The 2nd edition of the One-Stop Border Post Sourcebook was launched yesterday in Sandton. The launch was hosted by @NEPAD_Agency, @_AfricanUnion & JICA. NEPAD is taking the OSBP Sourcebook into custody and establishing an OSBP network to learn from each other and to regularly update the Sourcebook (@NEPAD_Agency).

Rwanda approves draft law on new tax for financing AU (The East African)

Rwanda has introduced a new law enabling the levying of a tax on imported goods, with proceeds going to the financing of the African Union. A Cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame passed the draft law to establish the 0.2% tax on imported goods. The levy, if passed by parliament, will be charged from July this year. Mr Gatete added that Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia and the Congo Republic were at various stages of coming up with a law to implement the Kigali Declaration. Goods originating from East African Community countries with a certificate of origin, as well as tax-exempt goods including industrial equipment, agricultural inputs and others already exempted by the EAC member states will not be taxed.

South African trade policy: wide-ranging update from Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry (ANC)

Not only does global trade growth continue to underperform even the insipid levels of global GDP growth, but a tsunami has struck the dominant paradigm that has shaped international trade negotiations over the past quarter century. In my contribution to this debate, I want to suggest what this might mean in terms of re-aligning our trade policy to the objectives of radical economic transformation. So how then should South Africa respond?

As a small open economy, accounting for only 0,5% of world trade, if we become overly protectionist, we risk being denied access to other markets on whom jobs and productive sectors in our country depend. If we break trade rules there will be consequences and we risk retaliation. But within those constraints, the emerging new circumstances call on us to be more resolute, and indeed smart, in advancing and defending our own national interests. This will include defending our right to take tariff decisions based on our own needs and to deploy appropriate trade remedies. It will also mean paying attention to detail so that we clearly understand the implications of proposals emanating from others and have the courage to say no to those that would decommission or restrict important policy tools. At a time when others are becoming more resolute in defending or advancing their interests, we cannot afford to be less resolute in defending ours. But as a relatively small player we need to redouble our efforts to build and strengthen the influence of the groupings we are part of starting with the African group in the WTO.

While we have been involved in the TFTA for rather longer than initially expected, I am pleased to be able to indicate that significant progress has been made. The framework agreement is in place and will be presented to Parliament in the second half of this year. The more commercially meaningful tariff negotiations between the SACU and the EAC are quite advanced and we aim to conclude these before the end of the year. Progress has also been achieved in the tariff negotiations with Egypt. The TFTA is a building block for the Continental FTA, it is envisaged that the key deliverable of the CFTA this year will be the legal framework.

US Chamber of Commerce hosts Nigerian trade minister

This comes in the context of a telephone call between President Muhammadu Buhari and President Donald Trump Monday, where both Presidents discussed security and economic issues. It is seen as suggesting the US consideration of Nigeria as a strategic partner. "The US has historically been one of Nigeria’s top trading partners; it was the biggest importer of Nigeria’s crude oil at some point. In the last five years, however, the sharp decline in U.S. imports of our crude, on account of rising domestic production of shale, has altered the trade balance between our two countries. This development presents Nigeria with a good opportunity for diversification and to explore and increase non-oil export – especially in agricultural products, services and the digital economy," said Minister Enelamah.

Madagascar: trade policy and performance profile (tralac)

This paper examines the trade profile and performance of Madagascar, focusing on the period since 2001. According to the WTO, Madagascar is slowly recovering from the socio-political crisis which broke out in 2009 and was brought to an end by the December 2013 presidential elections. The upturn is due to a strong performance in rice farming, the recent extraction and subsequent exportation of nickel, cobalt and titanium, and agrifood exports having become more diversified, reflecting the immense wealth of Madagascar’s land and of Malagasy know-how. Services exports, mostly tourism, have also grown and clothing exports, which declined drastically when the US withheld African Growth and Opportunity Act preferences in 2009, have recovered after these preferences were reinstated in June 2014. [The analyst: Ron Sandrey]

2017 Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Statement (pdf, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe)

The purpose of the following measures is to promote monetary and financial sector stability, bolster confidence within the economy and to stimulate production and productivity across various sectors of the national economy. These measures are necessary as the country needs to pursue a new economic development model that is anchored on an export- led growth strategy to balance exports and imports whilst simultaneously addressing the structural rigidities besetting the economy in order to expand output. It is against this productivity mantra or conviction that these measures are being put in place to sustain the national economy under the New Normal:

Rwanda: Parliament summons agric, trade ministers over ‘poor’ dairy sector (New Times)

Parliament will summon heads of two ministries to explain poor practices leading to low milk production, and transportation and processing difficulties. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources and that of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs will have to appear in Parliament to explain the dairy sector’s poor performance. The plenary was convened on Tuesday to hear and discuss a report from the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Environment. The report assessed the progress of the cattle stocking programme, Girinka, among others.

