Today, in Arusha: EAC Development Partners Consultative Forum on the 5th EAC Development Strategy. Concept note (pdf): The overall objective is to provide existing and potential Development Partners an opportunity to get updates on the development of 5th Development Strategy, key priority areas for the next 5 years and sector-specific priorities for FY 2018/19 for their consideration and support. Specific objectives include:

Starting today, in Kigali: Fifth Nile Basin Development Forum. Download: 5th NBDF Handbook (pdf)

Diarise: Joint retreat of the EAC Heads of State on Infrastructure and Health Financing and Development (29 November, Kampala)

Featured trade policy process tweets: (i) @TradeOfficeNG: Zero draft ECOWAS Common Trade Policy - statement by the Nigerian Office for trade negotiations. (ii) @SACU_ES: SACU senior finance officials ended a two day meeting in Joburg on the SACU Revenue Sharing Arrangement review, attended by EU, IMF, WB experts. (iii) @brendan_vickers: Launch of Commonwealth African Trade Negotiators Network highly timely and commendable ahead of MC11 - WTO DDG

Development of a SADC roaming cost model: request for proposals (CRASA)

UNECA ad-hoc expert group meeting: Deepening regional integration in Southern Africa - role, prospects and progress of the TFTA

Trade liberalization without enhanced production is a recipe for disaster, ECA Southern Africa regional director Said Adejumobi has observed. Speaking at the official opening of the Ad-hoc Expert Group Meeting this morning in Zimbabwe, Mr Adejumobi said without production, trade and market liberalization is meaningless. A developmental approach to regional integration was adopted by the TFTA anchored on three main pillars namely; market integration, industrial and infrastructure development. Mr Adejumobi said the industrial pillar seeks to boost the productive capacity of member-states, promote value addition and benefication, and enhance economic diversification. He said the infrastructure component is aimed at easing the challenge of doing business, and allowing the free flow of goods and services.

ECOWAS: Regional experts validate draft directive on harmonisation of laws on tobacco

At the end of their two-day meeting the experts and delegates also reviewed 12 of the 47 Articles of the draft Supplementary Act on the taxation of income, capital and inheritance for the avoidance of double taxation in ECOWAS Member States. The draft directive is meant among others to harmonize the legislative and regulatory provisions of Members States on tracing and tracking mechanisms applicable to tobacco products in order to facilitate the smooth running of the domestic market of tobacco products and ensure compliance with the obligations of the Community and Member States resulting from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the WHO as well as the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in tobacco products. It also sets out to make ECOWAS Member States establish and maintain under their control, a tracing and tracking system of all imported or manufactured tobacco products on the territory using a unique identifier. [New call for research proposals on economics of tobacco control in low, middle income countries]

Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor: Zambia transit volumes reach 40,000 tonnes (New Era)

Despite about 400 trucks being impounded in Zambia earlier this year, transit volumes for goods to and from Zambia have reached a new high of more than 40,000 tonnes for September 2017. The most recent statistics from the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, which is tasked to promote the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor, indicate that import and export volumes for the Zambian Market via the Port of Walvis Bay grew by 15% over the last financial year. According to the WBCG, these occurrences show significant confidence in the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor, especially the Zambian market. [Interconnected railways needed in Africa]

Trade facilitation and paperless trade implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Regional Report 2017 (ECLAC)

The Global Survey was first conducted in 2015. This report presents the results of its second version, carried out in the first half of 2017 with the participation of twenty-one countries from Latin America and the Caribbean. The report seeks to gauge how far the region has advanced in the areas of trade facilitation and paperless trade with regard to the baseline provided by the Global Survey in 2015. Extract (pdf):

The results of the Global Survey 2017 by categories of measures reflect a slight improvement on 2015. The categories of Formalities, Transparency and Paperless Trade have the highest average rates of implementation, at 80%, 78% and 72%, respectively. The most progress between 2015 and 2017 was made on Formalities, with its average implementation rate increasing by 7 percentage points. Same as in 2015, the lowest rates of implementation in 2017 are in Institutional Arrangements and Cooperation (56%) and Cross-border Paperless Trade (47%), although in both cases there were small improvements between both years (see figure 6 in section 3).

