News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 19 June 2015
The selection: Friday, 19 June
25th Assembly of the African Union: summary of outcomes (AU)
A declaration on self-reliance was adopted. It approves the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 and its Financing Mechanism, as a step towards Africa’s collective vision for the level and depth of integration and development that the continent must achieve in the next 50 years.
The Tripartite FTA: technical features, potential and implementation – the road ahead (tralac)
This note contains a brief analysis of the text of the TFTA Agreement, mentions outstanding issues, and discusses some of the broader implications. We also mention the linkages to the other important recent development; the launch of the Continental Free Trade Area negotiations; which took place on 15 June at the African Union Summit in Johannesburg. [The author: Gerhard Erasmus]
Understanding the importance of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (Brookings)
Even when the negotiations are concluded and all the outstanding issues resolved, the actual implementation of the FTA could still be a difficult, risky, and lengthy process. It will require significant consultations with all relevant stakeholders and real political will from regional and national policymakers. In addition, the agreement needs to be ratified by the national parliaments of the bulk of the member states before it becomes in force. Given its importance, communicating what TFTA is, what it is not, and what its promises are to the general public is crucial as national parliaments move to vote on its ratification. [The author: Soamiely Andriamananjara]
The Saana Institute is launching its first ever Essay Competition in association with the Centre for the Analysis of Regional Integration at Sussex (CARIS) at the University of Sussex and the Trade Law Centre (tralac) in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Who can enter? The competition is aimed at university students who are citizens of any African Union country, between the ages of 18-25 and currently enrolled in undergraduate studies in economics, law, political science or other relevant discipline. Entries are welcomed from AU citizens between 18-25 years enrolled in higher education institutions inside and outside of the borders of AU countries.
How do I enter? Choose one of the topics below and write an evidence-based essay of between 1,500 to 2,500 words. The topics are based on the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) and the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).
SACU: a new AU REC in the making? (The Namibian)
Question: Is there somewhere a conflict of interest between the configurations in Southern Africa (besides the AU's recognised and unrecognised configurations)? Given the above, and taking into account the AU's unanswered diversion from their Abuja Treaty, which configuration would eventually triumph in the end? Would the future include a clash of Titans in Southern Africa? [The author, Wallie Roux, is the head of research and development at the Namibia Agricultural Union]
Next week, in Johannesburg: Shaping a Global Trade Agenda for Development (Commonwealth Secretariat)
The Commonwealth Secretariat will convene the Commonwealth Trade Symposium between 23-24 June 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, providing a platform for officials, experts, the private sector and other stakeholders to meet and review emerging and long-standing trade related issues. The objective of the Symposium is to highlight issues and perspectives that are critical to ensure an inclusive global trade support architecture for development. The forum will facilitate a better understanding of interlinked issues and support the sharing of country perspectives on the process of achieving trade development objectives and setting global priorities. [Agenda]
Developing nations want trade talks to follow earlier mandates (LiveMint)
India and China, along with 100 other developing and poor nations, on Tuesday insisted that the ongoing Doha agriculture negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) be concluded only on the basis of all existing ministerial mandates, including the 2008 revised draft modalities. Trade officials from the developing countries objected to what they call ongoing attempts to change the goalposts of agriculture negotiations under the guise of “recalibration or simplification”. They were responding to new approaches suggested by ambassador John Adank, who chairs the Doha agriculture negotiations.
China, India, South Africa and Indonesia, on behalf of the 46-member developing country farm coalition, and Barbados, on behalf of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries objected to the new approaches on several grounds. The approaches, they said, are opposed to the contents of the Doha declaration of 2001, the 2004 July framework agreement and the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. They also felt this was another attempt to undermine S&DT flexibilities.
Developing countries submit WTO trade facilitation commitments with ITC support (ITC)
Zambia’s budget deficit poses risk – World Bank (World Bank)
Zambia's current levels of budget deficit of K20 billion poses a risk to macroeconomic stability and growth, World Bank senior country economist Philip Schuler has said. He said at the launch of the World Bank brief titled: “Making Mining Work for Zambia: The economic environmental and health nexus of Zambia’s copper Mining,” on Wednesday that discipline and dedication is considerable required to reduce deficit reduction, given the likely pressures to increase spending in an election year. “How can we manage fiscal challenges in years ahead? The current level of deficit of six percent or more poses a risk of macroeconomic stability [as], this kind of deficit and borrowing cannot go on for long. It poses a risk to sustainability on public finances,” he said.
