The selection: Friday, 25 November 2016

Featured tweet, ‏@TradeMarkEastA: Happening now – launch of the Tanzania Freight & Logistics Platform, which is expected to increase efficiency of logistic services in TZ

Please note this Addis event has been postponed: First Ordinary Session of the AU’s STC on Transport, Inter-continental and Inter-regional Infrastructures, Energy and Tourism

The AfDB has announced the senior appointments (Director General and Country Manager) for its new regional structure: Southern Africa: Dr Tonia Kandiero, Dr Josephine Waithira; East Africa: Mr Gabriel Negatu, Mrs Nnenna Nwabufo; West Africa: Mr Janvier Litse, Ms Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade; Central Africa: Dr Ousmane Dore, Ms Leila Mokaddem; North Africa: Mr Mohamed El Azizi, Ms Yacine Fal. In addition, Mr Ebrima Faal has been appointed Director, Nigeria Country Office.

AGOA benefited Chinese entrepreneurs more than Africans, says Mboweni (African Business)

“Chinese entrepreneurs benefited from AGOA […] very few African entrepreneurs benefited,” said Mboweni, speaking at the Global Expo conference in Gaborone, Botswana on Thursday 24 November. “Why is that the case? They say it’s not a nice thing to say […] but we have to tackle that question of supporting our African entrepreneurs when an opportunity like this arises,” he said. “And for our governments to build many shell factories and literally hand them over to Chinese entrepreneurs is actually an embarrassment for all of us,” Mboweni added. [Response by @JustinSandefur: He’s not (totally) wrong]

Kenya asks EAC court to throw out bid to block trade deal with Europe (The East African)

Attorney-General Githu Muigai says the regional court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case since the treaty making process is based on mutual consent of sovereign states. Prof Muigai argues in his preliminary objection that the EACJ cannot halt the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement since it results from a treaty making process that has been approved by the region’s presidents.

Botswana trade policy updates:

Troubled textile industry appeals for export incentives (Mmegi): After last week’s meeting between the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and top business heads, the textile and clothing industry is expecting government to take swift action to alleviate the sector’s mounting problems. The measures hoped for include action on export incentives, tendering system and release of permits for skilled foreign workers, amongst others. Botswana Textile and Clothing Association president, Mohammad Shahid Ghafoor pleaded with government to re-introduce production based incentives, which he said will help the industry become competitive as it faces high utility costs, low productivity, lack of skilled labour and extra logistical expenses which increase the cost of their finished goods. “We understand that direct subsidy to operational cost is against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules but we are sure that the ministry can work out some production and performance-based incentives,” he said.

Bolux calls for protection of domestic market (Mmegi): Ramotswa-based milling company, Bolux Group has expressed fears of competition from the influx of wheat products from South Africa that it says are dumped in the country. “Unfortunately, the threat of big brother next door, with a mature milling industry and years ahead of the Botswana industry with regard to investment in efficiencies and downstream facilities, like bakeries, frozen dough, pastries, pies, and pasta is real,” Bolux Group managing director Christo Ellis said. “We are confident that the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry in our corner, will overcome these challenges and create more and more jobs through growth of local industries.”

Rwanda’s second National Exporters Conference: Government, exporters pledge to revitalise exports (New Times)

François Kanimba (Minister for Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs) said from 2010 to 2013 Rwanda’s exports grew at a rate of 20% and that there was hope to attain the 28% target by 2018. But Rwanda’s export sector registered a slow growth of 1% in 2015. This year, Kanimba said, exports went up by 10%, explaining that even that growth was registered through re-exports. “Rwanda’s products, such as minerals, coffee and tea, did not perform well as prices on the international market went down,” he said, noting that focus will be on value-addition to maximise benefits. During the conference, 19 export companies in various areas such as textiles, mining, tea and coffee signed a memorandum of understanding with MINEACOM on targets the companies need to achieve in line with stimulating exports.

East Africa trade report, January–September 2016 (Maersk)

In the East Africa region, containerized trade volumes contracted by 3% in the first three quarters of 2016, according East Africa weathers tough conditions to return a mixed bag of trade growth to the first ever East Africa Trade Report (pdf) issued by the Maersk Group. East Africa is split into two core trade corridors – the Northern Corridor (serving Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan & parts of Rwanda) and the Central Corridor (serving Tanzania, parts of Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi & DRC). “The silver lining in the overall tepid containerized trade performance is the Northern Corridor that grew by 2% in the first nine months of 2016, with imports growing 2% and exports growing 3%. Countries in the Central Corridor are facing some macro-economic headwinds, resulting in a contraction, especially in imports, which showed a year-on-year decline of 8%,” says Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk Line Eastern Africa, a member of Maersk Group. [Related: New duties and levies slow down trade flows in East Africa, Fruits and tea exports from Kenya on the rise as trade volumes shrink by 3%]

Transport infrastructure and trade in West Africa: Dakar workshop update (UNECA)

Professor Dimitri Sanga moreover deplored the fact that infrastructure shortage in West Africa generates an annual loss of 2 percentage points of growth and severely impedes the productivity of businesses. Indeed, the sub-region has a road network density of only 2.8 Km/100Km² and ranks last among the five sub-regions of the continent, far behind Southern Africa which has 13.5 Km/100Km² against an African average of 7.6 Km/100Km². Moreover, the rate of access to a road in West Africa is only 34%, against an average of 50% developing countries. On the whole, the statistics available reveal that West Africa lags way behind in terms of infrastructure, in general and transport infrastructure, in particular. The density of the railway network is only 1.9 km/1000 km² against a continental average of 2.5 km/1000 km². As regards maritime transport, the sub-region represents less than 1% of the world container traffic and just over 2% of the entire African traffic. Besides, even though the domestic air transport market is the second largest in Africa after that of Southern Africa, it conceals a relatively weak intra-West African market.

