement will be in place by the end of April 2023, President William Ruto has said. This means 28 African countries will trade as a bloc with the European Union.
Pitching Kenya as the preferred investment hub for EU investors on Tuesday, President Ruto said Nairobi is a strong participant in the Tripartite Trade Agreement encompassing EAC, Comesa and SADC. “The tripartite agreement was signed in 2015 and unfortunately for the seven years or so, we have not concluded it to the satisfaction of the EU requirements,” the President said in Nairobi during the EU-Kenya Business Forum.
“He [Moses Kuria] has been to Egypt, Angola, Comoros [new AU chair], Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho South Africa …, and now I can promise with confidence, by the end of April, we will have the tripartite agreement in place,” Ruto said.
Capacity Building for the Implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area get Underway (COMESA)
Capacity building of stakeholders who will play a key role in the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) has begun. The initial focus is on the Rules of Origin, which represent the most important cross-border trade instrument in economic integration agenda.
The first regional Training of Trainers session on the TFTA Rules of Origin was hosted in Nairobi, Kenya on 17 – 18 February 2023. It targeted the business community, revenue authorities’ customs services departments, government ministries and agencies and organizations that support trade to enhance their skills and knowledge on TFTA Rules of Origin. This will improve their operational performance and support the uniform application of TFTA Rules of Origin to enhance regional cooperation and intra-Tripartite trade.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) describes Rules of Origin as the “Passport for circulating goods under preferential tariffs”. Non-preferential Rules of Origin are applied to determine the country of origin for purposes other than granting preferential tariff treatment. They can support production and trade of goods made in the Tripartite region, boost intra-regional trade across existing regional economic communities and therefore enhance structural transformation.
Analysis: Southern Africa calls the tune as great power suitors queue up (Reuters)
South Africa and its neighbours were at the centre of a tussle for influence this week when top Russian and U.S. officials visited, offering a rare moment of leverage for governments on a continent more used to being buffeted by events than wooed.
For the countries of southern Africa, which maintain strong ideological and historical sympathies for Russia but hold far more significant trade balances with the European Union and United States, that rivalry presents an opportunity.
“They have the opportunity to play one side off against the other to get concessions; to get more aid, more trade,” said Steven Gruzd from the South African Institute of International Affairs. “That’s precisely what we’re seeing at the moment.”
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) will hold a meeting to validate the Report on the Development of Local Content Thresholds for the Fertiliser, Packaging, and Pharmaceutical Sub-Sectors at Holiday Inn in Harare on 24 February 2023.
In support of industrialization and industrial growth, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is developing local content thresholds (LCTs) across all economic sectors, in accordance with the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP) (2019-2023). The establishment of these thresholds will boost investment, value chain development, value addition, and beneficiation in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 (2021-2025). Emphasis will be on the procurement of local products and inputs based on specific metrics to support industrial development and intensify economic sector linkages.
The findings of the study aim to align the Local Content Thresholds with the overall thrust of NDS1 and other frameworks supporting industrialization and local content in Zimbabwe. The proposed framework for the implementation of the thresholds will be interrogated for practicality, reasonableness, and sustainability. This will help to address any gaps and/or misrepresentations in the study and provide a template that can guide implementation of local content strategies in the three sectors.
CSOs in Accra for AfCFTA conference (Graphic Online)
A three-day consultative seminar on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) among civil society organisations (CSOs) from across Africa is underway in Accra. The seminar, sponsored by the Africa Trade Network, aims to share perspectives on AfCFTA, exchange detailed information on the processes, and form an agenda for future interactions among CSOs regarding the trade pact and broader trade development advocacy in Africa.
Topics slated for discussion include Africa in the context of global economic and political challenges, broad overview of Africa’s economic structure and its dynamics, interrogating the thematic issues confronting Africa today, domestic resources mobilisation, taxation and financial flows in Africa.
The Africa Trade Network has indicated that the implementation of the concluded protocols on Trade in Goods and on Trade in Services under the AfCFTA have been challenged by the need to create rules to operationalise those protocols. Final agreement on Trade in Goods remains to be reached in areas such as rules of origin and final tariff schedules.
Aviation investment key for the success of Africa’s free trade agreement (Air Cargo News)
The development of aviation policy should be a priority for African countries if they are to capitalise on the benefits of a continent-wide trade agreement.
Panellists at the Air Cargo Africa event agreed that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) stood to benefit the continent and air cargo.
However, they said it was essential that air cargo policy at a country level is enhanced to ease the movement of goods between countries.
Kenya Airways chief executive Allan Kilavuka said: “The AfCFTA is fantastic but it will not work if we don’t grow the air traffic and the aviation business in Africa.
“If the policy formulation is not in tandem with the intention of the free trade agreement it will not work.
Fast-growing African fuel markets spur gas-station deal making (Engineering News)
The rapid expansion of Africa’s fuel demand is driving deal-making activity in the continent’s retail business, as trading houses to oil majors chase the growth that’s lacking in their home markets.
“There is a new wave of consolidation of assets as existing players are either rationalizing (Puma) or expanding (Vivo) their networks, or both (TotalEnergies),” Elitsa Georgieva, executive director at Citac, a consultant that specializes in African refining, wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg. “Meanwhile, there is an increasing number of African energy companies that are expanding rapidly.”
Africa’s oil consumption is forecast by the US Energy Information Administration to significantly outpace Europe and North America in the coming years. Demand for petroleum products is set to increase over 6% annually in some parts of continent in 2023, according to Citac. That’s a faster pace than the decade to 2021, when total oil consumption rose 1.4% a year on the continent, outstripping the US and Middle East, and compared with a contraction in Europe, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
Jill Biden heads to Namibia, Kenya; part of US-Africa push (AP News)
Jill Biden headed for Africa on Tuesday, first stop Namibia, declaring as she departed Washington that she had “a lot to accomplish” during a five-day visit focused on empowering women and young people and addressing food insecurity.
Through renewed engagement with the countries of Africa, the U.S. aims to catch up with its economic rival, China, which has outpaced the U.S. in terms of trade in some of the 54 nations on the continent, the second most-populous.Trade between the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa totaled $44.9 billion in 2021, a 22% increase from 2019. But direct investment fell by 5.3% to $30.3 billion. Trade between Africa and China in 2021 surged to $254 billion, up about 35% as Chinese exports increased to the continent.
African Union-China relations enter crucial stage (The Citizen)
On February 18 and 19, 2023, African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa for the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State.
On the opening day of the Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the 36th AU Summit, commending the regional body for uniting and leading African countries to stand up to global challenges, accelerating the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and playing an important role in mediating hot issues in Africa, which according to Xi has boosted Africa’s international status and influence. Xi pledged that he stands ready to work with leaders of African countries to build a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future.
At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2022, the Chinese path to modernisation was put forward in five points: modernisation of a big population, modernisation for common prosperity, modernisation of material and cultural-ethical advancement, modernisation of harmony between humanity and nature, and modernisation of peaceful development. These aspirations are centred around the idea of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
$400mln to be unlocked by EIB and TDB to support African companies impacted by trade shocks (ZAWYA)
Investment by business across Africa most impacted by trade and supply chain challenges will be supported by a new targeted financing initiative backed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).
EIB, through its new dedicated development finance arm EIB Global, today formally agreed to provide a trade finance facility of USD 200 million to TDB to this effect. This amount is expected to support USD 400 million in new private sector investment, including by companies from across all sectors including agri-food and manufacturing which have been impacted by the disruption of trade flows following the Russo-Ukrainian crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.
DDG Paugam: A mix of trade policy approaches is needed to achieve sustainability goals (WTO)
My key message today is that the APEC and the WTO models of trade cooperation have been converging much more than initially expected over the last 30 years; and I also think that the topic of sustainable development holds a great potential for more convergence in the future.
This is why it is my privilege to address your working group. I have no doubt that what you are doing here is very relevant to the WTO There are four reasons why I believe this to be true.
WTO members explore ways of boosting LDCs’ participation in global supply chains (WTO)
It takes on average 30 to 40 days and nine different document requirements to clear imports and exports in LDCs, speakers noted. To boost LDCs’ participation in global supply chains, they underlined the importance of trade facilitation measures, digitalization of import and export transactions and greater transparency of trade laws and regulations. Participants suggested providing training to both importers and exporters to raise awareness of customs processes so that LDCs can make better use of existing preferential market access schemes.
LDC business representatives noted that the competitiveness of LDCs’ firms could be strengthened by actively participating in the multilateral trading system and deepening regional integration.
WCO organizes first forum on E-Commerce and Customs Valuation (WCO)
On 15 February 2023, the World Customs Organization (WCO) held the first symposium on E‑Commerce and Customs Valuation. During the hybrid event, international organizations, Customs administration, and the private sector discussed the challenges in calculating Customs Value for E‑Commerce.
In his opening speech, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the WCO, recognized the that “E-Commerce brings enormous opportunities for economic and social development by fostering innovation, introducing new trade models, creating job opportunities and leading new consumer trends”. He also underlined the challenges associated with E-Commerce and called for a concerted effort on the part of the Customs community and their partners for tangible solutions to those challenges.
In her address, Ms. Suja Rishikesh Mavrodis, Director of the Market Access Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO), highlighted various initiatives related to E-Commerce, including potential ways to enhance cross-fertilization and learning through the trade facilitation and valuation committees, in conjunction with the WCO.
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Agriculture growth projects stalled by load shedding crisis (IOL)
Further deterioration in the electricity crisis has been a major cause of delay in the implementation of agricultural programmes intended to grow the sector, according to the Agricultural Business Chamber’s Chief Economist Wandile Sihlobo.
Sihlobo said there was so much in the implementation pipeline of South Africa’s agriculture policy this year, after the past four years had largely seen through various initiatives that sought to inject confidence in the sector. These were now ripe for implementation, ahead of the 2024 elections.
“A major development in recent times was the launch of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Masterplan, which offers the government and the private sector a new possibility to grow the sector, build competitiveness, attract more investment, and ensure inclusion,” he said.
Loadshedding weighing heavily on economic outlook, but climate resilience efforts offer opportunities (Engineering News)
South Africa’s economy has performed surprisingly well lately, with gross domestic product trending at pre-pandemic levels; however, global and domestic challenges, especially energy impacts, are expected to play a considerable role in the outlook moving forward.
This was noted by Nedbank Group Economic Unit specialised economist Liandra da Silva during Nedbank Commercial Banking’s roundtable discussion on “Navigating the financial terrain ahead of a tough 2023”, held on February 20.
Da Silva pointed out that the domestic economy had proven resilient despite the many shocks experienced in 2022, and with the country still recovering from the pandemic impacts.
One Year Later: The impact of the Russian conflict with Ukraine on Africa (Africa Renewal)
The global energy crisis also created policy reversals, with many countries now pursuing natural gas and other fossil fuel projects to meet their energy needs. Natural gas is also getting more traction as a “green investment”, a pivot from the pledges made at the COP26 global climate talks in Glasgow in November 2021 to curtail development financing for natural gas projects. For African countries, this has meant a renewed interest in and fast-tracking of natural gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) projects, but mainly for export to Europe and others outside the continent.
While this may spell more investments in the energy sector on the continent, the benefit may not necessarily result in energy access for Africans themselves. Instead, this risks further perpetuating commodities-based economies, stunting the continent’s own industrialization ambitions.
EAC partner states on the spot over irregular excise tax (The East African)
Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania may be denying smaller EAC economies a chance at regional trade by levying irregular excise duty. A study on discriminative taxes in the East African Community shows that Burundi and South Sudan, whose economies are smaller than the other four EAC counterparts, have been unable to make good sales in the region due to the irregular excise. In East Africa, excise duty is imposed on goods manufactured in a partner state by a licensed manufacturer; services supplied in the partner state by a licensed person; or goods imported into the partner states.
Excisable commodities include bottled water, soft drinks, cigarettes, alcohol, fuels and motor vehicles.
Trade CS Moses Kuria joins Cryptocurrency debate (Nairobi News)
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has asked Kenyans to be at the forefront of changes happening across the world due to innovation. Speaking at the launch of the Showfa taxi platform, the CS said Kenya will not be harmed by legalizing the digital currency. He has asked the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) to lower their guards on Cryptocurrency.
According to the CS, Kenya has the potential of dominating the international market with its innovation in fintech and technology. “It is beyond us now the current generation who have got this responsibility bestowed upon us that comes only once in a lifetime, once in history, not to be conservative. To look at things differently.”
Seychelles is living the consequences of climate impact daily, says Vice-President at AU Summit (Seychelles News Agency)
Afif gave a brief report on the activities undertaken in 2022 to promote the Africa Island States’ action for climate-resilient sustainable development.
Seychelles’ Vice-President Ahmed Afif congratulated the COP27 presidency for leading the historic decision to establish a new loss and damage response fund in Egypt, State House said on Sunday.
The ground-breaking decision to provide loss and damage funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters was taken at the United Nations climate conference (COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022.
“Seychelles like the rest of the African continent, is living the consequences of climate impact daily and this, coupled with the increasing number of climate disasters, makes it obvious that the era of loss and damage is upon us,” said Afif.
EAC ministers meet, report on Somali admission to be considered (The Star)
Somali is inching closer to being admitted to the East African Community (EAC) as an eighth member. Its admission will, however, depend on a resolution by the Council of the ministers’ summit which is currently underway in Bujumbura, Burundi. The ministers are converging for their 43rd ordinary session.
The report from the verification team that visited Somalia last month will be tabled for consideration Thursday before it is presented to the summit of Heads of state summit for endorsement.
Somalia has been pushing for inclusion into the EAC following the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo last year. Somalia made its application to join the EAC in 2012 but since then its application has been pending due to various reasons.
Ruto urges EU to conclude economic partnership deal with EAC (The Star)
President William Ruto has urged the European Union to fasten the process of concluding its economic partnership agreement with the East African Community. Speaking on Tuesday during the Kenya-European Union Business Council forum, Ruto said access to the EU market will enable Kenya to expand its export base and also create employment opportunities. “It is one of the notable interventions that can make a tremendous difference to our economic performance and there is an excellent reason, in the EU’s best interests, to conclude the deals,” he said.
The people of Africa and the Caribbean are poised to make the global capitalist economy, which was built on the sweat and blood of African slaves, work for them, Prof. Benedict Oramah, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), said. Addressing leaders of Caribbean nations during the 44th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Nassau, The Bahamas, Prof. Oramah lamented that “for so many decades, the global capitalist economy, built on the sweat and blood of African slaves, has remained an unbearable burden on the shoulders of Africans; we are now poised to make it work for us.
He described the first-ever Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF), co-hosted by Afreximbank, the African Union Commission, the Caricom Secretariat, and the Government of Barbados in September, as a watershed in the journey towards Afro-Caribbean economic cooperation, noting that it witnessed the opening for signature of the Partnership Agreement between Afreximbank and CARICOM States.
“Since then, nine CARICOM member states have signed the Agreement, which has now come into force,” he said. Through that Agreement, which is similar to the Agreement for the Establishment of Afreximbank, signed by African States, Afreximbank was providing to Africa and the CARICOM “a financially-resourced platform for a credible pursuit of our collective aspirations to exploit our markets for our own good and in our own way”.
SMEs need energy solution, transport infrastructure and industry development (Engineering News)
Arguably, the most immediate concern for South Africa’s SME sector is the impact of the worsening energy crisis, says small business financier Business Partners chief investment officer Jeremy Lang.
Rescuing the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector requires fundamental and large-scale interventions aimed at addressing their specific problems, including the energy crisis, the need for transport infrastructure and the need for supportive policy.
“Bringing SMEs into the supply chain for alternative, renewable sources of energy that will relieve pressure on the grid is one way in which government can boost the sector. Involving small businesses in the process of building an energy secure nation will also be a step in the right direction,” says Lang.
G20 watchdog says commodity market concentration poses threat to wider economy (Engineering News)
The pandemic and war in Ukraine highlighted weaknesses in commodity markets where a ‘significant’ concentration of firms, banks, exchanges and clearing houses threatens to transmit losses to the wider economy, the G20’s financial watchdog said on Monday.
The Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) deep dive into commodity markets came after regulators voiced concern that they were unable to get a full picture of a sprawling sector comprising on and off exchange derivatives trading, physical stocks, patchy data and producers spread across the world.
European natural gas and metals prices doubled while oil and wheat gained sharply after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, causing a spike in cash or margin calls on related derivatives.
