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tralac’s Daily News selection: 22 June 2015

News

tralac’s Daily News selection: 22 June 2015

tralac’s Daily News selection: 22 June 2015

The selection: Monday, 22 June

African Economic Conference 2015: concept note and call for papers (AfDB)

The African Economic Conference 2015 will take place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo from November 2 to 4, 2015. This 10th edition of the AEC will coincide with the unveiling of the new Sustainable Development Goals that are due to replace the Millennium Development Goals from January 2016.

This week in Pretoria: the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum  

Higher margins herd Indian dairy companies to Africa (Economic Times)

Indian dairy firms are trying to tap opportunities in the East African milk processing markets where demand has surged amid rapid urbanisation and rising income levels. This comes at a time when several global dairy giants are looking for acquisition possibilities in eastern Africa and leading local milk producers are trying to consolidate their market share through aggressive buyouts. Many Indian businessmen already have large exposure to the African agriculture and allied sectors, which include agriculture, floriculture and hybrid seed production.

Agricultural trade policy and sustainable development in East Africa: event notification (ICTSD)

South Korea and China overtake Portugal as Angola’s main suppliers of imports (MacauHub)

In the first quarter of 2015, South Korea accounted for 21.5% of all Angola’s imports, followed by China with 16.8% and Portugal with 10.9%. In terms of Angola’s exports, China remained the main buyer, with a total of 878.483 billion kwanzas, which represents a year on year fall of 49.7% and of 26.8% over the previous quarter, accounting for 43.9% of Angolan exports. In the list of buyers Portugal is located in sixth place, with a weight of 3.8% and South Korea is included in the “other” category. More than 9,000 companies from Portugal currently export to Angola and around 2,000 Angolan companies have Portuguese investors, according to the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade.

Business Confederation of CPLP calls for greater openness of the Portuguese-speaking community (MacauHub)

Zimbabwe: Govt signs 54 trade pacts (The Herald)

Government has signed 54 Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPA) that are now at various stages of completion as it moves towards injecting more pace in the country’s economic growth, a Cabinet minister has said. Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Simon Khaya Moyo made the remarks during a meeting to discuss ways to improve economic growth last week. He said Zimbabwe signed the BIPPAs with countries on the African continent and the multi-lateral front. He said 16 of the investment pacts were still under negotiation, three await signatures, 26 await ratification and nine had been ratified.

Zimbabwe: Labour exportation agreements sealed (The Herald)

Namibia: 22 000 jobs created in 2014 - Alweendo (The Namibian)

The government has revealed that 22 000 jobs were created in 2014, which was more than 18 000 jobs the government had forecast in its growth plans.  Minister of economic planning in the presidency, Tom Alweendo said last week that 22 700 jobs were created in 2014, while 19 500 people got employed in 2013, also surpassing the 18 000 jobs' target of that year.

Lack of electricity hinders DR Congo mining sector (New Vision)

The minerals in the south-eastern Katanga region represent potential riches for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but a lack of electricity is preventing the country from fully exploiting them. In Katanga's regional capital Lubumbashi, power cuts regularly shut down the furnace at the STL factory that extracts cobalt, copper and zinc oxide from a nearby mountain of slag. It takes 34 megawatts of electricity for the site's giant furnace to operate at full capacity, but DR Congo's national power company Snel is only supplying 24 megawatts. "We are living in a situation of continual stress and it's hell," said Jean-Pol Tavernier, STL's maintenance director. The lack of power has even forced Chinese company CDM to cut 300 jobs. "We can't work with the little power we have," said CDM's director in Katanga, Akili Peter. "This is what forced us to shut down the four furnaces and lay off all those people working with us."

Making mining work for Zambia: the economic, health, and environmental nexus of Zambia’s copper mining economy (World Bank)

How can Zambia use its mineral resources to help the country achieve its economic development ambitions? In addition to detailed conclusions, this brief highlights five key messages: [The authors: Philip Schuler, Martin Lokanc]

Zambia:  Govt ponders SI to stop raw copper exports (The Post)

Mines minister Christopher Yaluma says mining companies insist on exporting unfinished copper because they extract other minerals to make additional incomes, but warned that he will soon come up with a law that will ban exports of unfinished mineral products. Yaluma, who is also the energy minister, wondered why Zambia is today failing to process copper when it used to do so in the past. “My intention is to come up with an SI [Statutory Instrument] to compel these mines not to take any raw or semi-raw or 95% completed copper. It has to be finished here. If we did it before, we can do it again,” he said at the mining conference in Lusaka on Friday.

Zambia: Minister of Transport calls for concerted efforts to transform TAZARA

And when asked to present their views on the operational challenges of the Authority, the members of the TAZARA Executive Committee observed that although the Authority possessed huge potential to raise the operational capacity to higher levels than was currently the case, there were several inhibiting factors that needed to be attended to by the shareholders first. In particular, the managers urged the two share-holding governments to consider cleaning the Authority’s balance sheet, whose liabilities were said to be too big, constricting the company’s liquidity and discouraging any commercial initiatives.

