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South Africa’s trade surplus drops to R7.2 billion (BusinessTech)
The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) trade statistics for August 2022 recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R7.18 billion.
The surplus was lower than market expectations of R23.7 billion and the second lowest surplus since May 2020, said financial services group FNB.
The smaller surplus was the result of a decrease in exports of 1% month-on-month and a sizable increase of 10.4% in imports compared to the previous month, it said., noting that the decline in exports came mainly on the back of substantial lower exports of precious metals and stones of R5.4 billion (-15%); base metals of R2.0 billion (-11%) and chemical products of R1.5 billion (-13%).
“The export values of South Africa’s mining products continue to be impacted by the country’s inability to mine and ship these products to export markets during a time of high – although somewhat softer – global commodity prices,” FNB said.
Egypt: US$ 400 Million Project will Help to Improve and Decarbonize Logistics (Modern Diplomacy)
World Bank approved a US$400 million development financing agreement to enhance the performance of the logistics and transportation sectors in Egypt and to support the shift towards low-carbon transportation along the Alexandria–the 6th of October–Greater Cairo Area (GCA) railway corridor.
Egypt’s rail system is one of the most extensive in Africa, with a generally heavier focus on its passenger services, and three freight trains per direction per day in the GCA with the rest dedicated to passenger trains. The Cairo Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project will implement a railway bypass to the congested GCA. The bypass will provide freight trains between the Alexandria Sea Port and the newly constructed 6th of October Dry Port, with an alternative route to the west of Greater Cairo. The operational bypass will also allow 15 container trains per day by 2030, and as demand increases, 50 trains by 2060 to this dry port. Additional freight trains will flow between the Alexandria Port, Upper Egypt, and the Red Sea.
There’s no intent to ban Ghana’s cocoa to the EU (Pulse Ghana)
The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaarly, has dispelled reports that Ghana’s cocoa will be banned from the EU.
“The call for more sustainable cocoa production is growing globally. And our citizens in Europe are increasingly demanding measures for ensuring that cocoa and other commodities are produced in a socially environmentally sustainable way. This explains EU’s legislation on afforestation and forest degradation and must not be seen as a threat to Ghana’s cocoa.”
“There is no ban on Ghana’s cocoa. On the contrary, we want more of Ghana’s cocoa, and we are in support of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire amongst all of the producers who meet these requirements.”
Buhari: Trade Central to Poverty Eradication, National Productivity (THISDAY Newspapers)
Abuja, Nigeria – President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said trade has remained critical to the country’s economic growth, poverty eradication, building wealth as well as improving foreign reserves and national productivity. Buhari, said this during the opening of the 17th Abuja International Trade Fair, with theme: “Creating an Export-Ready Market Through SME Digitisation,” that was organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
According to Buhari, trade was crucial for raising standards of living of Nigerians and improving productivity, adding that, “No economy can thrive without robust trade.”
To address Guinea-Bissau's development challenges, the African Development Bank's new strategy will promote economic diversification, structural transformation and lay the foundation for inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth through support for infrastructure and good governance. The African Development Bank Group and Guinea-Bissau mutually adopted this approach in the Country Strategy Paper 2022-2026, published on 20 September 2022.
The objective of the Country Strategy Paper is to support Guinea-Bissau in building the necessary infrastructure to transform agricultural goods, promoting entrepreneurial initiatives for job creation, improving governance and targeting fragility drivers. The Bank Group will target three sectors: energy, transport and financial governance, to support the government's debt sustainability efforts.
Osinbajo, governors to attend Africa Trade Consortium (Daily Times Nigeria)
The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, governors, President of World Trade Organization, will be among key participants of Africa Trade Consortium (ATC) in Abuja, Nigeria. The Africa Trade Consortium (ATC), the first edition of an event the forum is organising will be hosted at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria from October 21 – 22.
The forum, which is expected to attract more than one thousand participants within and outside Nigeria, will be held under the Theme “Africa Round Table for Promoting investments and Trade Relations, Long Lasting Business Cooperation within the Continent.” According to the organizers, other event’s key participants will include, Africa Development Bank, Term President of the African Union, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), AUC Commissioners, AfCFTA Secretary General, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), and Afreximbank.
Afreximbank approves $200 million for crude pipeline: Uganda presidency (Reuters)
Afreximbank has approved $200 million toward financing of a contested oil pipeline to export Uganda's crude, and is willing to finance construction of a refinery in the east African country, Uganda's presidency said on Monday.
The $3.5 billion pipeline will run from landlocked Uganda's oilfields in the country's west to a port on Tanzania's Indian Ocean coast, but has drawn criticism from environmentalists and European Union lawmakers.