Africa cargo market huge but remains untapped: Study (Africa Aviation News)
The Africa air cargo market is estimated at 2-2.5 percent share of the global market but that belies its enormous-yet-seemingly-elusive promise, says the latest study Africa Cargo Outlook 2023 by Trade and Transport Group, promoted by Tom Crabtree and Frederic Horst.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the air transport capacity – particularly freighter aircraft – was re-oriented towards developed world markets in East Asia, Europe and North America, usually at the expense of developing world markets. Africa was hit particularly hard. While African passenger connections are being restored, freighter capacity has yet to return to pre-Covid levels.”
Economy is another concern: while economic growth remains concentrated in a few African countries, “the overall economic outlook for the continent is one of accelerating growth in 2023 (3.8 percent) and 2024 (4.1 percent) with some mid-size African countries offering interesting growth opportunities.”
Opec’s quiet offensive in Africa (The Africa Report)
Last December, the OPEC Fund approved $280m in loans to the continent – from Côte d’Ivoire ($75m) to Benin ($14m). In early February, a $50m contribution to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the institution dedicated to supporting infrastructure on the continent, was announced. A first and previous loan of the same amount was approved in early 2021.
The continent has a de facto particularly high share in the OPEC Fund’s resource allocations. “Exposure to African countries stood at $2.86bn in September 2022, compared to $2.56bn (an increase of $300m) in December 2021,” the Vienna-based multilateral institution, which also hosts OPEC, told
UN ‘blueprint’ to protect least developed nations amid global slowdown (UN News)
The Doha Programme of Action, as it’s formally known, has been designed as a roadmap up to 2031, to foster strengthened commitments between the least developed countries and their development partners.
“The world is reeling under the cascading impacts of complex, interlocking challenges and structural limitations and constrained fiscal capabilities make least developed countries the ones first and often most severely impacted,” said Csaba Kőrösi at the opening of the General Assembly and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) high-level event on the plan being an accelerator of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
UNDP at LDC5 Conference: From Potential to Prosperity (United Nations Development Programme)
The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) need bold investments in health, education and social protection systems— and all the resources required to fully implement the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There are currently 46 countries recognized as part of the LDC group – 33 in Africa, 12 in Asia and the Pacific, and one in the Caribbean region – some are islands and others are landlocked. Collectively they constitute around 880 million people, or 12 percent of the world population. Eight are Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
The fifth United Nations Conference on the LDCs comes at a critical moment as the timeline to achieving the SDGs by 2030 hits the mid-point mark this year. Taking take place in Doha, Qatar, from 5-9 March 2023 under the theme - “From Potential to Prosperity”, the conference will be attended by Heads of States, governments, civil society organizations, youth, parliamentarians, and the international community.
The objective of the Conference is to build momentum around the implementation of the Doha Programme Of Action (DPoA), which is an ambitious and forward-looking agenda.
After defeating COVID, China sheds light for global development (Capital News)
There is a breath of fresh air flowing from China after the country’s Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee recently stated that it had “decisively beaten” the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a bold statement to make, similar to the one made by President Xi Jinping in December 2020 that China had eradicated extreme poverty.
Data shows that more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November. In addition, 800,000 of the most critically ill patients recovered.
Even as China now transits to a post-pandemic stage after a long and successful fight against the pandemic which Xinhua termed as “extraordinary in the extreme,” the government has promised to “optimize and adjust prevention and control policies and measures according to the times and situations with a strong historical responsibility and strong strategic determination.”
Natural gas price action setup: is the slide overdone? (IG)
Natural gas prices hit a fresh multi-month low on Monday; on some measures, the six-month slide is beginning to look stretched and what is the outlook and what are the signposts to watch?
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TRACIT calls for improved measures to combat illicit trade in South Africa (AJOT)
A new study by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) shows that illicit trade is one of the biggest threats to stability and economic growth in South Africa. While the country has taken steps under President Cyril Ramaphosa to root out illegal trade and associated activities like corruption and money laundering, the scope and depth of the illicit economy poses a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of South African citizens and a persistent drain on the overall economy.
European Union seeks more trade deals with Kenya (ZAWYA)
The European Union has opened trade talks with Kenya to tap opportunities in agriculture, green energy, infrastructure and technology. According to Martijn Boelen, EU trade counsellor and regional trade adviser, the forthcoming EU-Kenya Business Forum dubbed “Trade and Investment Opportunities in Kenya” will focus on trade opportunities. “We want to open up to show that it is not all about Valentine’s Day and flowers. It is not all about avocados and mangoes. There are so many products that Kenya can bring to the world,” said Mr Boelen ahead of the forum that is jointly organised by the EU, its member states, European Business Council and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. “We are underestimating the value of Kenya. So my appeal is to let this huge export and import imbalance die. Kenya can stand tall as the gateway to Africa,” he added.
Kenya’s textile industry to benefit from bilateral trade (The Standard)
The Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry has developed a model for an ideal industrial park to be duplicated in all counties. The project is earmarked to cost Sh100 million in a wider project that the government has started which will see every county develop industrial parks beginning this financial year. While on a visit to Egypt, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria said Kenya is focused on increasing her share of the manufacturing sector.
Botswana ratifies pan-African trade deal (Mmegi Online)
The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area developed under the auspices of the African Union (AU) to enable the free flow of goods and services across the continent. It is estimated that the AfCFTA has the potential both to boost intra-Africa trade by 52.3% and also boost the continent’s trading position in the global market.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi signed onto the AfCFTA in 2019 making Botswana the 51st of 54 African nations to agree in principle to the continental trade deal. Since then Botswana has been hammering out the modalities of the deal to ratify it, negotiating as a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
By the end of January, Botswana was one of 10 AfCFTA signatories still to ratify the deal, as local negotiators bargained over tariff lines for goods as well as rules of origin for the automobile industry, textiles, clothing/apparel, and edible oils.
‘Obscure rules may hurt Nigeria’s gains from AfCFTA’ (The Nation)
Implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement without concluding some of its critical elements, particularly the determination of the Rule of Origin (RoO), will hurt manufacturers and the economy, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said.
Giving an update on Nigeria’s readiness for the implementation of AfCFTA, which commercial trading kicked off on January 1, 2021, the President, MAN, Otunba Francis Meshioye, said RoO under the AfCFTA was very fundamental in ensuring that “we are able to minimise or eliminate dumping”.
Comesa may consider Kenya Airlines, South African Airways deal a merger (The East African)
Kenya Airways’ partnership with South African Airways will be treated as a merger on the back of the effect that the joint venture will have on competition in the region, the Comesa Competition Commission (CCC) has said. The national carrier operates in countries that are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and is bound by the regional watchdog’s treaty and will be forced to notify CCC of an impending merger. The two carriers, which want to form a pan-African airline, have many times denied that they are merging, terming their deal a partnership by using their existing assets.
SADC convenes Payment Systems annual regional conference (SADC)
The Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s Payment Systems Subcommittee under the SADC Committee of Central Bank Governors (CCBG) convened its annual regional conference in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia, on 13th and 14th February 2023 to deliberate on developments in the regional payment systems ecosystem, and most importantly the impact of digitisation on initiatives to enhance financial inclusion and integrity.
Among others, the conference considered progress on the implementation of the SADC-Real Time Gross Settlement System (SADC-RTGS) renewal programme. The main objective of this programme is to modernise the settlement system in a manner that promotes efficiency and effectiveness. The renewal journey will also minimise risks to the payments ecosystem by leveraging technological developments in order to extend the availability of digital services to all sectors of society for the benefits of the Region. The total number of transactions settled on the SADC-RTGS as at the end of January 2023 was 2,834,860 representing a value of ZAR10.97 trillion. Banks drawn from 15 Member States participate in the system and the total number of participating banks, including central banks as participants, is 89.
Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) converged began holding their 36th Ordinary Session today 18th February 2023 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Addressing the Assembly, H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat began by paying tribute to President Macky Sall of Senegal, for his numerous achievements during his mandate as Chair of the Union. He stated that the 36th AU Summit is taking place at a time when the international context is marked by worrying uncertainties, fueled by geopolitical conflicts, fragmented economic governance, with unforeseeable consequences for Africa. “Over the past three years, global economic growth has lost momentum and inflation is rising higher rates…. Faced with such a situation, it is imperative that our Member States decide, with determination, in their economic and development choices.
Experts examining an ongoing study of key factors underlying development in Africa on Friday, emphasized the need for the continent to sustain annual growth rates of at least 7-10 percent over the next 40 years if Agenda 2063 is to be met. The session, organized by the Africa Union Commission and the African Development Bank, was held on the sidelines of the 36th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. The study on Key Actions to Drive Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa, was commissioned by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat and African Development Bank President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
The study will undertake a deep analysis of Africa’s growth trajectory and identify key actions for Africa to double its growth rates from the current level for the next 40 years. Agenda 2063, set by the African Union, is Africa’s roadmap and master plan for transforming the continent into the global powerhouse of the future.
African heads of state and government have endorsed the outcomes of the recent Dakar 2 Summit on Food Sovereignty and Resilience, hosted in January by the African Development Bank Group and the government of Senegal, calling for global support for its immediate implementation. In a resolution read at the end of the 36th African Union summit on Sunday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, they described the Dakar 2 Food Summit as important and timely to address rising food prices, disruption in the global food supply, and worsening of food insecurity in Africa.
The leaders said: “The Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts developed at the Dakar 2 Summit convey the vision, challenges, and opportunities in agricultural productivity, infrastructure, processing, value addition, markets, and financing that will contribute to the acceleration of the implementation of the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program.”
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu today called for a collective sustained effort, political will and renewed commitment across the African continent, and globally, to transform agrifood systems and deliver better nutrition.
“It is now more crucial than ever to support vulnerable communities with multiple and innovative solutions to build their resilience and transform agrifood systems to deliver better nutrition,” he told the gathering attended by over a dozen of African heads of state and government, and high-level officials from international organizations including UN agencies and development banks.
UNCTAD reiterates commitment to Africa at continental summit (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan reiterated the organization’s commitment to supporting African countries while attending the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union held on 18 and 19 February in Addis Ababa.
Ms. Grynspan, who joined UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the summit, discussed with delegates from various countries and organizations how UNCTAD can contribute more to the realization of the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to expand economic opportunities across Africa and address individual countries’ priorities.
She said UNCTAD will continue to support African countries to cope with ongoing multiple and interrelated crises. While they are still recovering from the health and socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine have fuelled a cost-of-living crisis that is affecting many people.
Despite challenges, Africa ‘poised for progress’ – Guterres (UN News)
Mr. Guterres praised the many African Union (AU) initiatives aimed at bringing about this vision for the continent – including Agenda 2063 a blueprint for the Africa of the future, and the Decade of Women’s Financial and Economic Inclusion – and the decision to focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area at the Summit which, he said, represents a “truly transformative pathway to job creation and new sources of prosperity for Africans, especially for the youth”.
Nevertheless, the UN chief did not underestimate the “enormous tests” Africa is facing, crises that are “greater than any in our lifetimes”, and demanded action.
CSD on EU-Africa trade and investment relations (European Commission)
The aim of this meeting is to discuss with EU civil society the latest developments in EU-Africa trade and investment relations and exchange views on EU trade and investment policy in Africa.
The Trade Policy Review Communication published by the European Commission in February 2021 confirmed the importance of Africa in the EU’s trade policy. It proposed to enhance further sustainable trade and investment links, both between the EU and Africa and in Africa itself, while also strengthening existing regional integration processes.
The Joint Declaration signed at the margins of the European Union-African Union summit held in Brussels in February 2022 presented a joint vision for a renewed partnership between Africa and the EU. It provided an important occasion to strengthen our joint trade and investment agenda, in particular through the adoption of the Africa-Europe Global Gateway Investment Package. EU and African Union leaders also underlined their commitment to multilateralism.
Chair reports positive outlook for fisheries subsidies negotiations, readies ‘fish weeks’ (WTO)
“In all, I held more than 30 bilateral sessions, and they were uniformly positive in tone. Delegations expressed great enthusiasm to fully re-engage, and to work hard to fulfil the mandate that we received from ministers at MC12,” Ambassador Gunnarsson said at the meeting of heads of delegations. His consultations were held on 8-15 February with delegations representing individual members and groups of members about how to organize work for the second wave of fisheries subsidies negotiations, he explained.
Guterres calls for G20 to agree $500 billion annual stimulus for sustainable development (UN News)
So far, the global financial system has failed to effectively cushion the impacts of current crises impacting the Global South the most: the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing climate emergency. “Today’s poly-crises are compounding shocks on developing countries – in large part because of an unfair global financial system that is short-term, crisis-prone, and that further exacerbates inequalities,” warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres, marking the launch of the SDG Stimulus.
Trade has been a powerful driver of economic development and poverty reduction (World Bank)
Trade has multiple benefits. Trade leads to faster productivity growth, especially for sectors and countries engaged in global value chains (GVCs). These links allow developing countries to specialize in making a single component, like a keyboard, rather than a finished product, like a personal computer. GVCs give them access to foreign technology, know-how, and investment. Trade eases the diffusion of technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support adaptation – such as solar panels and wind turbines or drought-resistant seeds. Consumers enjoy a greater variety of goods and services at lower cost, though some firms and workers in individual sectors may see their livelihoods at risk through increased competitive pressures.
Despite these benefits, globalization is under fire. Critics blame it for the loss of manufacturing jobs in advanced economies, environmental degradation, and disruptions to supplies of vital goods like vaccines. These concerns, combined with geopolitical tensions, are prompting major players to raise barriers to trade and investment and to subsidize the domestic production of goods deemed essential and strategic. In 2022, many countries reacted to disruptions of food supplies from Ukraine by restricting exports of wheat, corn, and other foods. This tit-for-tat cycle only drove prices higher, briefly threatening a global food crisis.
India to press for fair access to logistics at G20 meetings (Mint)
Fair and equitable access to logistics for developing nations in international trade will be a top agenda item for New Delhi during its G20 presidency, after shocks to global supply chains from the covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine war drove freight rates to record levels last year.
“We have seen that shipping lines are dominated by western countries and shipping containers are with China. We will be taking up accessibility-related issues for developing nations. Logistics should be fair, accessible and equitable. We will focus on how to decrease the logistics costs,” a senior government official said. Exporters said they faced severe problems post-covid as overseas freight rates jumped as much as 300-350% from pre-covid levels. Moreover, the lack of containers during the supply chain disruptions caused major challenges.
DDG Ellard discusses WTO success, need for reform, relevance to addressing climate crisis (WTO)
DDG Ellard emphasized there are grounds for optimism about the future of the multilateral trading system after the successful conclusion of MC12. Members managed to reach meaningful outcomes on most of the issues before them, except for agriculture, she said. Most notably, members added a new binding agreement — the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — to the WTO rulebook.
However, DDG Ellard emphasized that there is a lot of work ahead of MC13 set to take place in February 2024, including agricultural reform, the second wave of negotiations on fisheries subsidies, whether to extend the MC12 TRIPS Decision on COVID-19 vaccines to diagnostics and
Governments enacted substantial services trade liberalisation in 2022, underpinned by actions to improve business operations in domestic markets, advance regulatory transparency and ease remaining hurdles on business travel after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global regulatory environment for services trade was dynamic with an increase in the volume of regulatory changes compared to 2021, reflecting countries’ continued efforts to address various global economic challenges.
Positive developments were counter-balanced, however, by a range of new services trade barriers, including on foreign companies’ ability to provide services locally, limitations on the movement of people and increased control on foreign investments, according to new analysis from the OECD.
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Trade, Industry and Competition on Defence Export Council mission to seek export opportunities in Middle East for South African Companies (South African Government)
The Chief Executive Officer of the South African Aerospace Maritime Defence Export Council (SAAMDEC), Mr Sandile Ndlovu will embark on a mission to seek export opportunities in the Middle East for the South African manufacturing companies operating in the aerospace, maritime and defence industries. Ndlovu will be one of the businesspeople whose companies will be participating in the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) that will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 20-24 February 2023.
Ndlovu is confident that the South African companies will stand out from the rest of the exhibitors at the international trade show, which is the premier event in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region showcasing the latest technologies in land, sea and air sectors of defence.
“Following the disruption of Covid-19, the trade show provides us with an opportunity to showcase our products again to the global market, particularly the Middle East, which has proven to be a fast-growing and lucrative export market for the SA products. The region is the biggest in terms of destination of our export products because countries there always want to have the best equipment due to the volatility that characterises the region, and the fact that they can afford them,” says Ndlovu.