Helen Clark: 'The new global development agenda and Malawi' (UNDP)

While recognizing achievements, it is also true that by the time the SDGs will become the world’s new development compass, much unfinished MDG business will remain here in Malawi. In particular, the poverty target is significantly out of reach, with about 51% of people living under the national poverty line in 2010. There is some good news, however, as preliminary data from the 2010-2013 Integrated Household Survey, indicates that poverty may be starting to decline. Traditionally, poverty has been largely a rural phenomenon in Malawi, which points to the importance of strengthening rural infrastructure and raising the productivity of the rural economy, focusing in particular on agriculture and small scale enterprises for women.

Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, is also troubling:  between 2004 and 2010 it rose from 0.39 to 0.46. Gender equality is a particular challenge, and although there has been some progress in some areas, for example at the primary school level, critical gaps remain. An important manifestation of this is persistent high maternal mortality.

Malawi: Launch of the post-disaster needs assessment report (UNDP)

The PDNA report is comprehensive in documenting recovery needs across the reconstruction of homes and transport and irrigation systems, and on issues around food security and agriculture, employment and livelihoods, and disaster risk reduction. The emphasis on strengthening disaster risk management is particularly important, as this will build resilience to future extreme weather events. In the near term, revitalization of the agriculture sector through provision of tools, seeds, and livestock will be important. Malawi is primarily an agro-economy, and the flood damage has impacted on the population’s ability to feed itself over the next year. Repair of key roads and bridges will play a vital role in restoring access to basic services and markets. [Download]

SA border control plan hits brick wall (IOL)

The government is forging ahead with plans for a border management agency to handle all aspects of border control, from security to customs and plant and animal inspection – but MPs have said it can’t be done. Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba and his defence counterpart Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula launched Operation Pyramid – a transitional arrangement to improve interdepartmental co-ordination – on Friday, while a draft bill to create the legal framework for the agency was tabled at a workshop in Pretoria earlier in the week. But there are serious concerns about the ability of one entity to manage the diverse requirements of border control, which would require a huge single body that may prove unwieldy, while it would also need to assume some of the functions of the police and defence force. This would put it in conflict with the constitution, which provides for a single police service and defence force.

Foreign investment topped US$8.9 billion in Mozambique - 2014 (Club of Mozambique)

Deputy Mozambican Economy and Finance Minister Amelia Nakhare said the volume of foreign investment amounted to US$8.9 billion in 2014, mostly from the United Arab Emirates, United States, Portugal and South Africa. In an interview with APA, Nakhare explained that the bulk of the projects which attracted investment were in the resource-rich western Tete province and northern provinces where foreign firms are involved in the exploitation of coal and natural gas. Last year, according to Nakhare, the country recorded an average of 480 projects in different sectors, including special economic zones. “In relation to the investment volume made in 2012, there was a major jump from US$5.6 billion that year to US$8.9 in 2014 in investments and the extractive industry was a key magnet,” she said.

Pension reforms in Mauritius: balancing social protection and fiscal sustainability (IMF)

Despite important past reforms, the ageing population of Mauritius threatens the sustainability of its pension system. This paper examines how pension spending might increase without reforms and discusses reforms options. The findings suggest that unifying the retirement age and indexing it to life expectancy would contribute most significantly to secure and sustainable pensions.

Agreement between South Africa and Mauritius for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income

Nigeria: CBN may bar rice importers from accessing forex (ThisDay)

There are indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria may stop granting traders access to foreign exchange for the importation of rice in order  to enable local production of the staple food to thrive.  The decision is expected to reduce further depletion of the nation’s foreign reserves, which stood at $29.008 billion as at June 18, 2015, after falling from $29.819 billion in the corresponding date last month. The apex bank is said to have realised that local rice farmers across the country have the capacity to  cater for the needs of the rice consuming populace.

Agro-processing to drive Nigeria's new economy (ThisDay)

Rwanda: Bakers yet to benefit from tax waiver on wheat imports (New Times) 

Zimbabwe: Tight import laws on cards (Sunday Mail)

Nigerian emerges as African Export-Import Bank president (Premium Times)

AfDB and AFRXIMBANK: a tale of Nigeria's resurgence (ThisDay)

UNCTAD: Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes - Activities Report 2013-2014

Microfinance: Good for the poor? (Africa Renewal)

Sub-Saharan Africa Banking Review (EY Africa) 

Business leaders urge G20 to push digital economy, e-commerce (Times of India)

US, India discuss intellectual property concerns (LiveMint)

Peter Drysdale: 'Redefining Japan’s Asia diplomacy' (East Asia Forum)

WTO: Secretariat issues report on members’ quantitative restrictions


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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)

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