The selection: Monday, 1 June

The AERC Biannual Research Workshop is taking place this week in Arusha: Presentations from the AERC's capital flight workshop,  AERC conference agenda

Zambia: follow-up to 2nd UN conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (UN-OHRLLS)

The Zambian Government together with the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developing Countries, Landlocked developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and development partners will from 2nd to 4th June 2015 hold a three day follow-up meeting to The Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries that was held in Vienna, Austria in November 2014. Since it is being organized shortly before the Financing for Development Conference in July 2015 and the UN Summit in September 2015 which will adopt the post-2015 development agenda, the meeting will also aim to establish linkages with these global processes. The specific objectives of the meeting are to:

Largest free trade area set for launch (COMESA)

The Tripartite FTA offers significant opportunities for business and investment within the Tripartite and will act as a magnet for attracting foreign direct investment into the Tripartite region. The business community, in particular, will benefit from an improved and harmonized trade regime which reduces the cost of doing business as a result of elimination of overlapping trade regimes due to multiple memberships. The launching of the Tripartite Free Trade Area is the first phase of implementing a developmental regional integration strategy that places high priority on infrastructure development, industrialization and free movement of business persons.

Draft Africa trade deal gets 26-member nod (The EastAfrican)

Trade experts who attended the last TFTA ministerial meeting in Dar es Salaam told The EastAfrican that a number of member states failed to produce tariff offers for the private sector to work with but endorsed the draft agreement on the basis of the principle of variable geometry.  “We endorsed the draft because without it, there won’t be any TFTA to talk of and we will as a continent be the laughing stock of the world,” said Francis Mangeni, director of Trade, Customs and Monetary Affairs at Comesa. [Tripartite Website 2015]

African leaders decide to skip WEF (Business Day) 

The African Union summit, which opens in Johannesburg next week, has dented the guest list for the World Economic Forum on Africa that will be hosted in Cape Town this week.  Only two heads of state, SA and Egypt’s, will attend the WEF event. In 2013, nine African heads of state went to the forum when Cape Town last hosted it, and there were more than a dozen in attendance at last year’s event in Abuja, Nigeria. WEF officials said most African presidents and prime ministers were reluctant to travel to SA twice in so short a space of time.

Kenyatta urges SEAMIC to protect Africa from mining exploitation (African Quarters)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged an African mining organization to develop policies that will make the continent reap maximum benefit from the mining industry. He said the Southern and Eastern African Mineral Centre (SEAMIC) must ensure African countries are not short changed by multinational corporations extracting minerals in the continent. “We should not allow multinational companies to play us against one another by imposing unnecessary competition among us. They should be made to find the same mining conditions across the continent,” President Kenyatta said.

Region opts for 'homegrown' African mining watchdog (The EastAfrican)

African countries are seeking to pull out of an international initiative that tracks governance in the mining sector and form one of their own.  Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Angola and Mozambique have called for the formation of a parallel transparency organ for mining in Africa. Ministers and ambassadors from the seven countries, who met in Nairobi on Wednesday, called for Africa to form an alternative to the Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Of the seven countries only Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique are members of EITI.

Tanzania leads region in earnings from minerals (The EastAfrican)

AfDB gathers ideas for African Natural Resources Center strategy (AfDB)

How to ensure Africa’s natural wealth stays in Africa (AfDB)

Japan push into Africa resources sputters, helps China (The Namibian)

South Africa: April trade statistics (SARS)

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released trade statistics for April 2015 that recorded a trade deficit of R2.51 billion. This figure includes trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).  Africa: Trade surplus of R17 333 million - a 15.9% increase. BLNS (only):  Trade surplus of R8.60 billion. [Download]

How SA investors are quietly increasing presence in Kenya (Daily Nation)

Last year, South Africa was concerned after several of its business brands failed in attempts to invest in Kenya and deployed experts to find out what went wrong and how to fix it.  South Africa Inc was conducted in partnership with Brand Kenya and returned negative results about Kenyans’ perceptions of South Africa businesses and their managers as “imposing, aggressive and ignorant of the local reality.” The report made public this year concluded that Kenya’s perception of South African business stemmed from “how South Africa managers conduct themselves and treat Kenyans.”

Zimbabwe-China trade shrinks 43% (The Herald)

Trade between Zimbabwe and China, one of the country’s largest trading partner shrunk 43% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $360m during the first quarter, according to China’s Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office in Zimbabwe.  As trade remains in favour of Zimbabwe, exports declined by 51,4% to $274m while imports from China totalled $85m, an increase of 36,7%.