Nigeria: 2022 Article IV Consultation (IMF)
Economic recovery continued to broaden in 2022. Higher oil prices are yet to deliver tangible benefits amid contraction of oil production and costly fuel subsidies. Elevated inflation and lingering external sector pressures, if left unaddressed, may exacerbate macroeconomic instability. This could impact growth, food security and ultimately social cohesion given extreme inequality and high poverty. The upcoming elections provide an opportunity for the new administration to advance structural reforms and offer a more prosperous future.
Sierra Leone FM Says Infrastructure Key for Africa’s Free Trade (ENA)
Physical infrastructure has remained a major bottleneck in accelerating the implementation of the African free trade opportunities, Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Professor David Francis said. Speaking to ENA, the minister commended Ethiopia for its endeavors on physical integration to integrate the African continent via Ethiopian Airlines.
Noting that infrastructural development is vital to accelerate the African free trade area, the minister noted that Ethiopia has come a long way to build physical infrastructure that would facilitate regional linkage.
Namibian businesses urged to tap into DRC market (NewEra)
As the implementation of the African Free Trade Agreement gains traction, Namibian businesses have been encouraged to expedite the exploitation of the potentially massive market of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has a population of about 130 million people.
That country’s ambassador to Namibia, Anastas Kaboba Kasongo Wa Kimba, has specifically called on businesses from both countries to strongly consider the establishment of joint production or manufacturing facilities, particularly in the sphere of agro-processing.
Namibian officials decided to prioritise first the development of the Lubumbashi site to promote and trade in Namibian goods and services with the southern side of the DRC. “This is an advantage for Namibians because it is like Namibia will be expanding its territory into one of the biggest markets, the DRC. This presents a real opportunity to stimulate growth, reduce poverty and expand economic inclusion and for job creation on both sides,” said Wa Kimba. The ambassador explained the anticipated development will eventually include wet and dry warehouses, financial services, fuel depots, a petrol station, immigration and tax offices as well as ample accommodation and space for relaxation and entertainment.
Namibia currently exports products such as salt, fish, beef and mining chemicals to the DRC. In turn, some of that country’s main exports include a wide range of rare and valuable minerals, including oil, as well as timber and a host of agricultural products.
“The DRC government is really pushing to make the African Free Trade Agreement a reality. The DRC has a multitude of agri-products that can be exported to Namibia and we need to really promote business relationships between the two countries,” said Wa Kimba. The DRC ambassador also hailed Namibia’s President Hage Geingob as the visionary who initiated (as then trade minister) the establishment of a Namibian business estate in the DRC. Wa Kimba added that the establishment of a permanent home for Namibia businesses in the DRC can only strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries. “I encourage Namibian businesses to consider as many products as possible for the growing DRC market, as we need to reinforce and accelerate business ties between the two countries,” said Wa Kemba.
Operations of Gambia’s National Platform on Cross-Border Cooperation & Free Movement & Migration launched (The Point)
The launch of the CBC-FMM will no doubt kick-start robust implementation in The Gambia and between The Gambia and its neighbouring states of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Programme (ECBCSP) 2021-2025.
The ECBCSP is a regional programme that was developed via a decision of the Authority of Heads of State and Government taken in Niamey on 12th January 2006 at its 29th Ordinary Session. The programme is a multi-sectoral development programme that works with border communities, National and Local Authorities and Civil Society to ensure social cohesion, regional construction and sustainable development.
The programme promotes regional peace and security, manages migration and free movement and supports Joint Socio-Economic Development Initiatives and local community development projects that empowers community citizens, strengthens cooperation, integration and development across borders.
Bill to protect consumer rights in the offing (BusinessGhana)
The government is rigorously working to pass a comprehensive Consumer Protection Bill to bolster consumer protection regime in Ghana, the caretake Minister of Trade and Industry, Samuel Jinapor, has told Parliament.
The overarching object of the bill is to protect, secure and defend the rights of consumers through a structured institutional mechanism and legal framework that will ensure that consumers play a significant role in keeping erring businesses in check.
When assented to by the President, the Act will see to the establishment of a state agency with the sole responsibility to enforce those consumer protection rights. The agency would also promote competition and ensure regional integration through digital trade and e-commerce, the minister said.
Presenting a policy statement on consumer protection in Parliament yesterday, Mr Jinapor said, “with the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and Ghana as host of the AfCFTA Secretariat, consumer protection law is more important now than ever”.
Horticulture to boost agric economy (The Herald)
The horticulture sub-sector has potential to contribute to a robust agricultural sector through import substitution, food security, exports, employment creation and raising household incomes, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka, has said.
Export earnings from horticulture will more than double to US$143 million from the US$64 million realised last year after the Government implemented policies that have revived the horticultural space.
Last year, the Government launched a US$30 million Horticulture Export Revolving Fund (HERF) to enhance the sector’s contribution to national export earnings and economic growth.
Morocco, UK discuss ways to enhance bilateral trade (The North Africa Post)
Visiting British Minister of State for Business and Trade Nigel Huddleston discussed with a number of Moroccan officials ways of enhancing trade between the two countries, particularly through the proposed maritime link between Morocco and the United Kingdom. “Morocco is the UK’s fourth largest trading partner in Africa and this is an opportunity to further grow the £2.7bn trading relationship between our two Kingdoms, particularly in areas like healthcare, agriculture, clean growth, and education,” said Huddleston.
Strengthening trade in renewable energy, particularly green hydrogen, was the focus of talks with Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali. The talks were an opportunity to examine the various topics of common interest, including energy transition, sustainable development and the environment.
Ministers of Foreign Affairs and heads of delegations from the Member States of the African Union (AU) converged on 15 February 2023 at the headquarters of the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the official opening of the 42nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.
the worrying progression of terrorism, the return of non-constitutional changes, declining growth, constantly deteriorating climatic conditions among other challenges are issues which the continent is bent to consistently deal with until they are completely eradicated. “Despite this unfavorable context, Africa is showing remarkable signs of resilience and the African Union, in its various components, has maintained its operational dynamic in the implementation of programs and decisions”. Taking into account the combined impacts of the various crises that have recently shaken the whole world the Chairperson said that the African Union is determined to give priority to health and nutrition issues. “While mitigating the effects induced by the urgency of meeting the needs of the populations, the Union is part of the search for long-term solutions aimed at setting up structures and capacities for food and medicine production. It is in this logic that the operationalization of Africa CDC is nearing completion while the African Medicines Agency, AMA, has begun its own with already the choice of its headquarters,” said Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Mr. Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on his part stressed that, at the ECA, “We believe that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) can be a catalyst to stimulate recovery, accelerate trade and industrialization, and build resilience into the African economy. The AfCFTA continental market provides the economy of scale to invest in manufacturing, leading to increased intra-Africa trade, thereby bringing supply chains closer to home and injecting a degree of self-sufficiency in essential products such as medicines, food and fertilizers. He said, this will help provide more opportunities for women and the youth, it will reduce inequality and poverty, and will also improves inclusion. “Indeed, our member States agreed to establish the AfCFTA in the first place precisely because they saw these opportunities and had the determination to seize them. The progress in the AfCFTA represents an extraordinary feat of diplomacy and statesmanship and deserves commendation and provide good reasons for hope” concluded Mr. Pedro.
African leaders have pledged to take immediate action to integrate the recommendations from the newly released Africa’s Macro-Economic Performance and Outlook report into their national development plans.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said the study, conducted by the African Development Bank Group, provided an impetus for the continent’s leaders to forge ahead with needed reforms. His remarks were read on his behalf by Zambia’s Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, during an event to present the report at the 36th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.
“The findings of this important report, therefore, provide us with a set of concrete policies that we must urgently implement to sustain the recovery and build resilience in Zambia, and on the continent more generally,” President Hichilema stressed. He observed that although Zambia was not spared from global shocks, the country’s economy has shown resilience.
The African Development Bank Group released the inaugural Africa's Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report on January 19. It has since attracted significant interest among decision-makers in Africa and globally.
The biannual report offers policymakers, global investors, researchers, and other development partners, up-to-date, evidence-based assessments of the continent’s recent macroeconomic performance. It also provides a short-to-medium-term outlook.
African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat told participants: “Knowledge is power. The report, to be published twice a year, is a wealth of knowledge - with deep insight into what is going on in Africa in the macroeconomic sphere. It identifies challenges and opportunities for the good of our continent.... If governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders adopt the report, they will be better placed to make informed decisions.”
The report calls for timely structural reforms to enhance government-enabled private-sector industrialization in key areas.
Should Somalia fast-track its membership to the EAC? (The Africa Report)
Somalia’s geographical location and its citizen’s inherent entrepreneurial spirit to explore new markets have contributed to the country’s desire to join the EAC. Efforts to join the regional block started years back but stalled after the fall of the central government in 1991. Is Somalia any closer to being granted membership and if so, should it really pursue it?
The current renewed interest to join the EAC was initiated after the election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in May 2022. The bid for Somalia’s membership received a boost on 25 January 2023, after a verification team comprising experts from EAC partner states visited Mogadishu to assess its readiness to join the community. The team met with different government institutions and private organisations.
East African Community secures US$1.4 MIllion for feasibility study of key road project (EAC)
The East African Community (EAC) has secured US$1.4 million for a feasibility study on a key section of the Northern Transport Corridor linking the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Uganda. The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, disclosed that the funding from the African Development Bank would be used to conduct feasibility studies on the 256 km multinational Kisumu-Kisian-Busia/Kakira – Malaba-Busitema-Busia expressway project.
Speaking during the opening session, the Chairperson of the Meeting who is also Burundi’s Minister for Infrastructure, Equipment and Social Housing, Captain Dieudonne Dukundane, emphasised the importance of introducing performance indicators in the TCM report in future as a way of assessing progress in the implementation of the directives of the sectoral council.
Dakar Financing Summit: African Development Bank is lead financier of PIDA infrastructure projects (AfDB)
The African Development Bank has provided over 50% of financing secured by infrastructure projects under the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), making it the lead financier of this strategic pan-African initiative.
Over 17 flagship infrastructure projects were showcased at the Dakar Financing Summit 2 (DFS2) which concluded on 3 February in the Senegalese capital. Under PIDA, the bank is primarily supporting energy and transport projects.
PIDA is a blueprint for infrastructure development to increase Africa’s competitiveness and economic integration. Its Priority Action Plan 2, adopted in 2021 by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, comprises 69 ICT, water, energy and transport projects that are to be fast-tracked to roll-out.
Key Ways to Amplify the Development of Africa’s Gas Markets (Energy Capital & Power)
A new report released by the International Gas Union (IGU) highlights the key principles that Africa needs to adopt to supercharge the development of gas markets.
The IGU recommends that African countries prioritize environmental sustainability and energy decarbonization in project planning and deployment to ensure gas projects will remain relevant for decades to come as carbon emissions reduction becomes more of a priority for global governments. With the energy transition taking center stage, there is a need for Africa to ensure gas projects align with the just energy transition agenda; guarantee environmental sustainability; and are compatible with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Africa is, however, progressing in this regard, with countries focusing on emissions reductions through various measures such as policy enactments aimed at reducing and curbing gas flaring. Africa is also prioritizing sustainability by developing gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a lion’s share of the continent’s new discoveries including Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA), BirAllah, Coral Sul, Brulpadda and Luiperd, Mozambique LNG, Venus and Graff being monetized as LNG.
US, China Compete for Africa’s Rare Earth Minerals (VOA)
South Africa hosted the world’s biggest mining investment conference this week, with industry experts in attendance saying the U.S. and China are in a race for the critical minerals — such as cobalt and lithium — that will likely power the projected transition to clean energy.
African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo have some of the largest deposits of these resources, but China currently dominates the supply chain as well as their refinement and the U.S. wants to reduce its reliance on the Asian giant.
In his remarks at the mining conference in Cape Town this week, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez hinted at this saying, “I don’t need to remind you of what happens when the supply chain breaks down or when we depend on a single supplier. We lived it during the COVID pandemic, and this is a vulnerability that we need to solve together.”
The silver lining amid muted global trade (Allianz)
After resilient performance in the first half of 2022, global trade deteriorated in the second half of the year and is likely to remain muted in 2023. Despite disruptive events in H1 2022 (start of the war in Ukraine, long lockdowns in China etc.), global trade of goods grew by +4.1% y/y during that period (see Figure 9). However, weakening global demand amid sustained inflation, the long replacement cycles of durable goods and depleted excess savings have reversed the trend. From a supply and manufacturing perspective, while the situation differs from one sector to another, corporates generally show no signs of increasing stocks in the short-term. In fact, an inventory glut is visible, and particularly destructive for retailers. With most of these factors set to persist in 2023, trade growth is likely to remain muted this year.
We are revising slightly on the upside our forecast for global trade growth in volume in 2023, from +0.7% to +0.9%. Our updated global trade model points to a quarterly profile of slight q/q contractions in global trade of goods and services in Q4 2022, Q1 and Q2 2023, before a moderate recovery in Q3 and somewhat of a firming up in Q4 (see Figure 12). Global trade of goods and services in 2024 is also slightly revised on the upside, expected to grow by +3.9% in volume terms (instead of +3.6% previously expected). We still expect price effects to be negative in 2023 (resulting in a yearly contraction of global trade in value terms) in the current context of a normalization in supply chains and the price of trade.
For inventory management and supply chains, lessons have been learnt from the Covid-19 and post-Covid shortages. Oversupply is likely to prevail in 2023. Destocking amidst the early stages of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and ensuing capacity mismatches and supply-chain disruptions into 2021-2022 have pushed more companies to adopt the just-in-case model of inventory management (instead of just-in-time). As a result, after more than a year of supply-chain disruptions illustrated by shortages of critical goods, extended transportation delays and costs of inputs shooting up, our in-house indicators tracking the global supply-demand balance suggest a situation of oversupply since Q4 2022 (see Figure 13). Our indicator measuring production shortfall reached the lowest level since 2011 in the US, and the lowest since early-2020 in the Eurozone. Ample supply and some stabilization in supply chains are likely to prevail this year on the back of weakening demand, replenished inventories, increased capex and normalizing shipping conditions (higher capacity, easing port congestion and sinking spot freight rates).
Key statistics and trends in international trade 2022 (UNCTAD)
Trade trends during the last three years have been greatly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2020, the economic disruptions brought about by COVID-19 resulted in a decline of international trade in goods and services. However, as global demand resumed, international trade strongly rebounded in 2021 and further increased during 2022. Overall, the value of global trade is expected to be about 25 per cent higher in 2022 than it was in 2019.
A substantial part of the increase in the value of trade during the last two years can be explained by rising commodity prices and more recently by general inflation.
Trade volumes grew to a smaller extent. Even so, the steady increase in the volume of international trade since early 2021 indicates a robust global demand for traded goods.
South Africa to benefit from expansion of Brics – Brand SA (Engineering News)
Brand South Africa (SA) says that, as South Africa assumes chairship of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) bloc of countries this year, it stands to benefit from a proposed enlargement of the bloc, enabling the country to extend its global influence and strengthen trade ties with a range of “powerful” emerging market economies. Brics will continue pushing for equitable representation in international decision-making and supporting post-Covid-19 global economic recovery.
Jinping announced during the fourteenth Brics summit held virtually in late June 2022 that Iran and Argentina submitted applications to join the bloc.
As Brics chairperson this year, Ramaphosa would oversee the expansion of the bloc should it welcome new members.
These announcements were followed by media reports that Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Senegal and Thailand were also interested in joining Brics.
Keys to climate action: How developing countries could drive global success and local prosperity (Brookings)
A new narrative needs to capture the interwoven nature of the world’s climate and economic development challenges, anchored in the evolving and diverse perspectives of developing countries themselves.
An updated portrayal begins with the stark reality of climate change’s devastating consequences already hindering economic development around the world. It underscores the need for urgent investments in adaptation, resilience, and nature to avoid development setbacks while paying heed to the world’s narrow window for climate action. It requires empathy for many developing countries’ profound energy conundrum: a tension between the need to expand access for people who need it most while facing pressures to pursue low-carbon opportunities, often in the face of local political and financing headwinds. It implies practical urgency in tackling the broken threads of the international financing system for climate and development.