Kenya: Banks unveil own mobile money platform (Business Daily)

Kenyan banks Thursday morning launched a mobile money platform that will allow customers to transfer up to about Sh1 million in a single transaction. PesaLink is jointly owned and operated by banks through Integrated Payment Services Limited (IPSL), a subsidiary of the Kenya Bankers’ Association. This is widely seen as the industry’s answer to M-Pesa’s dominance given that transactions carried out via PesaLink will bypass traditional telecom operators. In addition to mobile money platforms, PesaLink will also be accessible to customers via ATMs, internet banking platforms as well as bank branches and agencies.

Tanzania: ‘EAC Transport corridors vital’ (Daily News)

Presenting the working paper on ‘Dynamism and future prospects of economic corridors in the East African Region’, Chairperson for DAIMA Associates Limited, Prof Samuel Wangwe, said in the recent years new economic movements have emerged. “Growth poles which are an agglomeration of production, logistics and consumption centres have also emerged. Those growth poles have been connected more deeply through transport corridors and by so doing those corridors have been transformed from simple transport corridors to economic corridors,” he noted. JICA Senior Representative, Mr Amatsu Kuniaki, said they commissioned DAIMA Associates to produce the working paper with an interest in looking at the new features of those transformations in the EAC region.

IGAD: AfDB funds IGAD Regional Infrastructure Master Plan

The eight-nation Intergovernmental Agency on Development has secured a $3.5m grant from the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the AfDB Group, to finance the agency’s Infrastructure Master Plan. The IRIMP, to be completed in 38 months, is one of the deliverables under the “IGAD Minimum Integration Plan/Road Map” towards creating a Free Trade Area in the region approved in Nairobi in 2010 and the wider “Horn of Africa Initiative". [IGAD, International Alert MOU includes cross-border trade issues]

ECOWAS Ministers for Women and Gender Affairs: update

Following the meeting, the ECOWAS Commission and the Council of Ministers have been asked to take the necessary steps to enable the Minister in charge of Women and Gender Affairs from the country chairing the regional organisation to present a report on gender issues in the ECOWAS region, at ordinary summits of West African leaders. In that regard, the Commission was encouraged to develop a system to annually review progress, obstacles and challenges to gender equality in Member States. [ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework Committee meets today in Abuja]

Africa Gender Report: update, consultancy opportunity (AfDB)

East Africa’s capital markets: harnessing the buy side’s potential (Milken Institute)

The share of residents in EAC countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) who access pension and insurance products is still small, although growing. Savings managed by local institutional investors in these countries nearly doubled in just four years, to about $19bn by early 2016. We recently surveyed buy-side institutions in these four countries to ask how they are managing savings across asset classes and EAC countries. How do national regulations affect how these investors manage their portfolios? [Download, pdf]

Tax Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in Africa – Part 2: a critique of some priority OECD actions from an African perspective

This analysis is based on the premise that as much as African countries are encouraged to associate themselves with the OECD recommendations to curtail BEPS, their approach should be one of coming up with customised solutions to protect their tax bases. Since African countries’ tax systems are not homogenous and since their levels of economic development as well as their levels of administrative capacity to deal with the challenges associated with BEPS vary immensely, each country must evaluate its own situation to identify its particular issues and determine the most appropriate techniques to ensure a sound tax base. [The analyst: Annet Wanyana Oguttu]

CCSI submission: State obligations under the ICESCR in the context of business activities (Columbia University)

In January, CCSI made a submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, regarding its draft General Comment on “State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Context of Business Activities.” CCSI’s submission focused on: (1) host and home states’ obligations as they relate to international investment agreements (IIAs); (2) extraterritorial obligations in the context of outward investment; and (3) state obligations related to corruption issues. [David Collins: Investment contracts are not a substitute for investment treaties]

Simon Maxwell: DFID’s Economic Development Strategy reviewed

The strategy is wide-ranging, focused on poverty reduction, inclusive, environmentally sensitive, and results-oriented. Good. There are questions of emphasis to debate, however, and some choices to make about future work. I identify five issues:

Today’s Quick Links:

Zimbabwe missing out of Mapungubwe TFCA

Economic rationale for cooperation on international waters in Africa: a review

World Bank’s Makhtar Diop on how to accelerate economic growth in Africa: a Devex Q&A

Chad P Brown: What is NAFTA, and what would happen to US trade without it?

OECD: Sovereign Borrowing Outlook 2017 (pdf)

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