News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 5 June 2015
The selection: Friday, 5 June
Namibia: Cabinet seeking to finalize outstanding issues on TFTA before approval (New Era)
The proposed new regional economic bloc, that would merge the East African Community, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and COMESA blocs, will only see Namibian cabinet consideration when negotiations on outstanding work is finalized and the attorney general has cleared the draft agreement as well as all its components. Namibia has indicated that it will not sign the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement at the third COMESA-EAC-SADC tripartite summit set to take place during the second week of June in Egypt.
One-stop border posts on cards (Zambia Daily Mail)
Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania plan to establish fully-fledged one-stop border posts with assistance from international co-operating partners to facilitate rapid clearance of goods. Malawi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs George Chaponda said this in Livingstone on Tuesday at the high-level ministerial meeting for landlocked developing countries. Mr Chaponda said the World Bank and the African Development Bank are assisting the four countries to establish the facilities. He said COMESA and SADC have put in place several initiatives to establish one-stop borders to facilitate rapid clearance of goods and services.
African Competitiveness Report: ‘Transforming Africa’s economies’ (World Bank / AfDB / OECD / WEF)
The biennial report, themed Transforming Africa’s Economies, combines detailed data from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index with studies on three key areas of economic activity; agricultural productivity, services sector growth and global and regional value chains. The data points to low and stagnating productivity across all sectors: agriculture, manufacturing and services, partly as a result of ongoing weakness in the basic drivers of competitiveness, such as institutions, infrastructure, health and education. This shortfall masks a better performance in other areas of the economy; specifically, better functioning of labour and goods markets.
In view of Africa’s young and growing population, labour-intensive sectors must play a larger role in the continent’s transformation: the growth in services – both in terms of GDP and employment – cannot propel Africa’s growth alone, and even here development remains uneven, with too many people employed in low productivity services. [Download]
African businesses 'could unlock $350bn a year' (News24)
Rick Menell: 'Business must take the lead in selling the merits of Africa' (Business Day)
No more free rides for Africa, says Barclays chief (News24Wire)
Cecilia Malmström: 'EU Africa trade: a new partnership' (European Commission)
EPAs also have potential to make the business environment in general more predictable and more transparent. That's particularly the case when it comes to customs administrations. And the rendez-vous clauses in these deals on services, investment and competition offer the potential to go much further. And EPAs will also help African companies to gain access to imports that can help them become more competitive. The deals will gradually and carefully open African markets to European exports as well. That's in our mutual interest.
But all this can only happen if they are put into practice. I hope that our partner governments across the region see that as a priority. And that they also help to develop the institutions, the infrastructure the governance that is necessary to support it and that's a core part of our relationship. We need to take a clear look at this.
The African Network of Centers of Excellence in Electricity: appraisal report (AfDB)
The African Network of Centers of Excellence in Electricity (ANCEE) is a continental undertaking championed by the Association of Power Utilities of Africa (grant beneficiary) on behalf of countries and the 77 member utilities involved. The overall project objective is to improve the performance of the power sector and enhance regional trade through building technical and managerial capacities in various works and governance in the sector. In the longer term, it [pooling] will strengthen the operational and investment frameworks for major projects such as those in the PIDA PAP.
Tanzania: Power sector reform and governance support programme - appraisal report (AfDB)
Fight against NTBs will be top priority, says new EABC chief (New Times)
Rwanda’s Denis Karera was over the weekend elected chairman of the East African Business Council (EABC), a body of 54 business associations and 102 corporate members of the private sector from across the five member states of the EAC. Karera says his team’s priorities will be to ensure they advocate for total elimination of trade barriers, foster self-reliance and sustainability of the council. Business Times’ Peterson Tumwebaze caught up with him on Saturday and talked about his other plans for the council and what the chairmanship means for Rwanda.
Implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: the potential impact on trade costs (OECD)
Implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement could reduce worldwide trade costs by anywhere from 12.5% to 17.5%, according to new OECD analysis, with the greatest benefits accruing in developing countries. The 2015 OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators find that countries which implement the TFA in full will reduce their trade costs by anywhere from 1.4 to 3.9 percentage points more than those that only implement the minimum requirements. The greatest opportunities for reductions in trade costs are in low and lower middle income countries. [Download]
Build good roads, LLDCs told (Times of Zambia)
Increasing capacity of Sena railroad is one Mozambique’s priorities for 2015 (MacauHub)
Kenya, Uganda could agree on key oil route (Daily Nation)
A key decision on the route the Uganda-Kenya crude oil pipeline will take could be made this week during the Northern Corridor Heads of State summit. The presidents of regional countries are expected to be handed the feasibility studies and the design for the pipeline route from the ministries.