The group of 21 participating countries presents average implementation rates above 80% in more than half of the core trade facilitation measures included in the Global Survey. These include pre-arrival processing, the establishment of independent appeal mechanisms for Customs decisions, the acceptance of paper or electronic copies of required documents, the separation of release from the final determination of Customs duties, provisions for expedited shipments, the electronic submission of sea and cargo manifests, and the use of risk management, among others. Moreover, all participating countries except Antigua and Barbuda have electronic/automated Customs systems fully in place. Other important measures have implementation rates in the 70% to 79% range, such as e-payment of Customs duties and fees, availability of advance rulings, trade facilitation measures for authorized operators, establishment of National Trade Facilitation Committees and electronic application and issuance of import and export permits.

Some of the measures with the lowest implementation rates are related to paperless trade (both internal and cross-border): the electronic exchange of certificates of origin (38%) and of sanitary and phyto-sanitary certificates (19%), and the electronic application for Customs refunds (29%). This is not surprising, since these measures require the support of a sophisticated ICT infrastructure and –in the case of cross-border measures- close cooperation between the relevant agencies of the countries exchanging information.

Friday’s UNGA debate on Nepad: summary of statements (UN)

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development – now fully embedded in the development paradigms of both the United Nations and the African Union – remained the “rallying point” in Africa’s pursuit of growth, the General Assembly heard, as delegates drew attention to security concerns and other obstacles still facing the continent. Speakers stressed that the partnership, known as NEPAD, was particularly critical in the areas of social and economic development, with several welcoming the recent facilitation of a Tripartite Free Trade Area agreement aimed at harmonizing three sub‑regional blocs which previously had their own rules and models for trade. Meanwhile, others cited serious challenges facing Africa’s security and stability – ranging from human and drug trafficking to terrorism and the illicit flow of resources away from the continent – and urged development partners to redouble their support for national and regional efforts to combat them. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of NEPAD, speaking on behalf of the African Union, expressed concern that Africa’s inequality gap continued to widen, with negative repercussions for political stability, business, growth and social cohesion. Demographics ‑ especially youth and youth unemployment ‑ was a critical part of the continent’s development, he said, noting that with a median age of 20, Africa must break the generation‑to‑generation poverty cycle that continued to trap many of its people.

Indonesia-Africa Forum: preview (Jakarta Globe)

Indonesia will host the inaugural Indonesia-Africa Forum next year (10-11 April), which the government hopes will boost economic partnerships between Indonesia and countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking at the “PR and diplomacy Indonesia in Africa” seminar, Djauhari Oratmangun, a special advisor on strategic issues to the minister of foreign affairs, touched on Africa’s potential for Indonesian exports. “One of our foreign policy priorities is Africa – we call it our potential market. One of the main issues we face in the region is our lack of attention to the opportunities they offer,” Djauhari said. Indonesia is currently involved in several discussions to increase its partnerships with Africa, including through financing schemes by Indonesia Eximbank via the National Interest Account and negotiations on a preferential trade agreement.

Agriculture in Africa: telling myths from facts (World Bank)

In these new Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, every aspect of farming and non-farming life is queried—from the plots farmers cultivate, the crops they grow, the harvest that is achieved, and the inputs they use, to all the other sources of income they rely on and the risks they face. Together the surveys cover more than 40% of the Sub-Saharan African population. In all, sixteen conventional wisdoms are examined, relating to four themes: the extent of farmer’s engagement in input, factor and product markets; the role of off-farm activities; the technology and farming systems used; and the risk environment farmers face. [Botswana aspires to have commercially viable agricultural sector by 2025]

Today’s Quick Links: Will D-8 countries boost trade in local currencies? Uganda: Trade ministry to develop policy on bottled water Dangote Cement strengthen pan-African market volume IMF team heads to Zimbabwe World Bank: Countries commit to strong action on human capital to drive economic growth Ocean economy: MoU to be signed between Mauritius and Scotland India finances purchase of beans from Mozambican producers Assurances given to farmers on pigeon peas exports: Indian High Commissioner and Grain Institute India tightens gold import norms for export houses Kenya: 47% of factories to shed jobs over election jitters Tanzania’s EPZA: We received $300m investment in three months