To set a more robust global path to net-zero emissions by 2050, the world needs to pay greater attention to the needs of emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), even when holding aside the special case of China. Over the coming several decades, no part of the world will play a greater role in both experiencing and affecting global climate change outcomes than EMDEs themselves. They need greater international support to tackle growth-enhancing sustainable development strategies.
With their growing leverage, developing countries have new opportunities to lean forward with a unified “ask” in global climate and development negotiations. The broader prize and aspiration amount to a full-fledged re-conception of models for sustainable development and of international cooperation. Falling short by losing sight of the big picture or wrangling excessively over details will dim the prospects for prosperity around the world. Rising to the occasion, however, can help usher in a new era of prosperity for all.
E-commerce negotiations enter final lap, Kyrgyz Republic joins initiative (WTO)
Ambassador Hung Seng Tan of Singapore, co-convenor of the initiative and chair for the 2023 plenary meetings, reiterated the initiative’s commitment to establishing a set of high-standard rules for governing the digital economy, with the participation of as many WTO members as possible. These rules will build on existing WTO agreements, he said. “I want to remind all of us of this because we are now entering the final lap. And I hope that we can keep this objective in mind as we accelerate and intensify our negotiations this year,” he added.
Ambassador Tan encouraged participating members to exercise flexibility in the negotiations and to find landing zones. He said: “This means that all of us must come prepared and equipped with the necessary mandate to negotiate substantively.”
Plastics Dialogue participants prepare ground for achieving outcomes at MC13 (WTO)
A number of co-coordinators and facilitators, including Australia, Ecuador, China, the United Kingdom and Colombia, said the plastics talks have come a long way since its inception in 2020, including issuing a landmark Ministerial Statement in 2021. Because of its clear targets and the high level of consensus among members, the Dialogue can set a good example for other initiatives that aim to leverage trade to address environmental challenges, they said.
How to navigate the unpredictable landscape of world trade (The European Sting)
Trade growth outpaced global growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for three decades before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains worldwide. As the pandemic’s effects subsided, the conflict in Ukraine and its repercussions replaced it as a drag on trade growth. Alongside these acute disruptions, the global trade environment has become less friendly overall.
Trade tensions have been rising even before the pandemic, and a new economic nationalism has begun to counter the decades of globalization that followed the end of the Cold War and the opening of China to the world. As a result, through 2031, trade will grow at only 2.3% versus the 2.5% growth forecast for GDP, according to Boston Consulting Group’s Global Trade Model.
Economies are still adjusting to the economic and geopolitical shakeups of the past three years but the challenges affecting global trade are here to stay. How can companies that depend on global supply chains manage today’s uncertainties and prepare for future risks?
India ranks 47th in OECD’s services trade restrictiveness index (Mint)
Reflecting presence of huge market barriers in the country, India stood at 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the year 2022. However, there was an improvement from last year’s ranking by one position.
Due to Russia-Ukraine war, Russia slipped to 48th position in the index. The report highlighted the privatisation of Air India, elimination of pricing guidelines for transfers of shares between residents and non residents, and restriction of foreign participation in certain services sectors.
The STRI indices takes into consideration the government policies in several sectors that define the ease of trading in those sectors and industries. Based on these factors, STRI indices assign value to countries between zero and one. As per the index, zero shows least restriction and one shows no restriction. The database also records details based on a Most Favoured Nation basis.
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Sugar industry making progress on implementing master plan (Engineering News)
The advent of the Sugarcane Master Plan has been a crucial intervention aimed at stabilising the sugar industry and putting it on an upward growth trajectory, especially as it has been impacted negatively by recent events, says the South African Sugar Association (SASA). The ambitious plan has sought to ensure that 95% of sugar is locally procured and that local demand doubles from 150 000 t to 300 000 t by 2023.
SASA reports that the industry managed to restore 170 000 t of sugar demand in the local market, against a target of 150 000 t in Year 1 of Phase 1 of the Master Plan. Phase 1 of the plan comes to an end in March after three years.
The local market comprises the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries of Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The South African sugarcane industry produces about 18-million tonnes a year of sugarcane and two-million tonnes of refined sugar, much of which is exported into the SACU market.
Cabinet approves One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) Bill, others for public comment (SAnews)
Cabinet has approved the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) Bill, among others, for public comments. This was on Thursday confirmed by Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, during a Post Cabinet media briefing. He said the Bill follows approval of the OSBP Policy and its implementation strategy in March 2022.
The Bill, he said, seeks to harmonise the movement of people and goods between South Africa’s land ports of entry and its neighbouring countries. He said: “This will alleviate current congestions at our land ports of entry for cross-border travellers and traders. These interventions are also key in the country’s efforts in driving the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement”. The agreements envisioned in the Bill, he said, will ensure that the processing of goods, vehicles and people is seamless and fast.
The Bill also responds to relevant international legal instruments that relate to trade facilitation and movements of people and goods.
How Mauritania Can Reduce the Impact of Climate Disasters on its Economy (IMF)
Climate-related natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe in Mauritania, exacerbating long-standing challenges like land and infrastructure degradation, water stress, and food insecurity. After a severe drought in 2021, 20 percent of the population faced acute food insecurity—the highest level in the country’s history. Lower-income households and women were the most impacted, as they’re disproportionally reliant on natural resources.
The cost to Mauritania’s growth is significant as a result. Our research shows that on average Mauritania’s medium-term annual per capita growth could fall by around 0.8 to 1 percentage points if a drought intensifies by 10 percentage points. The rate of intense droughts is measured over 5-year windows, based on the impact on more than 0.01 percent of the population. If a flood intensifies by the same amount, the hit to medium-term growth would be around one-fifth to one-fourth of the drought-related effect on per capita growth.
DR Congo economy to grow faster on increased mining production (The East African)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upwards the 2023 growth projections for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to 8 percent, following a “stronger-than expected” growth in mining production which downplayed several risks currently weighing down the economy.
The multilateral lender said Kinshasa’s mining yields rose 20 percent last year, compensating for the “downward revision to non-extractive growth,” which is now projected to increase by 3.2 percent, a drop from last year’s 3.7 percent.
MF’s DRC mission chief Mercedes Vera-Martin said that the ongoing conflict in the eastern parts of the country, uncertainty over the coming elections, the Russia-Ukraine war and other risks, however, continue to threaten the economic outlook despite the glam projections. “Sustaining prudent macroeconomic policies will help bolster resilience to external shocks,” she said, urging for a number of reforms that will mitigate the impact of the risks on the country’s economic prospects.
Morocco Economic Monitor, Winter 2022/2023: Responding to Supply Shocks (World Bank)
After a strong post-COVID-19 rebound last year, Morocco’s economy came under mounting pressure from overlapping supply shocks: a severe drought and a surge in commodity prices that have fed inflation.
Nonetheless, Morocco’s economic growth is expected to accelerate to 3.1 % in 2023, thanks to a rebound of the primary sector. Still, downside risks persist due to geopolitical tensions, including the war on Ukraine, the deceleration of Morocco’s main trading partners in the Eurozone, and new potential climate shocks. The report says real GDP growth dropped from 7.9 % in 2021 to an estimated 1.2% in 2022, while the current account deficit increased from 2.3% to 4.1 % of GDP.
To soften the impact of food and energy prices on households, Morocco adopted a policy package that included general subsidies on staples and maintained pre-existing regulated prices. This approach stabilized the prices of goods and services that absorb almost one-quarter of the average household´s expenditures, avoiding what could have been a higher increase in poverty. It required the mobilization of additional public spending amounting to almost two percent of GDP.
Notwithstanding these measures, modest and vulnerable households suffered the most from the impact of rising food and other prices due to inflation. The Kingdom’s major social safety net reform will allow for an effective concentration of subsidies on the poor and vulnerable.
Donated clothing worsening Kenya’s plastic pollution: Report (The East African)
One third of all second-hand clothing shipped to Kenya in 2021 was “plastic waste in disguise”, creating a slew of environmental and health problems for local communities, a new report said Thursday. Every year, tonnes of donated clothing is sent to developing countries, but an estimated 30 percent of it ends up in landfills — or flooding local markets where it can crowd out local production.
A new report shows that the problem is having grave consequences in Kenya, where some 900 million pieces of used clothing are sent every year, according to the Netherlands-based Changing Markets Foundation.
Powering trade through AfCFTA: a People-driven wholesome Development Agenda (AU)
By eliminating barriers to trade in Africa, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will lift 30 million people from extreme poverty and another 68 million people from moderate poverty. To boost intra-African trade, the continent has embarked on the gradual elimination of tariffs on 90 percent of goods, and the reduction of barriers to trade in services aimed at increasing Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035. The successful implementation of the AfCFTA will lead to the creation of more decent jobs, improved welfare and better quality of life for all citizenry, and sustainable development. Beyond the policy transformation and reforms, the AfCFTA seeks to ensure inclusivity of women and youth, including youth in the rural areas, development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and overall industrialization of the Continent.
As at February 2022, eight countries representing the five regions of the continent - Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia – participated in the AfCFTA’s Guided Trade Initiative, which seeks to facilitate trade among interested AfCFTA state parties that have met the minimum requirements for trade, under the Agreement. This initiative supports matchmaking businesses and products for export and import between State Parties. The products earmarked to trade under the Initiative include: ceramic tiles; batteries, tea, coffee, processed meat products, corn starch, sugar, pasta, glucose syrup, dried fruits, and sisal fibre, amongst others, in line with the AfCFTA focus on value chain development.
Tanzania ready to trade under AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (EABC)
The Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the United Republic of Tanzania Mr. Ally Gugu said, “Tanzania is ready to trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area Guided Trade Initiative.” Mr. Gugu elaborated that the Ministry has rolled out awareness campaigns for businesses interested to import intermediary inputs or exporting products to the continent through the AfCFTA Guide Trade Initiative.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary said the Ministry has developed the National Implementation strategy for AfCFTA which will be validated by the private sector.
Tanzania has great potential to export rice, Sacks for packing, and kraft paper to the continent. In particular, Tanzania has an untapped potential of USD 136 million from the export of rice alone to the continent.
Effective AfCFTA implementation will boost Africa’s economy and global competitiveness (UNECA)
Acting Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Antonio Pedro, has urged African nations to accelerate implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in order to become more resilient and globally competitive. “Only through an accelerated and effective implementation of the AfCFTA can Africa build sufficient shock absorbers to build resilience,” said Mr Pedro in his remarks at the 42nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council meeting in Addis Ababa on February 15, 2023.
The Acting Executive Secretary pointed out that by fast-tracking the implementation of the AfCFTA, Africa can provide solutions to the global challenges of supply chain disruptions, food insecurity, climate change, and migration.
Highlighting that the AfCFTA provides the economy of scale to invest in manufacturing and increased intra-Africa trade, Mr. Pedro said the free trade area would bring supply chains closer to home and inject self-sufficiency in essential products such as medicines, food and fertilizers.
Taking Advantage of the Acceleration of AfCFTA to Boost Girls and Women’s Education in Africa (AU)
The African Union International Centre for Girls and Women’s Education in Africa (African Union CIEFFA) has convened the 7th High-Level Dialogue with discussions centered around “Leveraging the AfCFTA to foster Girls and Women’s Education and Skill Development for Entrepreneurship Opportunities”.
While opening the ceremony, H.E Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, Commissioner of the department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation at the African Union Commission, highlighted the fact that, “The empowerment of African girls and women should then comprise of education and training systems that carry these as fundamental components to fuel the social, economic and political spheres of human development. It is equally imperative to create equal opportunities for girls and women in economic growth through small and medium enterprise businesses or the private sector.”
African leaders to re-initiate free trade zone discussions (Africanews)
This year’s summit comes at a “delicate moment” for Africa, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, citing Ethiopia’s nascent peace process, conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel region, South Sudan and jihadist insurgencies in Somalia and Mozambique. The 64-year-old Assoumani will “require the support of other senior African leaders to discharge the role, given his country’s limited diplomatic heft”, according to ICG.
Trade themed African Union Summit gets under way in Ethiopia (News24)
Coups in West Africa, upcoming elections, external factors such as the war in Ukraine, the strengthening of the promising African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), and conflict on the continent are part of what will make up the agenda of major side events at the African Union (AU) Summit. The AU Summit 36th ordinary session will take place between Wednesday and Sunday. The International Crisis Group (ICG) suggested that African heads of state that will convene in Ethiopia should look into eight key areas.
“The AU should focus on in 2023: Reforming its institutions; nurturing agreements in Ethiopia and Sudan; urging regional cooperation around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; easing tensions in the Great Lakes and Central Africa; and steering talks to unlock Libya’s stalemated transition,” said the ICG.
Delivering Africa’s great green transformation (Brookings)
Africa’s extreme exposure to external shocks — from climate to COVID-19 to the energy and food crisis — poses a fundamental economic strategy question. How to build resilience and accelerate growth simultaneously in an unfavorable global economic environment? For Africa, green transition means transformation to a higher value-added economy that integrates net zero emissions into the pathway to zero poverty and zero hunger.
In this working paper, Adam and Songwe propose a comprehensive transformation of the economic system in Africa. They discuss several regional approaches, including carbon taxation and pricing, greening supply chains in trade agreements, addressing weaknesses in the international financial architecture, and common positions on transition fuels, green hydrogen, and country platforms, helping individual countries make the transformation. The working paper conveys a signal that “great green transformation” is the most viable route for a truly African-owned process built on Africa’s energy independence and its ability to multiply trade and investment massively.
Making carbon markets work for Africa (UNECA)
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Afreximbank will convene the 2023 African Business Forum, an annual platform for dialogue between the African business and political leaders and policy makers, on realizing Agenda 2063 and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The sixth edition of the Africa Business Forum convened with the support of the African Union Commission and Sustainable Energy for All, will be held under the theme “Making Carbon Markets Work for Africa” on 20 February 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“Carbon markets present a great opportunity for African countries to utilize their abundant natural resources to unlock economic value and accelerate sustainable industrialization and economic transformation and diversification,” ECA Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Antonio Pedro, said.
“As Africa seeks to recover from the multi-crises of the COVID pandemic, energy crises and climate change, it is critical that we invest in sustainable value chains that will deliver jobs and resilience and inclusive economic growth. The carbon market presents such an opportunity for African countries. We must seize it,” said Mr. Pedro.
EU carbon border tariffs could knock $16bn off Africa’s yearly GDP (Engineering News)
Concern is growing in South Africa and across Africa about the implications of the European Union’s (EU’s) decision to proceed with the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as a way of preventing so-called ‘carbon leakage’ by imposing a tariff on imports equivalent to the carbon prices being paid by European companies.
In terms of an agreement reached in December, the CBAM will be implemented later this year and will initially cover the carbon-intensive sectors of iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, electricity and hydrogen, as well as some precursors and a limited number of downstream products.
While several details still need to be finalised, the imposition of a CBAM would have significant implications for South Africa, a new working paper produced for the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) warns.
Expansion proposal will be on the agenda for Brics in 2023 (BusinessLIVE)
The Brics group of nations plans to decide whether to admit new members and what criteria they would have to meet, with Iran and Saudi Arabia among those that have formally asked to join, according to SA’s ambassador to the bloc Anil Sooklal.
Enlarging the group — made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA — would benefit Beijing, as the world’s second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed nations in the UN, IMF, World Bank and other institutions. ..
Turn words into action to get world back on track for 2030 goals (UN News)
“Today, we are here to start the job of moving the recommendations in Our Common Agenda from ideas to action – from abstract to concrete,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. Briefing the world body on Our Common Agenda, launched in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a guide to realizing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) he provided a progress report and call to action.
“Halfway to 2030, we are far off track,” he said. “This must be the year when we lay the foundations for more effective global cooperation that can deal with today’s challenges as well as new risks and threats down the line.”
He reiterated a call on the Group of 20 countries to agree on a $500 billion annual stimulus to support countries of the global South before the SDG Summit. Meanwhile, he said his office will be issuing 11 policy briefs addressing such pressing issues as cyberwarfare and a building a more effective global economy.
DDG Ellard: Technology presents challenges and opportunities for future of trade (WTO)
Trade and technology are closely interlinked. From the invention of the earliest sailing ships, to steam engines, railways, and steamboats, to the advent of containerization, ever more sophisticated logistics, and the demand for climate friendly transportation, technology has always played a vital role in shaping the way we live and trade. This trend is accelerating like never before. We are living in an era of unprecedented technological change, experiencing and shaping innovations that could have a major impact on how we trade, who trades, and what is traded.