Namibia, Angola currency agreement set for June (The Namibian)

The Bank of Namibia and Banco National de Angola have agreed that the currency conversion agreement will come into effect on 18 June. The agreement will facilitate reciprocal conversion of the national currencies of Namibia and Angola at the border towns of Oshikango and Santa Clara, the central bank said.

Reforms needed to avoid middle income trap – Bank of Botswana (Mmegi)

Promotion of inclusive growth and continued evolvement of institutions are some of the key reforms Botswana has to implement if it is to graduate from a middle to higher income country, the Bank of Botswana  has advised. Addressing the media in Gaborone this week, Deputy director of the monetary and financial stability division, Mathew Wright said that tackling the constraints to transition from MIC status encompasses recognising that established institutions and procedures, however successful in the past, may not be sufficient to maintain the momentum to the next level.

Two perspectives on AGOA: Renew the Africa trade pact (Bloomberg View), Former envoy misses crux of poultry dispute (Business Report)

Tanzania awards $9 bln rail projects to Chinese companies (Reuters)

Tanzania has awarded contracts to build new railway lines worth about $9 billion to Chinese firms, its transport minister said, expanding Beijing's presence in East Africa's second-biggest economy. Transport Minister Samuel Sitta told parliament on Saturday a Chinese consortium had been awarded a contract to build a 2,561 km (1,536 miles) standard gauge railway connecting Dar es Salaam port to land-locked neighbours at a cost of $7.6 billion.

EAC to set up authority to push for free, fair trade (The EastAfrican)

A regional body to be charged with enforcing laws that protect and promote free and fair competition among businesses with cross-border presence will be operational as from June. The EAC Secretariat is in the final stages of setting up the organisational structure of the EAC Competition Authority, to be headed by a board of commissioners – one from each of the EAC partner states. Other sections are the Office of the Registrar, Directorate of Mergers and Acquisitions, Directorate of Monopolies and Cartels, Directorate of Consumer Protection and Directorate of Corporate Affairs.

EAC: communique of the emergency summit on Burundi

Uganda: Foreign contractors to sit the English tests (New Vision)

Foreign contractors interested in taking up the construction of infrastructure in Uganda like roads, power dams among others will be required to pass the English test before they can be given the contract. The move will ease communication at a time of inspection by government officials who speak English as the official language while most contractors cannot fully express themselves in English. This was revealed by the minister of works, John Byabagambi, in a meeting between contractors and manufactures of suppliers of steel and cement, organized by the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA).

Five secrets of success of Sub-Saharan Africa’s first road PPP (World Bank Blogs)

Why is Senegal’s Dakar-Diamniadio toll road, which opened on time and on budget in August 2013, so successful? The road has dramatically improved urban mobility around Dakar, reducing commute times between the city and its suburbs from two hours to less than 30 minutes.  Building on this positive experience, in 2014 the Government of Senegal awarded a further concession to extend the motorway to connect it to Dakar’s new Blaise Diagne International Airport. Excluding South Africa, this is the first greenfield road PPP in sub-Saharan Africa. What lessons can we draw?

Make in India: which exports can drive the next wave of growth? (IMF)

This paper breaks new ground in analyzing India’s exports by the technological content, quality, sophistication, and complexity of the export basket. We identify five priority areas for policies: (1) reduction of trade costs, at and behind the border; (2) further liberalization of FDI including through simplification of regulations and procedures; (3) improving infrastructure including in urban areas to enhance manufacturing and services in cities; (4) preparing labor resources (skills) and markets (flexibility) for the technological progress that will shape jobs in the years ahead; and (5) creating an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship to draw the economy into higher productivity activities.

David Dollar: 'What institutions do Asian countries need to keep growing?' (East Asia Forum)

Peter Drysdale: 'Will Asia’s growth fizzle out?' (East Asia Forum

The Pacific Trade and Development (PAFTAD) conference series

President Muhammadu Buhari: inaugural speech (APC) 

Adeyeye Adebajo: 'Only Nigeria can fulfil the West African dream' (Business Day)

The real dangers of EPA to ECOWAS — Ukaoha (Vanguard)

Myles Wickstead: 'The future of development - aid and beyond' (UNU-WIDER)

Taming the dollar as regional currencies take a beating (The EastAfrican)

Rwanda: IMF completes third PSI Review (IMF) 

BoB rejects Russian bank licence application (Mmegi)

Why Africa must keep an eye on new US, EU trade bloc (Business Daily)

---

This post has been sourced on behalf of tralac and disseminated to enhance trade policy knowledge and debate. It is distributed to over 300 recipients across Africa and internationally, serving in the AU, RECS, national government trade departments and research and development agencies. Your feedback is most welcome. Any suggestions that our recipients might have of items for inclusion are most welcome. Richard Humphries (Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Twitter: @richardhumphri1)