Where are the women? Inclusive boardrooms in Africa’s top-listed companies (AfDB)
Major findings in the report, which measured 2013 data for 307 companies in 12 countries, include: the greatest sectoral champions for women on boards in Africa are the financial services, basic materials and construction, and automotive industries; the African countries with the highest percentage of women on boards are Kenya (19.8%), South Africa (17.4%), Botswana (16.9%), Zambia (16.9%) and Ghana (17.7%); the companies with the highest percentage of women on boards are East Africa Breweries of Kenya (45.5%), followed by two South African firms, Impala Platinum Holdings (38.5%) and Woolworths Holdings (30.8%). [Download]
Jobs without Borders (World Bank)
The World Bank Group has released the first comprehensive study on online outsourcing, called “The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing.” This study is complemented by a web-based toolkit (available at www.ictforjobs.org) to diagnose the feasibility for establishing the online outsourcing industry in developing countries, in order to increase access to employment and income-generation opportunities. Dissemination events were conducted in Nigeria and Kenya in May 2015 to discuss the potential of online outsourcing with policy makers, local online outsourcing intermediaries and workers.
The partnership is part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa initiative, which seeks to catalyze new, sustainable employment opportunities and skills training for youth in Africa, with a goal to positively impact one million lives in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa through the ICT sector, and ultimately improve the social and economic well-being of entire families, communities and nations.
Internet development and internet governance in Africa (Internet Society)
UN agency reports world food prices declining to six-year low (UN News Centre)
According to the UN agency’s monthly Food Price Index, the May 2015 forecast for the global production of wheat, coarse grains and rice has been “upgraded” as maize harvests in China and Mexico as well as more abundant wheat harvests in Africa and North America are currently anticipated. The resulting drop in prices for May marks a steady 3.8 per cent monthly decline in the cereal price index, a 2.9 per cent drop in the dairy price index and a one per cent drop in the meat price index. In addition, the Organization also predicts that global rice output will grow by 1.3 percent from last year mainly due to increases across Asia.
Science partnership to improve the quality of indigenous food products in the SADC region (CSIR)
Gates Foundation to spend $776 million tackling hunger (BusinessDay)
WTO: India unfairly blocking US poultry, egg imports
The World Trade Organization has upheld a ruling that India is unfairly blocking imports of U.S. poultry and eggs. The Obama administration called the decision a major victory that should greatly expand export opportunities for American farmers. The ruling announced Thursday by the Geneva-based WTO's appellate body upheld a decision issued by a dispute panel last October. India imposed the trade barriers in 2007 to prevent avian influenza from entering the country. The WTO said they were too restrictive and not based on international scientific standards. [The ruling]
US trade deficit narrows as exports of services hit record high (Reuters)
Sustainable consumption and production: a handbook for policy makers (UNEP)
The handbook contains compelling data on both the impact of unsustainable consumption and production, and the efficiency gains to be made by mainstreaming SCP patterns. The estimated 1.2 billion people still living in extreme poverty, depend on natural capital - the wealth derived from activities related to nature - far more than the affluent. Those on low income count nearly a third of their wealth in natural capital, while those on high income have approximately 4 times less dependency on natural capital.
Eco-system services, such as mangroves filtering water, and other 'non-market' goods can account for as much as 47 per cent, in India, to 90 per cent, in Brazil, of the so-called "GDP of the poor", highlighting their vulnerability to pollution or climate change. Sustainable consumption and production is therefore essential for improving the lives of those living in poverty.
2015 Ministerial Council statement: Unlocking investment for sustainable growth and jobs (OECD)
We recognise the important role of the OECD in the international policy landscape, including its contributions to the work of G-7 and G-20. We are encouraged by the ongoing efforts of the OECD to enrich its analytical frameworks and methods, including its tools for long-range analysis. In particular, we welcome the Final Synthesis Report on the New Approaches to Economic Challenges initiative and recognise the importance of indicators beyond GDP including OECD work on How’s Life and Green Growth indicators. We call on the OECD to further mainstream multidimensional analysis, including the work on inclusive growth and gender equality, in flagship publications.
Kenya: IMF completes review mission
The mission urged the authorities to boost efforts to mobilize domestic revenue and restrain current spending, so as to preserve room for critical priorities, notably closing infrastructure gaps, supporting an orderly devolution process, and strengthening the social safety net.
Next week: 8th International Conference on Migration and Development (World Bank)
Dar urges speedy conclusion to Nile Basin talks (The Citizen)
South Africa: Government to review new visa rules to protect tourism (Business Day)
MasterCard eyes remittances in new pact with Somalia bank (The EastAfrican)
Development fund proposed for Ghanaian poultry industry (The Poultry Site)
Walmart says its difficult to enter Kenyan market (Daily Nation)
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