Technological developments can unlock new opportunities for businesses and individuals around the world. To realize this potential, we need to understand how to harness new technologies to make sure that they translate into job creation, economic growth, and helping to deliver Sustainable Development Goals in line with the WTO’s stated mission to improve living standards.
WTO members agree on Aid for Trade Work Programme for 2023-24 (WTO)
The Aid for Trade work programme for 2023-24 will focus on “Partnerships for Food Security, Digital Connectivity and Mainstreaming Trade”, WTO members decided at a meeting of the Trade and Development Committee on 10 February. The Committee was updated on recent Aid for Trade activities aimed at enhancing trade opportunities for developing countries and least-developed countries (LDCs).
UN Report Calls for Development Efforts to Support Resilience (IISD)
The UN Secretariat has published a report on the trends and progress in international development cooperation, analyzing the state of play and challenges the most vulnerable countries, communities, and people face. It highlights key sectors where development cooperation can help address the diversity of interlinked vulnerabilities and build resilience.
Titled, ‘Trends and Progress in International Development Cooperation,’ the report (E/2023/48) was released on 3 January 2023. The report highlights the UN’s critical role in advancing more effective development cooperation in the face of overlapping global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and inequalities. It calls for renewed effort to better understand the origins of asymmetric and multidimensional vulnerabilities and “how they exacerbate the cascading nature of existing and future global crises.”
How digital economy can improve livelihoods in the Pacific (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD published the first Pacific edition of its Digital Economy Report on 16 February. It’s the first in-depth research report on the digital economy in the Pacific, examining opportunities and challenges of digital transformation in the region. Digital technologies and e-commerce have the potential to transform livelihoods in the Pacific by enhancing trade across sectors and industries.
“The digital economy means small businesses can access new markets, reduce transaction costs, encourage financial inclusion and boost exports,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said.
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Tanzania: Coffee to Trade Under AfCFTA Market From July (All Africa)
COFFEE will be the first Tanzania's product to trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market in July this year, the Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Dr Ashatu Kijaji has said.
Recently, the government announced that from July 1st, this year, it will start exporting ten types of products to the AfCFTA market for the country to benefit from an integrated African market of over 1.3 billion people.
"We already have the first product that we will export first and that is coffee and we will not send it in raw form, we will send the finished product," said the Minister in Dar es Salaam yesterday when she was speaking to members of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) at the meeting that was also attended by the Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba.
SA plans to raise R2 trillion by 2028 through intra-Africa trade (SAnews)
South Africa’s diplomatic missions across the globe stand ready to mobilise R2 trillion by 2028, with a particular focus on increasing intra-Africa trade, which stands at 17% of total trade.
This is according to the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Botes, who participated in the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday.
“Mr President, because of your leadership, in 2021, we exported more to Africa -- R385 billion -- than to the European Union's R355 billion.”
Cemac: Prices of exported commodities fell by 13.4% in Q4 2022 (Business in Cameroon)
The prices of commodities exported by Cemac countries fell 13.4% in Q4 2022, after rising 6.9% and 0.5% respectively in the second and third quarters.
The situation is the result of “the sharp decline in the global prices of oil and natural gas" during the period, Beac points out in its Composite Commodity Price Index (ICCPB). In detail, the quarterly document says, global prices for energy products fell by 18.8%, after a rise of 2.9% in Q3. In Q4, gas fell by 35.5% and a barrel of oil by 11.6%.
According to Beac, this price contraction is related to the increase in European natural gas stocks, supported by the reduction in gas consumption by households and industries, which are turning to renewable energies; the slowdown in global growth; concerns about a global recession; and the maintenance of pandemic restrictions in China.
Madagascar launches safeguard investigation on concentrated milk (World Trade Organization)
On 14 February 2023, Madagascar notified the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards that it initiated on 11 February 2023 a safeguard investigation on concentrated milk and that it imposed a provisional measure.
In the notification Madagascar indicated, among other things, as follows (provisional English translation):
"Interested parties should make themselves known to the ANMCC, the authority in charge of the investigation, within 30 days from the date of the initiation of the investigation.
Nigeria not ready for AfCFTA, can’t facilitate trade, says Amiwero (Guardian Nigeria)
Former member of the Presidential Committee on Destination Inspection and Ministerial Committee on Fiscal Policy and Import Clearance Procedure, Lucky Amiwero, has lamented Nigeria’s shoddy approach for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as it lacks key tools of international process of trade facilitation.
He said the components that make up an efficient port, which are also tools for trade facilitation, such as consistency; transparency and predictability are missing in the country’s maritime sector.
Amiwero said time of clearing containers cannot be predicted as well as with the berthing of ships, which he said, is not consistent and transparent. He also pointed out multiple agencies and many charges at the ports, adding that after the 2006 reform, the port has been bedeviled by a lot of exploitative tendencies from every agency in the port.
Presentation of Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (AfDB)
The African Development Bank and the African Union Commission will host a joint event to present the inaugural Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report at the 36th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The report, published by the African Development Bank Group, offers policymakers, global investors, researchers, and other development partners, up-to-date, evidence-based assessments of the continent’s recent macroeconomic performance.
When: Friday, 17 February 2023. 8:00 AM EAT (GMT+3)
Where: African Union Commission, Medium Conference Hall, and online
Logistics operators see opportunities in AfCFTA despite slow takeoff (Guardian Nigeria)
Notwithstanding the slow pace of implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA), logistics executives have expressed optimism about the benefits inherent in the trade deal.
Indeed, three major issues are believed to be affecting the AfCFTA in its initial phase. First, the negotiation on the Rules of Origin seems endless. Several members were unwilling to ratify all the articles of agreement. Many African countries earn most of their trade revenue from exports to non-African countries.
In 2022, rules of origin were resolved for 87.7 per cent of the goods covered by AfCFTA, including about 3,800 tariff lines. Secondly, the AfCFTA suffers as does the African Union (AU) in general, from a lack of popular perception about its advantages across the board. African businesses in particular are not fully aware about the advantages of the AfCFTA.
China-Africa Digital Trade Services Hub In Hunan (Maritime Gateway)
China’s Hunan province has unveiled a China-Africa Digital Services Hub that focuses on cross-border communications support and data-sharing between Chinese companies working in Africa.
The China-Africa economic and trade digitalization service based in Changsha, the provincial capital, aims to support Chinese companies’ trade with Africa. China’s central Hunan province has been among the most ambitious in launching new services and facilities to promote trade with African countries. The base mainly serves Chinese companies in Africa and provides related digital information services. It will also promote the innovative application of new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce, China-Africa economic and trade data statistical analysis, and other digital products related to telecommunications, Internet, software and information technology services. The base can provide campsite communication support equipment services for enterprises in need and build cross-border interconnection routes for African branches of Chinese-funded enterprises.
DDG González: “WTO reform is about promoting resilient, sustainable and inclusive trade” (World Trade Organization)
WTO members must do more to safeguard and expand the role of trade as a tool to create jobs, reduce poverty and increase economic opportunity, WTO Deputy Director-General Anabel González said at a conference hosted by the World Bank and the Peterson Institute for International Economics on 14 February. She called on WTO members to accelerate the pace of work on WTO reform to match the size of the challenges facing the global trading system.
“WTO reform is urgently needed to prevent that power replaces rules in global trade relations,” DDG González said, adding that “the cost of the resulting economic fragmentation would be massive, possibly 5% or more of long-term world GDP if the world economy were to split into two self-contained blocs”.
DDG González said that economic resilience calls for diversification, not decoupling. “We need better transparency and monitoring to map concentrated trade relationships, we need greater policy dialogue to chart coordinated solutions, and we need to continue opening and facilitating trade to bring alternative supply sources into the global economy,” she said.
China’s South America free-trade deal to have ‘clear impact’, but may irk US by seeking opportunities in its ‘backyard’ (South China Morning Post)
A proposed free-trade agreement between China and a group of South American nations, which includes Argentina and Brazil, will benefit all sides economically, but will further increase competition between Washington and Beijing in the so-called backyard of the United States, according to analysts.
New leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that the proposed deal between China and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), which also includes Uruguay and Paraguay as full members, will modernise and open up the South American trade bloc to other regions.
A possible agreement can be discussed after a similar free-trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union is finalised, added Lula, who returned for a third term as president in January.
UN launches 2023 Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade (Trade Finance Global)
The fifth UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2023 has been launched by the five United Nations Regional Commissions and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The 2023 edition consists of 60 measures, including two new sets of measures on “Trade Facilitation for E-Commerce” and “Wildlife Trade Facilitation”, on cross-border e-commerce and the application of electronic CITES permits and certificates.
The preliminary results of the 2023 Survey will be published in July at untfsurvey.org, followed by the final results in the form of a Global Report and five Regional Reports.
The US, China spy balloon tensions are drifting into politics of the supply chain (CNBC)
The tensions between the U.S. and China over alleged spy balloons shot down over North America have some of the top trade associations representing companies reliant on Chinese manufacturing to urge their members to diversify their supply chains.
The National Retail Federation, the American Footwear and Apparel Association, and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals tell CNBC that the rising tensions with China due to the spy balloons have resulted in new concerns from their member companies, already dealing in recent years with tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, and Covid shutdowns under the “Zero Covid” policy.
“The ongoing tensions with the U.S.-China trade relationship continue to highlight the need for supply chain diversification,” said Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy of the National Retail Federation. “From the tariffs to Covid-19 to additional challenges, retailers are looking for opportunities to diversify their sourcing to ensure they have resilient supply chains to meet consumer needs.”
Event on decarbonization standards to promote transparency and coherence in steel sector (World Trade Organization)
The WTO’s “Trade Forum on Decarbonization Standards: Promoting coherence and transparency in the steel sector” will bring together over 20 speakers from the public and private sectors in an event on 9 March. The full programme and registration are now available online.
The event will promote multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of coherent and transparent standards in accelerating the global scale-up of low-carbon steelmaking technologies and avoiding trade frictions. It will bring together WTO members, industry, standards bodies, international organizations and academic experts to share perspectives on challenges and opportunities around decarbonization standards and the potential role of the WTO in promoting trade-related international cooperation, with a focus on the iron and steel supply chain.
It will feature a Leaders' Conversation with Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Mr Aditya Mittal, chief executive officer of Arcelor Mittal; and Princess Abze Djigma, Special Envoy of the President of Burkina Faso for Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change.
U.S. Finding Challenges in Increasing Resilience of Global Supply Chains (Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.)
The U.S. has been actively engaging in efforts with other countries to strengthen global supply chains but is running into a number of related challenges, a recent Government Accountability Office report states.
The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine have both disrupted global supply chains and highlighted their vulnerabilities. In response, GAO states, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the departments of Commerce and State have expanded their diplomatic engagement on strengthening supply chains. These efforts have included initiating over a dozen dialogues, working groups, and forums to coordinate on supply chain resilience (e.g., through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and the Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience) as well as bilateral coordination with allies and partners (including Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Singapore) to develop supply chain principles and plans.
However, the report adds, USTR, DOC, and State have encountered the following challenges in coordinating supply chain resilience engagements with others.
EU-Indonesia FTA negotiations see progress (Vietnam Plus)
Indonesia and the European Union (EU) have made significant progress in the 13th round of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), including the completion of the chapter related to good regulatory practice (GRP) and the geographical indication section in the chapter related to intellectual property rights.
In a statement released on February 13, the Indonesian Trade Ministry's Director of Bilateral Negotiations, Johni Martha, said that the GRP chapter is the second chapter to be agreed upon by the two sides after the chapter related to hygiene and plant quarantine.
Johni said that the 13th round of negotiations was very important as both sides showed their willingness to push forward the negotiations.
World economy faces growing headwind of services-trade barriers (Economic Times)
The world economy’s recovery from the consequences of the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine is increasingly hampered by governments slapping more restrictions on services trade.
According to an OECD index, the average increase in new measures across all sectors was five times higher in 2022 than in 2021. Audio-visual, computer and physical infrastructure services were particularly affected.
“Continued efforts to remove barriers to trade in services are essential to facilitate a strong and sustained economic recovery to strengthen resilience to future shocks and promote a more sustainable trading system,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.
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ECA Support to Equatorial Guinea for the Development of a National AfCFTA Strategy (UNECA)
Malabo, 13 February 2023 (ECA) - the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa (SRO-CA), in collaboration with the ECA African Trade Policy Center (ATPC), is currently providing support to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea in the development of a national strategy for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in cooperation with the African Union Commission and with the financial support of the European Union (EU). In this context, an ECA SRO-CA delegation comprised of Ms. Caitlyn Carrico, Economic Affairs Officer, and Mr. Thiago Silveira Gasser, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, will carry out a mission in Malabo from 13 to 17 February 2023 to officially launch consultations on the national AfCFTA strategy for Equatorial Guinea as well as to raise awareness on the AfCFTA and the process of AfCFTA strategy development and implementation.
The delegation will hold bilateral consultations with Ministries and government institutions to promote the potential of the AfCFTA for the economy of Equatorial Guinea as well as to gain critical inputs on strategy development. Planned meetings include a high-level meeting with the Ministry of Trade and promotion of small and medium enterprises as well as technical meetings with teams from the Ministries of Trade and promotion of small and medium enterprises, Planning, Industry, Regional integration, Hydrocarbons, Agriculture, livestock and forestry, the National Statistics Office, and Customs. The Team will also meet with civil society actors including the Chamber of Commerce and Universities. A national consultant has been recruited and will accompany the delegation during these meetings.
FG pledges improved trade relations with ECOWAS states (Vanguard)
The Nigerian Government has reiterated its commitment towards enhancing trade and economic integration with member countries of ECOWAS and the promotion of efficient operations at Seme-Krake border.
This is contained in a statement by Henshaw Ogubike, Director, Press and Public Relations Ministry of Transportation of on Monday in Abuja.
Ogubike said the Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, stated the commitment at the inauguration of 300 multi million naira projects executed by the ministry at Seme-Krake Joint Border Post in Lagos.
According to him, the projects include roofing of three walkways for arriving and departing passengers, construction of 20 toilet facilities and provision of two solar-powered boreholes/water treatment plants.
GIRAV quality standards on maize value chain inaugurated (The Point)
The Gambia Standards Bureau in collaboration with the Gambia Inclusiveness and Resilient Agricultural Value Chain (GIRAV) Project, on Friday, inaugurated the GIRAV quality component for the development of standards for maize and its value chain.
Speaking during the event held at the Baobab Holiday Resort, Hassan Saidou Gaye, the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade, explained that the importance of national and international standards has increased with the globalisation of the world economy.
“Gambia is not an island anymore; we are part of a global village and the wider AfCFTA community. Not two million people as before but part of 1.3 billion people of the African continent. In order to effectively trade and export what we produce, we need standards and universally accepted standards,” he said.
Coffee, tiles top the list in AfCFTA export drive (IPP Media)
Dr Ashatu Kijaji, the Investments, Industry and Trade minister, made this observation when addressing a gathering of members of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), with Finance and Planning minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba in attendance.
She said that Tanzania is among seven initial countries according priority to the scheme, thus exporting their products to the Africa-wide market to kindred member states who have ratified the free trade area protocol.
Urging manufacturers and traders to seek out those opportunities, she said her meeting with CTI members on the subject is the third in a series, seeking to raise awareness of industrial sector stakeholders on what is required to make use of the facility.
Coffee is the pioneer product under that arrangement, not to be exported raw but processed while locally manufactured tiles are also being lined up for regional markets, she said
Africa: One Year Later - The Impact of the Russian Conflict With Ukraine On Africa (All Africa)
In today's interconnected world, shots fired in one corner of the globe create ripple effects in other, seemingly far, places. One year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, African countries, although physically miles away, have not been spared its aftershocks.
Against a backdrop of soaring food and energy prices and the shrinking basket of global economic cooperation financing, African countries are also contending with how to position themselves within the significant shifts in international energy policies, even as they are approached by various partners who are also grappling with the energy access implications for their own citizens.
In 2020, 15 African countries imported over 50 per cent of their wheat products from the Russian Federation or Ukraine. Six of these countries (Eritrea, Egypt, Benin, Sudan, Djibouti, and Tanzania) imported over 70 per cent of their wheat from the region.
African Businesswomen Press for AU Border Harassment Dialogue (VOA News)
African women and girls are discussing the harassment and discrimination challenges they face trying to conduct cross-border business under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
The meeting in Addis Ababa, called "Gender is My Agenda," is taking place ahead of the African Union heads of state summit, which is set to begin Saturday and is expected to address progress of the African trade agreement.