France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), the lead developer of the pipeline, is facing mounting pressure to drop the project or re-route it because of protests over potential harm to the environment and livelihoods of local communities.
Togo seeks new standards for food and agricultural products (Farmers Review Africa)
Through its agency for the promotion and development of agropoles (Aprodat), Togo seeks to adopt new standards for food and agricultural products.
The consultant picked will assess all legislative, regulatory, and institutional texts, good practices, and existing guides, related to animal production and processing. They will also identify and recommend draft legislative and regulatory texts, standards for implementing farm equipment, specifications, and guides to good agricultural and processing practices applicable to the poultry, fish, and vegetable sectors (rice, sesame, peanuts, and soybeans), in Togo.
African trade and integration
Reprioritisation needed as African growth slows (Engineering News)
Global headwinds are slowing Africa’s economic growth as countries continue to contend with rising inflation, hindering progress on poverty reduction, the World Bank’s latest Africa’s Pulse, a biannual analysis of the near-term regional macroeconomic outlook, indicates.
It adds that the risk of stagflation comes at a time when high interest rates and debt are forcing African governments to make difficult choices as they try to protect people’s jobs, purchasing power and development gains.
“What is most worrisome is the impact of high food prices on people struggling to feed their families, threatening long-term human development. This calls for urgent action from policymakers to restore macro-economic stability and support the poorest households while reorienting their food and agriculture spending to achieve future resilience,” says World Bank chief economist for Africa Andrew Dabalen.
Get the full report here, or the press release summary here.
Mantashe says that Africa's oil and gas resources can help accelerate continent's energy security (IOL)
Mining, energy, and petroleum ministers from African nations and the oil industry are attending the Africa Oil Week in Cape Town — a week that drives agreements, transactions, and investment possibilities.
Speaking at the opening of the week-long event, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe said that the ongoing global geopolitical confrontation taking place in Eastern Europe has proven to be detrimental to developing economies.
Mantashe says that Africa’s oil and gas resources can help accelerate and guarantee the continent’s energy security and drive regional economic development through the processing and beneficiation of petroleum products.
Webinar: Presentation of African Economic Outlook 2022 to Asian Audiences (AfDB)
What: Presentation of the African Development Bank African Economic Outlook 2022: Supporting Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition in Africa to Asian Audiences
Who: The African Development Bank Group
When: Friday, 21 October 2022; Time: 8:00-10:00 AM GMT | 13:30-15:30 PM (India Standard Time) | 16:00-18:00 PM (China Standard Time) | 17:00-19:00 PM (Japan/Korea Standard Time)
Where: Virtual (Click here to register (link is external))
The Asia External Representation Office (PEXT) and Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department (ECMR) of the African Development Bank Group will co-organize a webinar to present the African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2022 to Asian Audiences on 21 October 2022. The African Economic Outlook is the Bank’s premier flagship report that serves as a tool for economic intelligence, policy dialogue, and operational effectiveness.
Global avocado craze is a business opportunity in Africa (TVP World)
Farmers in Kenya are starting to shift from traditionally grown maize to avocados because of their better prices and yields. One such farmer, Albert Gumo, started his avocado journey just over a month ago and has already had two successful harvests.
Kenya is now Africa’s largest producer of avocados exporting about 80,000 tonnes annually. The country ships produce to Europe, the Middle East and also trades with other African countries including Egypt and South Africa and.
The country has also ventured into the Asian market in August this year, becoming the first African country to export fresh avocados to China.
AIIM commits $150m to create pan-African cold chain logistics platform (IPE Real Assets)
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has set up a pan-African cold chain logistics platform with the acquisition of a cold storage operator from Oceana Group for $46m (€40m).
CCS, Southern Africa’s leading cold store operator, has been in existence for over 50 years. The company currently operates about 100,000 pallets of storage across six facilities in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Walvis Bay, Namibia. Damilola Agbaje, AIIM’s investment director, said the cold chain logistical infrastructure sector is underdeveloped, and in places non-existent, across Sub-Saharan Africa and the investment diversifies AIIM’s current portfolio into a high-growth and high-impact area.
Kenya Aims To Deepen Trade Ties With Uganda (EABW News)
Kenya will be selling its key export products in Uganda during the ongoing Uganda International Trade Fair that will run from 3rd to 10th October 2022.
The Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA) charged with promotion of exports and country branding is spearheading Kenya’s participation at the Trade Fair.
“Uganda remains Kenya’s number 1 trading partner and participating in this trade fair will give us an opportunity as a country to penetrate deeper in this market especially with our emerging export products,” said Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency CEO, Dr. Wilfred Marube.