Zambia to host copper indaba (Daily Mail)
Mugabe turns to Khama for help (Zimbabwe Independent)
Nothwithstanding the frosty relationship, Mines and Mining Development minister Walter Chidhakwa will visit Botswana on July 2 to study the diamond model in Botswana — the world’s leading diamond producer by value. He said he has also been to Namibia and South Africa to study their models and now wants to look at the Botswana model as he works on his plans to consolidate the diamond mining companies into one entity, with 50% government shareholding as is the case in Botswana. The government of Botswana mines diamonds in partnership with South African giant De Beers. “Diamond mining is a very difficult sector,” said Chidhakwa. “It is difficult to monitor and manage, but if we consolidated the companies into one and have one monitoring mechanism the model of consolidation will allow for better monitoring thereby reduce the leakages.”
Kenya: Rotich scraps tax holiday for rural based companies (Business Daily Africa)
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has scrapped tax incentives for large manufacturers setting up in rural areas, ending a long-running policy which analysts say has cost the government billions of shillings in tax revenue without realising the goal of luring investors away from major towns. The government in 1991 introduced a 150 per cent tax deduction for capital investments of Sh200 million or more spent on industrial buildings and machinery outside Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
Kenya Budget Bulletin (PWC)
Tax, regulation top list of worries for EAC chief executives (Daily Nation)
Uganda: Kasaija’s Budget, fails to inspire, the Shilling (Daily Monitor)
Somalia: IMF completes 2015 Article IV mission (IMF)
An International Monetary Fund team led by Rogerio Zandamela held discussions in Nairobi from June 8–18, 2015 on the Article IV Consultation with Somalia, the first such discussions in over 25 years. At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. Zandamela made the following statement:
Leveling the field for women farmers in Uganda (World Bank Blogs)
We estimate the simple gender gap after accounting for plot size at 30 percent. As expected, we found subsistence farming by far the most important source of livelihood among sampled households, ranging from 52 percent in the Central region to 76 percent in the Northern region. Ultimately we were able to attribute two-fifths of the productivity gap to women’s greater child care responsibilities and one-fifth to their difficulty accessing markets from more remote areas. We also found male-managed plots were 60 percent larger and 11 percentage points (25 percent versus 14 percent) more likely to be planted with cash crops such as bananas and coffee.
Egypt’s non-petroleum exports drop by 20% in 4 months, report (The Cairo Post)
Egypt’s non-petroleum exports during the first four months of 2015 declined by 20 percent to stand at $8 billion compared to $10 billion during the same period last year, official report said. The non-petroleum exports in May 2015 reached $1.7 billion down from $2.1 billion in May 2014, according to a Wednesday report by The General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC.) Egypt has acquired 25 percent of intra-regional trade exports in the COMESA.
Rwanda: Formal external trade in goods statistics report (Q1, 2015)
In the first quarter of 2015, Rwanda’s total trade reached up US$ 572.38 million. This is 0.13% higher than the same quarter in 2014. In addition, official data show that imports decreased by 1.75% over the same quarter of 2014 and exports increased by 10.22% when comparing to the same quarter of 2014. The total value of exports is US$ 101.90 million, the total value of imports is US$ 432.61 million while the total value of re-exports is US$ 37.87 million. The trade deficit for the first quarter of 2015 worked out to US $ 292.75 million, which is 5% smaller than the deficit of the first quarter of 2014 (US $ 309.06 million) but 16 % higher than the fourth quarter of 2014 (US$ 253.11 million). [Downloads]
The troubling details in Indian export numbers (LiveMint)
UN warns of ‘record high’ 60 million displaced amid expanding global conflicts (UN News Centre)
According to data gathered by Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over the course of 2014, the number of people forcibly displaced during the reporting year swelled to a staggering 59.5 million people compared to the 51.2 million from the previous year. The figures, collected by the UN agency for its latest Global Trends: World at War, suggest that one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, says UNHCR, it would be the world’s 24th largest. “We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres declared in a press release issued earlier today and marking the report's release.
East Africa countries among world’s ‘most fragile’ again (The EastAfrican)
Millions going hungry in South Sudan as donors get 'frustated' (The EastAfrican)
Dangote takes cement empire to Asia (ThisDay)
NERCHA hosts successful SADC mainstreaming meeting (Swazi Observer)
Renewable Energy in Africa - Tanzania country profile (AfDB)
Brazil, China could be partners in lighting up Africa: Brazilian expert (ecns)
Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development: downloads
Insurers managing $14 trillion commit to backing sustainable development (UNEP)
Cabinet to consider India’s membership of China-led multilateral lender AIIB (Economic Times)
This week in the news
Follow the links below to read tralac’s daily news selections for the past week:
The selection: Thursday, 18 June 2015
The selection: Wednesday, 17 June 2015
The selection: Monday, 15 June 2015
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)