Elizabeth Ajok, a South Sudanese national, said women often face problems at border crossings that men don't have to experience.
"They are facing a lot of challenges like violence at the border, they are being intimidated, and sometimes some of their items are being confiscated or their goods are taken because of clearance," Ajok said. "And they will also overcharge you because you are a woman. You will be taxed. Sometimes they just look at us. They see that you are just a woman, so you don't deserve to do business."
Ruto adopts Uhuru’s draft trade deal with America (Business Insider Africa)
The Ruto administration has adopted the key areas of cooperation agreed upon by the previous regime in the proposed trade deal with the US, setting the stage for the negotiations to progress ahead of 2025 deadline.
President William Ruto’s negotiating team went through the 11 pillars of the proposed trade deal with their US counterparts in Washington last week and agreed to forge ahead with the talks “in the coming months”.
The Kenyan delegation, led by Trade PS Alfred K’Ombudo, and the US delegation “exchanged views” on the key concepts agreed on last July without introducing new clauses, according to the statement after the week-long meeting.
The US-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership, launched by the Biden administration, will replace the two-decade-old Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
DCTS: Nigeria Targets £14bn Non-oil Exports To UK By 2030 – Yakusak (Leadership News)
Nigeria is targeting to grow its exports to the United Kingdom (UK) from 0.3 per cent to five per cent share of the market valued at £14 billion by 2030.
Executive director/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr. Ezra Yakusak, who made this known said would achieved through the recently launched Developing Countries Trade Scheme (DCTS) by the UK.
Under the new scheme, DCTS is to replace the UK’s current Generalized System of Preference (GSP), while Nigeria will now be benefiting from 9500 tariff lines instead of the previous eight. Besides, Nigeria no longer has to ratify the 36 conventions with the UK before trading. This is significantly more generous than both the EU’s GSP scheme and the US’ AGOA scheme and based on current trade volumes, would mean that 99 per cent of goods exports to the UK are duty-free.
“I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
“We take note of the 2022 LDC report that has been presented for this agenda item. The report legitimately highlights the particularly vulnerable situation in which LDCs find themselves in the face of climate change. Limited fiscal space of LDCs, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and debt burdens, restricts their capacity to offset the consequences of extreme weather events.
“Representing 40% of global Aid for Trade programmes, we support regional, as well as global, economic integration, not least by being AU’s main partner for its African Continental Free Trade Area.”
Russia’s growing trade in arms, oil and African politics (Financial Times)
At the inaugural Russia-Africa summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2019, Russian president Vladimir Putin promised to double trade with African states within five years as he sought to win new friends with offers of nuclear power plants and fighter jets.
Three years on, few of those promises have materialised and yet Russian influence on the continent is growing faster than at any point since the end of the cold war.
Russian trade with Africa in 2021, the most recent full-year figure available, was worth $15.6bn — a tenth of the continent’s trade with China and a quarter up on 2018, according to IMF data. However, Moscow remains the biggest exporter of arms to Africa and — through investments and trading relationships in goods from diamonds to citrus fruit — has become a useful partner for African states.
Euro zone is seen dodging recession as energy crunch eases (The Business Standard)
The euro-zone economy will fare better this year than previously feared as a mild winter and high levels of gas storage help to ease the energy crisis, and the labor market holds up, according to the European Commission.
European Union officials in Brussels raised their forecast for growth this year, predicting a 0.9% expansion in the currency bloc, and said it would narrowly avoid a recession. They also cut their projection for consumer price growth, though it remains high at 5.6%.
Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni cautioned that "better than expected doesn't mean good," however, telling reporters that Europeans still face a difficult period with growth slowing and inflation only easing gradually.
US stocks trade higher a day ahead of a key inflation reading (Business Insider Africa)
Economists expect January's headline consumer price index reading to cool further to an annual rate of 6.2% from 6.5% the prior month, according to Bloomberg. But even fresh signs of disinflation won't mean the fight to rein in prices is over.
"There has been an expectation that [inflation] will go away quickly and painlessly, I don't think it's guaranteed that's the base case," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech last week at the Economic Club of Washington DC. "It will take some time."
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is coming off its worst week of the year so far, closing Friday down 1.1% over the five-day stretch.
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Maritime Chamber wants to contribute more to South Africa’s economic recovery (Engineering News)
Industry organisation the Maritime Business Chamber has written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa seeking to advise government on how the maritime sector can contribute to the country’s economic recovery. Chairperson Unathi Sonti writes that South Africa has, since 2013, been working on a strategy for the sector, including an integrated maritime development framework and industrialisation programme for the country, which includes Operations Phakisa and the current process of the Oceans Economy Master Plan.
The letter states that South Africa’s maritime sector has not yet realised the R177-billion estimated contribution it could make to the country’s gross domestic product.
The letter highlights the chamber’s belief that the implementation of the South African Maritime Charter has the potential to generate revenue of R56.3-billion.
Ugandan exports to Rwanda flourish on food supplies, raw materials (The East African)
Rwanda’s appetite for imports from Ugandan grew to a record $60.55 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 from $15.64 million in the first nine months to September as Kigali turned to her regional neighbours for food supplies and raw materials. Latest Bank of Uganda trading data shows exports, which had stagnated in single-digit millions of dollars between January and September 2022, grew to an average of $20 million monthly between October-December.
Highlights published in the East African Cross Border Trade Bulletin by the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG) show that Rwandan authorities were under pressure to provide adequate food and also ensure sufficient supply for raw material, especially for breweries.
Kenya and the United States have concluded the first phase of their trade talks (Business Insider Africa)
The five days of negotiations for the free trade agreement are expected to produce results, according to the delegation from Kenya, led by Trade Principal Secretary Alfred K’Ombudo.
“During the meetings. the two sides exchanged views on the key concepts to be addressed on almost all of the areas outlined in the 141h July, 2022 joint statement announcing the initiative,’ a statement from the ministry reads in part. The Partnership aims to boost investment, enhance regional economic integration in Africa, and advance sustainable and inclusive economic growth for the benefit of workers, consumers, and businesses (including micro, small, and medium-sized firms).
Kenya, TZ court cases block tonnes of GMO maize seeds (Business Daily)
Four court cases have blocked the release of 11 tonnes of genetically modified maize seeds that were to be made available to farmers this planting season. The BT maize seeds had been planned for release to farmers by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) in the months of March and April. Developed by KALRO in its laboratories, the maize seeds that were to be availed at a subsidised fee had been undergoing testing in confined field trials in the country for years.
The orders barred the government from importing, transacting, distributing and growing GMOs.
The petitioners are challenging the constitutionality of the Cabinet decision to remove the ban in October last year without public participation as required by law. Several traders have approached NBA with requests to import GM products into the country, including a consignment of GM white maize from South Africa. The regulator, however, froze the requests until after the determination of the court cases.
Tanzania Economic Update: Universal Access to Water and Sanitation Could Transform Social and Economic Development (World Bank)
Since its Water Sector Development Program (WSDP) got underway in 2006, Tanzania has made significant progress improving the access of thousands of citizens like Mama Kashilila to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. Against a backdrop of low coverage and slow progress in the sector during the Millennium Development Goals era, which ended in 2015, the country has renewed its commitment to expanding access for its population by fully adopting the ambitious Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) sector targets, which the UN has set for 2030.
The National Panel Survey (NPS) 2020/2021, released in January 2023, shows that since the NPS 2014/2015, four in every 10 households have gained access to improved sanitation (up from two-and-half households), and half the population now has access to clean water in the rainy season and two-thirds during the dry seasons.
Reflecting on the importance of the progress made, as well as remaining gaps, the authors of the 18th Tanzania Economic Update Clean Water, Bright Future: The Transformative Impact of Investing in WASH, just published by the World Bank, argue the country stands to gain much more by pushing to deliver the goals of its third, by far most ambitious WSDP phase (WSDP-3, 2022–2026), whose financing requirements are estimated at $6.5 billion.
“The devastating consequences of inadequate access, versus the benefits gained, make such an investment highly cost-effective,” said Nathan Belete, the World Bank’s Country Director in Tanzania. “Achieving WASH goals can support the jobs agenda while mitigating the adverse effects poor water and sanitation have on workforce productivity. And they’re crucial for Tanzania to achieve its objectives for inclusive growth and property reduction.”
Digital Economy Can Boost Eswatini’s Development and Enhance Service Delivery (World Bank)
The digital economy offers Eswatini a range of opportunities to improve economic development and enhance public and private services, highlights a World Bank Digital Economy Diagnostic for Eswatini that launched today. The report provides an assessment of the five pillars of Eswatini’s digital economy comprising digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital financial services, digital skills, and digital entrepreneurship. The Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) is part of the World Bank’s support for the Africa Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa, which aspires to see every African person, business, and government digitally enabled by 2030.
“Climate smart agriculture will benefit farmers, who represent 70% of Eswatini’s population, by increasing the productivity of their lands and enhancing their livelihoods. Implementing the recommendations of the Digital Economy Diagnostic for Eswatini would make a tangible contribution to the development of Eswatini’s economy,” says Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, Country Director for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini.
The Digital Economy Diagnostic for Eswatini seeks to support government institutions and stakeholders by taking stock of the current state of the digital economy and provides recommendations for further development. This was achieved through an assessment of the five foundational pillars of the digital economy in Eswatini, based on consultations with relevant public and private stakeholders.
Tanzania loses Sh3.3 trillion annually to illicit trade (The Citizen)
Despite adopting measures to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs), Tanzania loses an estimated $1.5 billion annually in revenue to trade-based money laundering (TBML), a deprivation of the country’s much-needed tax revenues. This is according to a policy memo published by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and its allies, indicating that if not addressed, TBML has adverse effects on economies and societies as it perpetuates criminal activities such as illicit wildlife trade, bribery, corruption, and tax evasion.
Director for Taxpayer Services and Education of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Mr Richard Kayombo said: “We’ve designed various measures to reduce or deter the said illicit trade. This includes and not limited to cooperating with law enforcers in curbing the matter,”
According to him, in the awareness campaign, TRA sensitises the need for businesses within the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), to make use of a free trade area committed, amongst other things, to eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers amongst its members.
“This means that goods originating from Tanzania and destined for any of Sadc or EAC member states, enjoy no tariff rates and no or reduced quantitative restrictions at destination countries. The same applies to goods imported into the country from other Sadc and EAC member states,” he reassured.
Push for local processing and consumption of cocoa intensifies (MyJoyOnline)
The 2023 National Chocolate Week Celebrations has been launched with a renewed purpose to empower artisanal cocoa processors to take advantage of the new incentives within the consumption campaign to become more competitive to meet market demands.
Launching the celebrations at the Accra Tourist Information Centre, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah acknowledged that the cocoa industry plays a significant role in stabilising the local economy, hence the need to intensify efforts aimed at boosting local production, processing, and consumption.
Eswatini bans trade in copper for scrap as rampant theft affects service providers in region (News24)
Scrapyards in Eswatini were this week instructed to stop trading in copper as the government moved ahead with plans to ban the export of such commodities. The temporary ban is a stop-gap measure by the government to contain “theft cases of copper cables and copper-based infrastructure, vandalism and malicious damage of millions worth of public utilities infrastructure”.
Khumalo said there would be strict surveillance at all ports of entry and exit, particularly trucks. Copper theft is a regional crisis, with syndicates targeting the mining, transportation and telecommunications industries. Copper prices soared over the past decade, with the commodity almost tripling in value since 2015.In South Africa, copper cable theft costs the economy between R5 billion and R7 billion annually, according to estimates by the Chamber of Commerce.
Farmers’ income set for record numbers (The Citizen)
Farmers’ incomes increased by 13 percent over the just ended season, as attempts to improve data collecting outweighed a drop in output from some key products. In an effort to improve data collection, the government has added sugarcane and grapes to the list of crops sold through cooperative unions, while also including beans on the list. Earnings are likely to rise further in the 2022/23 season, given the trade season for some produce, such as cashew nuts and coffee, is still ongoing.
At the same time, in 2022/23, other crops such as sesame have been sold through cooperative unions in some regions such as Lindi, Mtwara, and Ruvuma, while they have been exchanged through normal channels in others.
Official data from the ministry of Agriculture gathered by the Tanzania Cooperatives Development Commission (TCDC) show that farmers earned Sh1.752 trillion in the 2022/23 as compared to Sh1.553 trillion garnered in the 2021/22 season.
the growth occurred despite low volumes and incomes recorded for key cash crops such as cashew nuts, coffee, sesame, and sisal traded through cooperative unions in the 2022/23 season.
Manufacturing sector growing slower than in other EAC states – PBO (The Star)
The manufacturing sector in Kenya has been growing slower than in other countries in the East African Community region in the last decade, Parliamentary Budget Office has said. PBO said the sector has been growing faster in neighbouring countries although manufacturing in Kenya is widely recognised as the largest in the region.” The implication of such a trend, combined with increasing cheap imports from Asian countries in the region is that the market share of Kenya’s manufacturing exports in those countries may be declining,” PBO said in a report.
It said the lacklustre performance of the sector has been attributed to a combination of factors. It named the reasons as poor quality of labour, high cost of transport and electricity, and lack of access to affordable finance (mainly by SMEs) among others.
Parliament ratifies Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation (BusinessGhana)
Parliament has adopted the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on African Union Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation Niamey Convention to promote cross-border cooperation, ensure peaceful resolutions of border disputes and would promote and ease free movement of persons and goods.
The Niamey Convention is designed to promote cross-border cooperation in six core areas, which are: Mapping and geographical information sharing; Socioeconomic development; Cultural activities and sports; Security, especially combating cross-border crime, terrorism, piracy, and other forms of crime; Demining of borders and Institutional development.
The Niamey Convention aims to facilitate the peaceful resolution of border disputes at both local and international levels. It also seeks to promote effective and efficient integrated border management to serve as a catalyst for development and economic growth among Member Countries.
The Niamey Convention is indicative of the African Union’s recognition of the important role that good border governance plays in ensuring peace, security and sustainable development.
Nigeria Missed Gains Of High Oil Price – IMF (Leadership)
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the Article IV consultation with Nigeria, as it observed that the country missed the gains of rising oil prices. It warned that the country’s oil sector faces downside risks from possible production and price volatility. The Executive Directors agreed with the thrust of the staff appraisal as they welcomed the broadening of Nigeria’s economic recovery but noted that the opportunity to reap the benefits from higher global oil prices was missed.
Directors therefore highlighted the need for bold fiscal reforms to create needed policy space, put public debt on sound footing, and reduce vulnerabilities.
In the medium term, Directors recommended modernizing customs administration, rationalizing tax incentives, and raising tax rates to the levels of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) .
FG says Nigeria has 46 of the 240 Free Trade Zones in Africa (Nairametrics)
The Federal Government has revealed that Nigeria houses 46 of the 240 Free Trade Zones (FTZ) in Africa, citing that the number could increase further as more states apply for FTZ licenses. This was disclosed by Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).
The NEPZA chief said 30 of the 46 FTZs in Nigeria are currently functional. He also responded to claims that Akwa Ibom state had difficulties obtaining a license, emphasising that they never applied for one.
Economic Impacts of Covid-19 and Policy Options in the Seychelles (AfDB)
This report presents an in-depth assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of the Seychelles, focusing especially on the pandemic’s effects on the key productive sectors of the economy: fishing, tourism, and manufacturing sectors. The report focuses on the short-run and the medium-run impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines the potential of two different government policy responses in fostering the longer-term recovery and resilience of the Seychelles economy through an exploration of their aggregate and sectoral impacts.
Africa needs pro-poor and inclusive recovery efforts to foster economic transformation (UNECA)
Following the multiple financial, health, and climate crises affecting Africa, countries should accelerate inclusive recovery efforts to boost economic growth, the Economic Commission for Africa’s Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Antonio Pedro, has urged. Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the 55th Session of the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM 2023), Mr. Pedro said the impact of the shocks caused by COVID -19, the war in Ukraine and climate change have pushed more people into extreme poverty and have increased inequality worldwide.
“Africa is falling even further behind, with the continent now accounting for the highest proportion of the world’s poor of any region globally,” Mr. Pedro warned, emphasizing that the growing number of newly poor and vulnerable people makes it harder to close the gap between the rich and the poor.