Fintechs, Investors and Regulators Gather in Cape Town for the 8th Edition of Africa Fintech Summit (The New Dawn Liberia)
Fintech stakeholders from across Africa and the world will converge in Cape Town, South Africa, for the 8th Africa Fintech Summit, from November 2-4, 2022. The prestigious conference billed as Africa’s premier fintech event will be hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Over the past five years and seven editions, the Africa Fintech Summit is a fintech ecosystem-building initiative by bringing the world’s attention to Africa’s rapidly growing fintech sector, fostering intra-African and continental partnerships, and providing a launch pad for innovative and impactful financial services solutions. Voted the most engaging event of the World Bank Spring Series, the Africa Fintech Summit is hosted twice a year, each April in Washington D.C. during the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and each November in a different African city, with the most recent editions hosted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Lagos, Nigeria, and Cairo, Egypt.
Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar Opens in Kampala (inspenonline)
Kampala, Uganda, 4 October 2022 – The 2022 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar (ATFS2022) and Factoring Workshop opened on 3 October in Kampala, Uganda. The three-day programme of presentations, panel discussions, interactive sessions and workshops focuses on managing the challenges of trade finance in the context of increased global economic uncertainty and the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
In her Keynote Address, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, explained that the 2022 Afreximbank Trade Finance Seminar, which is being held for the first time in a face-to-face setting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, was geared towards building participants’ skills to handle the increased demand for trade finance following the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area and to address the challenges of financing transactions in the face of increased global economic uncertainty.
“This year’s Trade Finance seminar is designed to, among others, briefly refresh our understanding of the current crisis and its implications for our dear continent, introduce many of Afreximbank’s crisis containment programme, as well as programmes to accelerate trade development and expansion in Africa, while reminding us of the essential credit and compliance risk mitigation tools to mitigate the impact of these crisis on our various institutions,” Mrs. Awani said.
Global economy
Supply Chain Latest: Bloomberg Trade Tracker Shows Boom Is Over (Bloomberg)
Sandwiched between the US-China trade war and today’s gloomy landscape, these past two years will enter history books showing both the peak strength and the painful drawbacks of global goods trade.
The recent turn for the worse is punctuated by the positioning of 10 primary gauges on the Bloomberg Trade Tracker, all of which currently sit below their averages, with four of those in “below-normal” territory. (Click here to see the latest readings)
As services spending comes back in earnest, and supply chains continue to be tangled by a myriad of logistics and labor problems, goods trade is increasingly hobbled. Soaring inflation and rising global recession risks don’t help matters.
Dip in demand from China, Italy may have hit Indias merchandise exports (Business Standard)
A decline in external demand from countries, such as China, Bangladesh, and Italy, is driving down India’s merchandise exports that could have led to exports contraction in September for the first time in 19 months. Disaggregated data available till August showed, among top 50 export destinations of India, shipments contracted to 19 and 17 economies in July and August, respectively. In contrast, exports had declined only to six among the top 50 destinations in June.
Among other countries to which cumulative exports have contracted during the April-August period include Singapore (-22 per cent), Hong Kong (-15.15 per cent), Japan (-6.8 per cent), Vietnam (-19.7 per cent), Poland (-5.2 per cent), and Russia (-24.4 per cent).
The World Trade Organization (WTO) in its latest goods trade barometer pointed to stagnating global trade growth. The volume of world merchandise trade plateaued with year‐on‐year growth slowing to 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, down from 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021. WTO has projected 3 per cent growth in volume of global merchandise trade in 2022 compared to 9.8 per cent growth in 2021. “Uncertainty surrounding the forecast has increased due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, rising inflationary pressures, and expected monetary policy tightening in advanced economies,” it added.
Non-Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers Global Market to Reach $23.49 Trillion by 2026 at a CAGR of 13.8% (GlobeNewswire)
The global non-durable goods merchant wholesalers market is expected to grow from $17491.23 billion in 2021 to $19241.45 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.0%. The non-durable goods merchant wholesalers market is expected to grow to $23497.28 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8%.
The use of analytics in the wholesale trade market enhances efficiency by anticipating the future demand of the customer. Predictive analytics uses past data to predict future events. Some of the applications where wholesale trade companies use predictive analytics are to project customer profitability, model business scenarios, and improve marketing campaigns.
Click here for more information about this report.
Ukraine's foreign minister pledges to export grain to Africa (The Washington Post)
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba promised that his embattled country will do all it can to send more grain to Africa as he began his tour this week of the continent in Senegal.
Ukraine will be sending “boats full of seeds for Africa,” Kuleba said after meeting with Senegal’s president and foreign minister in Dakar on Monday.
“We will do our best until the last breath to continue exporting Ukrainian grain to Africa and the world for food security,” Kuleba said at a joint press briefing with his Senegalese counterpart, Aissata Tall Sall.