Heads of ECOWAS National Offices adopt tools for strengthening implementation of ECOWAS programmes in member states

The monitoring and evaluation of ECOWAS programmes is imperative for the tracking and effective implementation integration endevours in the region. Also adopted is the framework for the reporting of funds remitted by the Commission to Member States for ECOWAS programmes. The interface between leading Officials of the Commission and Heads of ECOWAS National Offices provides a valuable platform for the sharing of experiences including the robust discussions of ECOWAS regional programmes that are being implemented in Member States. Among others, the Officials also appraised the level of ownership and implementation of the Operational Manual launched in April 2015 by Member States in Accra, Ghana. [ECOWAS member States to re-engage in AU’s peer-review mechanism]

Zimbabwe digs $2,7bn fiscal hole (Zimbabwe Independent)

The $2,7bn Beitbridge–Chirundu road construction project will plunge Zimbabwe into a deep financial hole from which it could take decades to come out due to its endless cost escalations and unaffordability, it has emerged. Information obtained this week from construction experts, financial analysts and transport engineers indicates the project is not viable given the economic crisis which Zimbabwe is currently going through. Even a government-commissioned report seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, titled The Transport Master Plan, which looked at a holistic picture of the transport sector, reveals that although the project is economically desirable, it is however uneconomic and unaffordable. [Stalled reforms sticky point in Zim’s new funding hunt]

South Africa: Annual Financial Statistics, 2015 (Stats SA)

The total annual turnover of private sector businesses operating in the South African economy increased by 5,5% between 2014 and 2015, from a revised R7,8 trillion in 2014 to an estimated R8,3 trillion in 2015, according to the latest Annual financial statistics, 2015 report released by Statistics South Africa today. Turnover increased across all industries covered by the survey between 2014 and 2015, with the largest percentage increase in turnover recorded for forestry and fishing at 13,7%. [Export and import unit value indices, September 2016 (pdf)]

60% of money in Tanzania kept outside banks - BoT (IPPMedia)

Most of the money in Tanzania is being kept outside the country’s formal banking system, Bank of Tanzania governor Benno Ndulu has confirmed amid recent assertions by President John Magufuli that some unscrupulous businessmen are hoarding huge amounts of cash away from official scrutiny. Finance and Planning Minister Philip Mpango, speaking at the same banking conference in Arusha yesterday, also called for increased lending to agriculture by commercial banks. "I have been informed that only 10.3% of total domestic lending by banks over the past five years went to agriculture. Not only that, I am told that over 90% of the credit that did go to agriculture, was actually used for trade and less than 105 was used in actual agricultural production activities," Dr Mpango said. "How are the financial institutions positioned to help the country leapfrog from an agrarian economy to industrial-based one?" he queried.

Why I sacked the TRA board - JPM (IPPMedia)

President John Magufuli yesterday said he fired the entire Tanzania Revenue Authority board of directors for endorsing the irregular depositing of TRA collections amounting to billions of shillings in fixed deposit accounts at three local commercial banks.

Dar, Lusaka ponder ‘super pacts’ as Lungu due in Dar (Daily News)

Tanzania and Zambia plan to sign several ambitious agreements that aim at strengthening bilateral diplomatic ties as well as trade and investment cooperation between the two countries during the visit by President Edgar Lungu. The envisaged agreements include the opening of a new route between Dar es Salaam and Lusaka by Air Tanzania. Mr Lungu is expected to arrive in the country on Sunday for a two-day state visit on an invitation by President John Magufuli.

Trade and investments between MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa (Thomson Reuters)

Selected countries have been the key drivers behind the development of trade between SSA and MENA. Geographies such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia account for the lion’s share of the flow of goods between both directions. From the Arab region side, UAE was the major trade partner in 2015 with around $8.9bn, followed by Saudi Arabia with $6.9bn and Morocco $1.8bn. Together these countries account for 2/3 of the trade with SSA.

US gas exports worrisome to Africa: Tanzanian energy minister (New Era)

Tanzanian Minister of Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, has expressed concern at the possible impact the recent commencement of US exports of gas to China and the United Kingdom could have on the global price of the commodity. Exchanging views with his visiting Namibian counterpart, Minister Obeth Kandjoze, Muhongo noted that the emergence of the US as a net exporter of gas could have a severe impact on global gas prices. Briefing Muhongo on energy developments at home, Mines and Energy Minister Kandjoze said Namibia has put the Kudu gas-to-power project on hold until economic conditions and the US dollar/South African rand exchange rates become favourable. He noted that currency fluctuations and competing national projects made it a challenge for the Namibian Government to fast-track exploitation of the resource. Supporting him, Muhongo explained that a combination of “economic dynamics” and “contemporary issues” prompted investments in Tanzania’s oil resources in 2014, despite them having been discovered in 1969 for the first time. Muhongo said gas resources currently account for 60% of Tanzania’s power.

Today’s Quick Links:

Ominous start to Trump era as US-Africa investment conference cancelled (The East African)

Tanzania-Sweden trade volumes ‘awfully low’ despite decades of ties (IPPMedia)

Zim mineral revenue remains flat in 9 months (The Herald)

We’ll not flood market with bond notes: RBZ (The Herald)

Industry captains want local currency (The Chronicle)

Why tolling is the way to go in Kenya infrastructure modernisation plan (Business Daily)

Kenya bans use of twisted steel bars in construction (The East African)

Africa-European Climate Change Research Platform: Ghana hosts workshop (Business Ghana)

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