“Recovery efforts must be pro-poor and inclusive, with a view to fostering a new social contract that offers equal opportunity for all,” he said, adding that, “It is important that our growth does not leave anyone behind and if we do so then the social contract that is key to have stability and prosperity will be completely disrupted.”
Experts urge African leaders to take strong climate change action (The East African)
As African leaders gather next week for the African Union summit under the theme ‘Acceleration of AfCFTA Implementation’, experts are urging that climate change and the energy crisis to be placed at the centre of the free trade talks. They argue that AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) presents an opportunity for Africa to be a dynamic force in the global arena and investing in renewable energy sources can provide access to affordable energy while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that energy poverty levels in Africa are at an alarming rate, with over 70 percent of the population living without access to electricity.
IEA also notes that energy poverty is particularly high in rural areas, where only 20 percent of the population has access to electricity. This lack of access to electricity has a direct impact on poverty levels as families are unable to generate income or engage in small-scale businesses that require power.
Taking stock of America’s flagship trade programme for Africa (The Economist)
Of America’s top 30 imports from AGOA-eligible countries, 20 would enter tariff-free anyway, according to the UN. Those include precious metals, diamonds, cocoa, vanilla and coffee.
The important exception is clothing, which ordinarily attracts tariffs as high as 32%. Here AGOA gives African exporters an edge. Manufacturers in the poorest African countries are exempt from tariffs even if they use fabric made elsewhere. In Lesotho, Madagascar, Kenya and Ethiopia, hundreds of thousands of workers stitch materials shipped from Asia into clothes for American consumers.
2nd High-level Meeting of the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue concludes (OPEC)
The 2nd High-level Meeting of the OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue took place today, 12 February 2023, in Cairo involving leading energy partners from across the African continent. In a follow-up to the highly successful inaugural Dialogue held on 2 June 2021, OPEC hosted the second meeting with the African Union, the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) to conduct open and transparent discussions on key energy-related topics relevant to Africa and its energy industries.
“The opportunities for the continent will be significant in the years ahead, but there will undoubtedly be a great number of challenges in store as this industry continues to evolve towards a lower-carbon future,” OPEC Secretary General, HE Haitham Al Ghais stated. “This complex and double-sided reality is what makes global energy cooperation and events such as this one of dire importance.”
Ghana hosts World Trade Centres Association General Assembly in April (Graphic Online)
The 53rd WTCA General Assembly, which will be held in Accra from April 23 to 28, will be the first to be hosted in Africa in the over 50-year history of the WTCA, a global network of 300 business organisations in more than 100 countries.
The global event is expected to be one of the biggest gatherings of business executives, investors, financial institutions, international trade organisations, policy makers and entrepreneurs on the African continent.
On the theme: “Towards African Economic Integration and Enhanced Global Presence”, the assembly will foster global collaborations among the various WTCs, as well as create trade and investment opportunities for businesses and countries.
Women, girls wary of AU free trade cross border pact (Africa Science News)
Ahead of the African Union Summit of Heads of Government and State slated to discuss African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), leading African women and girl specialists have raised concerns about the impact the pact may have on women and girls who trade across borders.
At the 39th Gender Is My Agenda (GIMAC) Youth Summit event Sunday, February 12, women and youth warned that the African free trade area pact may further marginalize women and girls.
“We need to operationalise AfCFTA, make it practical by removing the systemic and structural barriers, and start challenging the trade regimes that make it impossible to navigate the borders. Our focus as women in trade should not be just on cross-border trade but also on the macro level systems we need to engage central banks, customs unions, and the office of the registration among other partner stakeholders. ACFTA shouldn’t just be looked at in one economic dimension but the social, political, and environmental aspects matter as well,” said Memory Kachambwa, the Executive Director, of The African Women’s Development and Communications Network.
West Africa Oil and Products Imports Facing Structural Shifts (Hellenic Shipping News)
The looming completion of West Africa’s Dangote refinery is expected to have a significant impact on crude and product tanker flows to the region. Already though, a shift is expected due to the fact that EU exports of products is about to decline, due to the Russian oil ban.
In late 2022, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) reported that the refinery is nearing completion, being 97% commissioned, whilst many media outlets suggested that the scheduled start-up date is in Q1 2023. In contrast, the IEA currently expects the refinery to fire up around mid-2023, but the agency also acknowledges that further delays cannot be ruled out due to the sheer size and complexity of the single train refinery.
An increase in crude imports into Lekki will signal that the start date is approaching fast; however, so far this has not been witnessed despite the speculation”.
DDG Ellard discusses benefits of multilateralism, risks of unilateralism, WTO reform (WTO)
DDG Ellard discussed the role of international organizations in delivering for the global public good, addressing challenges of the global commons, and providing a more enduring, equitable and cooperative basis for democratic global governance rather than unilateral action.
DDG Ellard elaborated on the risks to the multilateral system from unilateral action and reshoring of supply chains. She also highlighted the related concerns expressed by developing countries, such as being left behind in an industrial or green subsidies race.
“Multilateralism is alive and well,” she emphasized. “And it is especially needed in times like these, when the existing global international order is under threat and the temptation for unilateral action is high,” she concluded.
DG Okonjo-Iweala highlights importance of trade cooperation at new carbon mitigation forum (WTO)
“To keep the world pulling together on climate action, advanced, emerging, and developing economies will need to find ways to coordinate across divergent national policies. Coordination in turn will rest on data and shared understandings about the impacts of different policies. That’s why this forum matters,” DG Okonjo-Iweala said at the launch event, at the invitation of the OECD.
Singapore submits formal acceptance of Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (WTO)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “Singapore’s formal acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is an important step towards its entry into force. It adds to the diversity of economies needed for the collective effort to uphold ocean sustainability worldwide. As a stalwart supporter of the multilateral trading system and an active participant in both the fisheries subsidies negotiations and ongoing discussions on trade and environment, Singapore once again leads the way in highlighting the importance of global cooperation and ensuring the WTO is responsive to the challenges of our time.”
Five agencies issue joint call to address food and nutrition security crisis (WTO)
Joint Statement by the Heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Food Programme and World Trade Organization on the Global Food and Nutrition Security Crisis
Globally, poverty and food insecurity are both on the rise after decades of development gains. Supply chain disruptions, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, financial tightening through rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine have caused an unprecedented shock to the global food system, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. Food inflation remains high in the world, with dozens of countries experiencing double digit inflation. According to WFP, 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure.
This situation is expected to worsen, with global food supplies projected to drop to a three-year low in 2022/2023.(1) The need is especially dire in 24 countries that FAO and WFP have identified as hunger hotspots, of which 16 are in Africa.(2) Fertilizer affordability as defined by the ratio between food prices and fertilizer prices(3) is also the lowest since the 2007/2008 food crisis, which is leading to lower food production and impacting smallholder farmers the hardest, worsening the already high local food prices.
To prevent a worsening of the food and nutrition security crisis, further urgent actions are required to (i) rescue hunger hotspots, (ii) facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector, and (iii) reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency. Countries should balance short-term urgent interventions with longer-term resilience efforts as they respond to the crisis.
G20 gives India opportunity address global challenges (Sunday Observer)
The Union Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India’s ongoing presidency of the G-20 grouping is a unique opportunity to strengthen the country’s role in the world economic order when countries across the globe are facing various challenges.
Presenting the budget for the fiscal year 2023–24 in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said India is steering an ambitious, people-centric agenda to address global challenges and facilitate sustainable economic development.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Government of Barbados will organize the first Global Supply Chain Forum in Barbados from 5 to 8 March 2024.
The high-level forum responds to the need to tackle ongoing and future supply chain challenges, covering issues such as financing, sustainable and resilient transport and logistics, trade facilitation, transport connectivity, digitalization, food security, transport costs, climate change adaptation and
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SA to continue to expand investment opportunities across the globe (SA News)
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that South Africa will continue to expand trade and investment opportunities with global trade partners to attract investment and financing.
According to the President, who was delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA), this will be done through participation in multilateral forums such as the G20, or Group of Twenty, which will be hosted in the country in 2025.
The focus will be on collaboration on sustainable development, the Just Energy Transition, industrialisation and the implementation of the (African Continental Free Trade Area) AfCFTA.
“Once fully operationalised, the Continental Free Trade will provide an unprecedented opportunity to deepen African economic integration, grow national economies, and open up new frontiers and markets for South African companies,” President Ramaphosa said.
Government commits to funding SMMEs (SA News)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced funding initiatives for small businesses with the intention of creating jobs and growing established small businesses.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, the President said government plans to provide R1.4 billion to finance over 90 000 entrepreneurs.
In addition, government in partnership with the SA SME Fund is working to establish a R10 billion fund to support SMME growth.
Developing Countries Trade Scheme To Boost Nigerian Economy (Voice of Nigeria)
The recently launched Developing Countries Trade Scheme, DCTS by the United Kingdom, UK will further support sustainable economic growth for Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
The Executive Director/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak stated this at a workshop organised by the UK-Africa Trade and Investment Service.
Dr. Ezra explained that the recent development by DCTS would boost trade with Least Developing Countries, LDCs through reduced tariffs as well as simplified Rules of Origin for LDCs.
According to him “The opportunity for Nigeria to increase its non-oil exports to the UK in sectors where supply currently exceeds the demand are Cocoa, fertilizers, Sesame, Ginger, and Cashew nuts. Others are Natural Rubber, Cotton, Frozen Prawn, Plantain, and Tomatoes”.
ZimTrade to capacitate smallholder horticulture farmers (The Herald)
ZimTrade is working to capacitate thousands of smallholder horticulture farmers in Masvingo Province to help them unlock the province’s estimated US$386 million export potential.
The initiatives also involve reviving fruit plantations in the province with the capacity to generate hundreds of millions of US dollars from exports.
Zimbabwe is angling for export-led economic growth, which is expected to contribute towards achieving an upper-middle-income economy as espoused in the National Development Strategy (NDS1).
MICT (MICT) to Revolutionize Africa’s Food Industry Through Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Tingo Foods (StreetInsider.com)
MICT, Inc. (NASDAQ: MICT) (“MICT” or the “Company”) announced today that it has entered into a corporate transaction giving it ownership of 100% of Tingo Foods PLC (“Tingo Foods”), which has successfully developed a food processing business with a current capacity to process and wholesale more than $1 billion of food produce per annum. Through a joint venture, Tingo Foods has also committed to build and operate a state-of-the-art $1.6 billion food processing facility in the Delta State of Nigeria. With build, fitout and commissioning scheduled for completion by the end of the first half of 2024, the new facility is expected to multiply the size of the Company’s processing capacity and revenues, while also materially expanding its capacity for the offtake of produce from its farmers and increasing its supply into MICT’s commodity trading platform and export business.
Tingo Foods’ goal is to reduce Africa’s reliance on the import of finished food and beverage products and increase its exports of made-in-Africa produce between countries within the continent, as well as to the rest of the world. This is expected to reduce the prices of finished goods for Africa’s consumers, while also creating a substantial environmental benefit by reducing the current need to export raw food materials outside of the continent for processing only to then import the finished and more expensive products back into Africa.
Tingo Foods currently has the ability to produce and wholesale processed foods such as rice, millet, pasta and noodles. The range and volume of products will then increase considerably upon the launch of the new processing facility to also include tea, coffee, chocolate, biscuits, cooking oils, non-dairy milks, carbonated drinks, and mineral water, among others.
More African watchdogs join plans to monitor digital markets (The East African)
The African Heads of Competition Authorities Dialogue (AHCAD), an umbrella body of competition watchdogs on the continent formed a year ago to bolster the regulators’ ability to watch digital markets, has attracted more members from the region.
The competition watchdogs of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the Gambia, Morocco, and Zambia have joined the Pan-African alliance in concerted efforts to build a continent-wide capacity to watch the “complicated” digital markets.
The founding members of the bloc – Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Mauritius – last year said digital markets have transformed how traditional markets work, raising unique competition issues and necessitating the collaboration to regulate.
Morocco bans some vegetable exports to West Africa amid rising prices (Nasdaq)
RABAT, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Morocco has barred fruit and vegetable traders from exporting tomatoes, onions and potatoes to West African countries, its fresh produce association and a government official said on Thursday.
The decision by the agricultural food export authority, Morocco Fodex, was informed to trader by phone and it cited a need to ensure food security at home after tomato prices rose, a senior official in the association said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ban had been imposed from Thursday on any truck carrying the vegetables to West African markets.
Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali juntas plan three-way partnership (Reuters)
OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, all ruled by military juntas, have proposed a regional partnership to facilitate trade and tackle insecurity in the region, they said in a joint statement late on Thursday.
The ministers met in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou this week to discuss collaboration. All three West African countries have experienced military takeovers since 2020, reversing democratic gains that had seen the region shed its tag as Africa's "coup belt".
Frustrations over governments' inability to protect civilians from a worsening jihadist insurgency spurred some of the putsches, which have led to economic sanctions and soured relations with regional and Western allies.
Foreign ministers Olivia Rouamba for Burkina Faso, Morissansa Kouyate for Guinea and Abdoulaye Diop for Mali noted "the need to set up and institutionalise a permanent coordination framework between the three countries".
Commitment to enhance trade between Jamaica and Africa remains resolute, says Hill (Jamaica Observer)
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The commitment to enhance trade between Jamaica and Africa remains resolute, says Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Aubyn Hill.
“We recognise that while we do not yet have a bilateral agreement that speaks specifically to trade between Africa and Jamaica, we believe that there are profitable opportunities for trade and investment in tourism that can be of significant value,” Hill said.
He was speaking at the Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum, held at the Regional Headquarters, University of the West Indies, Mona on Wednesday, February 8.
SA to host Uganda at inaugural trade expo in Pretoria at end of February (News24)
Pretoria is set to host the inaugural Uganda-South Africa Trade, Tourism, and Investment Summit at the end of this month, as both countries work towards exploring their economic relations.
According to the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), President Yoweri Museveni and his South African counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa, or their chosen representatives, will preside over the summit between 27 February and 1 March.
The summit is organised by the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria in partnership with Uganda's foreign affairs, agriculture and fisheries, health, and tourism ministries, as well as various line authorities.
Sharp, Long-lasting Slowdown to Hit Developing Countries Hard (World Bank)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2023 — Global growth is slowing sharply in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates, reduced investment, and disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.
Given fragile economic conditions, any new adverse development—such as higher-than-expected inflation, abrupt rises in interest rates to contain it, a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, or escalating geopolitical tensions—could push the global economy into recession. This would mark the first time in more than 80 years that two global recessions have occurred within the same decade.
Over the next two years, per-capita income growth in emerging market and developing economies is projected to average 2.8%—a full percentage point lower than the 2010-2019 average. In Sub-Saharan Africa—which accounts for about 60% of the world’s extreme poor—growth in per capita income over 2023-24 is expected to average just 1.2%, a rate that could cause poverty rates to rise, not fall.
WTO Advanced Trade Policy Course underway in Geneva (World Trade Organization)
Twenty-four government officials from developing countries across the world are attending a two-month Advanced Trade Policy Course from 30 January to 24 March 2023 at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. The course was opened by New Zealand’s Ambassador to the WTO, Clare Kelly, and Jorge Castro from the WTO’s Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC).
Ambassador Kelly encouraged participants to take a proactive role during the two-month course and to absorb everything that might be useful in helping their countries use the multilateral trading system as a tool for development.
The course aims to increase participants' capacity to monitor trade policy developments, to learn about the WTO's dispute settlement system and to actively participate in WTO negotiations. Participants also get the opportunity to participate in roundtable discussions with Geneva-based government officials and external trade experts.
Logistics execs see a 2023 Recession as ‘Likely’ or ‘Certain’ (Global Trade Magazine)
Nearly 70% of global logistics executives say they are bracing for recession amid higher costs, slowing demand, and ongoing supply chain disruption arising from China’s battle to contain COVID, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the impact of climate change.
Ninety percent of the 750 industry professionals surveyed for the 2023 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index also say their shipping, storage and other logistics costs remain well above the pre-pandemic levels they were at in early 2020.
“Carriers and shippers are feeling the effects of higher energy prices, tight labor markets and broader inflation even though freight rates have fallen and ports have cleared cargo backlogs,” said Agility Vice Chairman Tarek Sultan. “Three years after the start of the pandemic, there is still a lot of volatility in supply chains. Now there’s fresh uncertainty as consumers and businesses pull back on spending and hiring.”
Iskenderun Port fire to generate $679mn trade disruption: Russell (Logistics Update Africa)
The container fire at the Port of Iskenderun, Turkiye will cause a loss in trade of around $679 million (£562.85 million), according to Russell Group, a data and analytics company.
"The analysis was based on modelling from a time period of February 6 to February 28, 2023, looking at the actions of major shipping companies, which are offering free cancellations, amendments and changes of destination on all shipments heading to Iskenderun, throughout February."
The port suffered a fire on Monday caused by the earthquake that has devastated Turkiye, and the port has been closed with many shipping lines postponing or diverting shipments to Mersin, one of Turkiye’s largest ports.
Air travel set to soar to pre-pandemic levels in 2023: UN aviation agency (UN News)
Air passenger demand in 2023 will rapidly recover to pre-pandemic levels on most routes, the UN aviation agency said on Wednesday.
“Assuring the safe, secure, and sustainable recovery of air services will be key to restoring aviation’s ability to act as a catalyst for sustainable development at the local, national, and global levels, and will consequently be vital to countries’ recovery from the broader impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Salvatore Sciacchitano, President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council.
Using advanced big data analytics, ICAO forecasts that the surge in demand will be seen by the end of the first quarter. By year’s end, the agency predicts growth of about three per cent on 2019 figures.
UK pays EU £2.3bn to settle China import row (The Guardian)
The UK government has paid £2.3bn to the EU as part of a long-standing dispute over textiles and footwear imported into the UK from China.
“Whilst the UK has now left the European Union and this is a legacy matter from before our departure, the government is keen to resolve this long-running case once and for all and is committed to fulfilling its international obligations,” he told MPs.
The case dates back to 2017 when the EU’s anti-fraud office said British authorities had allowed criminals to evade customs duties by making false claims about clothes and shoes imported from China.
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Agri SA reiterates warning of food shortages, price spikes as loadshedding continues (Engineering News)
Industry body Agri SA has implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to address food security in his State of the Nation Address on February 9, given that the agricultural sector has lost more than R23-billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2021, as a result of loadshedding.
Agri SA has also submitted a letter to the National Disaster Management Centre that details the far-reaching implications of loadshedding for grains, livestock, poultry, fruit, vegetables, sugar and edible oils. These industries are central to the ability of South Africa to feed its people, the organisation emphasises.
Executive director Christo van der Rheede believes the only way to guarantee food security in South Africa is for government to announce immediate action to relieve the crippling burden of loadshedding on farmers, failing which South Africans can expect crop failures, higher food prices, shortages of certain food products and job losses in the near future.
SA addressing challenges increase mining investment: President Ramaphosa (SAnews)
Uganda, South Africa Business Summit 2023 (East African Business Week)
The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in partnership with Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Cooperatives, Privatisation and Investment etc. is organizing the Uganda – South Africa Trade, Tourism, and Investment Summit to take place on February 27th – 1st March 2023 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The summit will provide a platform for the Private sector, companies and businesses to create new markets and ways of how to facilitate doing business and identify existing and emerging business or investment opportunities in Uganda and South Africa.
According to the PSFU Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Stephen Asiimwe, South Africa is one of the fastest growing sources of Foreign Direct Investment for Uganda as the South Africa’s exports to Uganda. In 2010 alone, Uganda attracted FDI of up to US$ 848 million. We also intend to link up with the Ugandan diaspora in South Africa to create partnerships with them on the many opportunities they are engaged in.
Explain gaps in reports of China-Kenya trade (Business Daily)
There is an urgent need to address the large gap in the reports of the value of trade between Kenya and China, which has major implications on transparency, taxes and economic relations. Nairobi reported that it imported Sh377.5 billion from the Asian nation in the 10 months ended October 2022.Beijing on the other hand reported its exports to Kenya over the same period at Sh809.4 billion, leaving a Sh377.5 billion difference that has not been explained by the Kenya Revenue Authority.
This is arguably the largest discrepancy in Kenya’s international trade to come to light.
Names of duty-free maize importers remain unknown as window opens (Business Daily)
The Ministry of Agriculture has failed to gazette names of millers and traders who will be allowed to ship in maize as the window for duty-free imports opened on Tuesday. Agriculture Principal Secretary Harsama Kellow said they have scrutinised applicants and that the process of issuing the letters is currently going on. “We have scrutinised the names of those who have applied and we are still approving others and we shall be issuing the letters to those who have been approved soon,” said Mr Kellow.
Millers are now worried that the imports will be delayed because of the logistics involved in making imports, with the shipment taking at least 45 days to arrive in the country from the day when the order is placed.
IATA and Somalia sign aviation cooperation agreement (Engineering News)
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the representative body of the global airline industry, and the government of the Federal Republic of Somalia signed a cooperation agreement on Monday. This would serve to formalise and deepen their cooperation, in order to strengthen aviation’s socioeconomic benefits to the country.
“Aviation is essential to the success of Somalia’s development plans,” affirmed Somali Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Fardowsa Osman Egal. “The Government of Somalia is committed to developing its air transport sector to help promote long-term social and economic growth in the country. And we will ensure that global best practices are at the core of development. This agreement will pave the way for closer cooperation on the priorities for aviation in the country.”
The agreement would also allow IATA to expand its activities in Somalia, in line with the association’s African aviation mission. That was to create an air transport sector that was safe, economical, efficient and sustainable, that would stimulate growth and so create jobs, as well as facilitating international trade and tourism.
EAC political confederation unattainable in 2024 — Kadaga (New Vision)
The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, has stated that achieving a loose East African Community (EAC) political confederation by next year will be impossible. Partner states had set their aim at achieving a confederation by 2024 as they continued with rigorous internal processes to harmonize on a political federation in the future.
While addressing board members of the East African Business Council (EABC) at the Speke Resort Munyonyo Hotel in Kampala on Friday, Kadaga said a confederation will not be possible by next year due to some skeptical approaches among some partner states towards the integration agenda.
“We are at a stage of integration, which is critical, and I want to reiterate that integration is inevitable; it’s the future for this region.” “We can no longer continue small as we are each of us going to take on the rest of the world single-handedly,” she observed.
Summit calls for accelerated implementation of infrastructure projects in Africa (UNECA)
A two-day meeting to discuss financing for Africa’s infrastructure projects has ended in Dakar, Senegal, with calls for increased collaboration and resource mobilization, as well as accelerated implementation of regional infrastructure projects across the continent.
The event, titled “the Second Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure,” sought to increase and secure the necessary funding to prepare projects of the Second Priority Action Plan of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA PAP 2), and to match project financing needs with existing sources of finance.
The main outcome of the summit was the “Dakar Declaration on Synergies of Action for Infrastructure Financing in Africa” in which AUDA-NEPAD, AfDB, ECA, and RECs are commended for their joint efforts to improve the implementation of regional infrastructure projects in Africa. It urges AUDA-NEPAD, AfDB, regional development banks, ECA, RECs, AFREXIMBANK and AfCFTA Secretariat to strengthen mutual cooperation in order to promote infrastructure for intra-African trade.
A highlight of the summit was the signing of an MoU between Afreximbank and AUDA-NEPAD on the creation of a facility to fund the preparation of PIDA projects. This is an important development given that many PIDA projects have stalled at the preparatory stage. The need for Africa Africa to take control of the implementation of its infrastructure projects was also highlighted.
Mining and the circular economy support each other (Engineering News)
Mining was essential if the world was to create a circular economic system, Finnish Geological Survey director-general Kimmo Tiilikainen has pointed out. He was addressing a Sustainable Mining Breakfast, jointly hosted in Cape Town by the Embassies of Denmark, Finland and Sweden, on Tuesday.
“The mining industry is necessary for the sustainable economy,” he affirmed. However, mining would have to take environmental and social issues into account in a way that industry had not done before. As the volume of mining increased, the bar for environmental and social standards would have to be raised.
“There is a huge need for critical minerals, and shortages may occur,” he highlighted. “We need to speed up exploration.” The development of new mines also needed to be accelerated. “There will be a hurry [sic] for new investments.” These will be necessary to meet decarbonisation targets.
“Investments in the circular economy can support sustainable mining in a remarkable way,” he assured. However, currently, the mining and processing of metals and minerals produced huge amounts of waste material. Future mine and processing plant designs had to be optimised to minimise the waste produced.
Report Says Nigeria Could Become Africa’s Topmost Oil Refiner In 2025 (Heritage Times)
As Nigeria, Africa’s largest population continues to grapple with shortage of petroleum products amidst import, a Pan-African investment research firm, Hawilti has predicted that the West African nation could become biggest oil refiner in the region by 2025.
In its recent report titled “Refineries watch Q4 2022” released on Monday, Hawilti’s report says Africa will witness significant transformations in its fuel supply security in 2023, adding that West Africa houses the largest refining capacity on the sub-continent, but only 23 per cent of it is currently operational.
It says the prospect of a new private refinery becoming operational in Nigeria could help redefine the nation’s local refining capacity.
Egypt’s Trade Minister, heads of exports councils discuss boosting exports (ZAWYA)
Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir met with export council’s heads of ready-made garments, spinning and weaving, furniture, medical industries, printing and packaging, and furniture sectors to discuss the councils’ work plans to develop Egyptian exports. The meeting also discussed the most prominent challenges facing exporters and ways to overcome them.
The minister said that this meeting comes within the series of meetings that the ministry started in January to identify the growth opportunities available to exporters during the current year compared to 2022.The series also aims to reach an agreement on the most important needs of the export sector to maintain and increase the achieved growth rates, especially in light of the great interest that the state attaches to the matter.
Moreover, the ministry will improve services provided by the ministry to enhance the competitiveness of Egyptian products and exports.
MAN: Manufacturers Facing Critical Time (This Day)
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), yesterday, declared that its members were passing through a critical time due to the prevailing petrol scarcity, cash crunch, shortage of foreign exchange and power supply in the country. The MAN also warned that the government should be deliberate in promoting Nigeria’s manufacturing sector because the operation of the African Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) has the capacity to either expand the Nigeria economy for good or limit and jeopardise it.
“We are expecting that by the time the new government comes in on May 29, it will be necessary among other things to look into the manufacturing sector especially on issues around forex supply that set the tone on how we (manufacturers) really determine the prices of our products because currently we cannot even budget effectively.
“It also hinders the possibility of any investor to bring in foreign money to invest in Nigeria. And actually it frightens the existing manufacturers to engage and do the business effectively. So these costs from abstract infrastructure need to be addressed so that we can really be able to work ahead.
“Continentally, it is important to determine the rule of origin properly to avoid dumping, which will be very bad for manufacturers.
Manufacturing excellence key to doing business in modern times – PwC (Engineering News)
Professional services firm PwC reports that South Africa’s manufacturing industry has to keep evolving to remain competitive in the face of global competition through implementing what it calls ‘manufacturing excellence programmes’.
The firm notes that while there has been a longstanding battle between effectively producing products against demand and maintaining a sustainable cost base, the modern day challenge of agile manufacturing becoming more cumbersome to implement, remains.
However, the majority of the common challenges currently faced by manufacturing organisations can be addressed through the use of technology.
While digital concepts have a valuable role to play in manufacturing processes, PwC also states that manufacturing excellence programmes remain imperative.
Energy transition offers great opportunities to Africa, but constraints are significant (Engineering News)
The global transition to low- and zero-carbon energy sources was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Africa, just as the original Industrial Revolution had been for the West, highlighted Bushveld Minerals CEO Fortune Mojepalo at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 conference in Cape Town. He was participating in a panel discussion.
It had been estimated, he said, that it would be necessary to develop 400 new mines, worldwide, to supply the metals that would be needed for the energy transition and the production of electric vehicles. The metals required included cobalt, lithium and the platinum group metals. Africa led the world rankings in six or seven of the metals essential for the energy transition.
The question was: how was this to be unlocked? The junior mining sector had to be encouraged, he affirmed. Good clear regulation was needed, as was big data.
Moreover, the opportunity for Africa was not just limited to the supply of metals. When downstream development, or beneficiation, took place, the economic effect was massive. But how was the value chain for Africa to be maximised?
Partnerships are key to unlocking Africa’s vast potential: DP World Chairman (Emirates News Agency)
DP World’s Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, called for unlocking private sector infrastructure investments in Africa, to address the challenges faced by the continent’s development.
Speaking at the 2nd Dakar African Infrastructure Financing Summit in Senegal, he said that the cost of moving goods domestically around Africa is five times higher than in the US and urged for more partnerships to address the gap. “Investing in the continent’s trading infrastructure, as we have in Dakar, is central to transforming African economies.”
Bin Sulayem explained that improving trade across Africa can boost local exports, create employment and reduce pollution.
The ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA) has convened a technical working-group meeting to review the draft Manuals of Procedure, Forms and Templates to create operational documents for the agency. The meeting which took place in Banjul from January 30 to February 3, 2023, brought together four (4) technical experts from the ERCA Consultative Competition Committee (CCC) and ERCA staff to review ERCA’s draft manual of procedures, forms, and templates before submission for regional validation by the CCC. The meeting of the working group provided an opportunity for the experts to review and edit the draft documents and make the necessary recommendations to improve the document and ensure it is in line with ERCA’s regulations and best practices.
The Chairperson of the Competition Consultative Committee, Ms. Boladale ADEYINKA of Com-petition Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria noted the importance of having com-prehensive Manuals of procedure that provides a framework and guide to ERCA in addressing competition issues in the ECOWAS Region. She expressed optimism on the technical expertise of the CCC members and other experts at the meeting and thanked them for their dedication and commitment to the work of ERCA.
Key African countries gain ground in 50-country emerging markets rankings (The Africa Logistics)
Several key African economies improved their performance in an annual ranking that compares the domestic and international logistics, business conditions, and digital readiness of the world’s 50 leading emerging markets. Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania improved their position from 2022 in the 14th annual Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index, which ranks emerging markets countries by factors that make them attractive to logistics providers, freight forwarders, air and ocean carriers, distributors and investors.
Among countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria had the best domestic logistics, 11th among the 50 countries. South Africa’s international logistics network performed best on the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa’s best business fundamentals were in Ghana. Kenya, which has taken steps to nurture digital startups, was Africa’s most digitally ready economy.
The 18th meeting of the Sectoral Council on Transport Communications and Meteorology (TCM) is currently underway at the Royal Palace Hotel in Bujumbura, Burundi. The sectors and sub-sectors that are involved in the TCM matters are roads, railways, maritime transport, telecommunications, ICT, postal services, civil aviation, airports and meteorology.
The Sectoral Council meeting is expected give directions on the convening of the 5th EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure Development and Financing, the premier event that brings together political and policy decision makers, technocrats, development partners and the private sector to discuss ways of unlocking the estimated 50 billion dollars annual funding gap for the region’s infrastructure development.
Climate change turning herders into traders (The Standard)
Small traders and micro businesses have in recent years drawn interest from authorities and even financial institutions. However, their counterparts in far-flung areas remain neglected and their growth is stunted. This is even as communities living in marginalised areas and borderlands continue to feel the impact of climate change which has made it difficult for traditional economic activities such as agro-pastoralism which needs to be boosted by trade. While a number of pastoralists consider themselves as traders, deepening their trade activities especially as their other sources of livelihood suffer because of weather patterns, they are limited by factors such as lack of financial inclusion and physical infrastructure that would enable them to thrive in this kind of trade.
More African Countries Are Taking Data Privacy and Protection Seriously (The Culture Custodian)
With nearly 600 million people across Africa using the internet today, African countries are increasingly recognising the need to legislate and invest in, data and privacy protection.
Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, Togo and Ghana have been front-runners in legislating pro-data and privacy protection policies. Beyond efforts at the individual country’s levels, regional economic blocs have policies that safeguard data and privacy protection.
Despite the developments in legislation, Brandon Muller, Kaspersky tech expert and consultant African region, highlights the many areas African countries can improve on, especially in averting industrial cybersecurity.
Global B2B Cross-Border Payments Market Set to Reach $40 Trillion by 2024 (Fintech Singapore)
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the global spend on B2B cross-border payments is set to exceed US$40 trillion by the end of 2024, an increase from the current estimated figure of $37 trillion in 2022.
This represents a significant growth in cross-border payments being made between businesses worldwide. The study highlights the critical role that cross-border payments play in supporting the development of international trade and commerce and the need for efficient and secure payment methods in this sector.
One of the key drivers in the growth of cross-border payments is the increasing globalisation of businesses. As businesses expand their operations into new markets and regions, they need to be able to make and receive payments from other businesses in different countries.