News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 8 July 2015
The selection: Wednesday, 8 July
Tax inspectors shrug off borders to track multi-national evasion (Bloomberg)
Step aside, Doctors Without Borders. A new class of professionals is ignoring national frontiers to come to the aid of economically struggling nations. A team called Tax Inspectors Without Borders will begin helping developing countries deal with the flood of income to low-tax jurisdictions once it’s established next week by the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The UN and OECD, which represents rich nations, will draw up a list of several dozen tax inspectors from advanced countries who could be summoned to help local agencies understand what anomalies to look for and what documents they need. Of special concern are transfer-pricing cases involving assets moved among a corporation’s units in multiple countries.
Africa’s collective input to the 2015 Meeting of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (Common Africa Position)
The Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, convened from 17-18 June, brought together high-level representatives of African member states together with all relevant stakeholders. The main objective of the Forum was to enable African countries to deliberate and agree on Africa’s collective input in the form of key messages to HLPF 2015. The agreed key messages are presented as follows.
Development financing conference to agree 'concrete' action on social protection, aid delivery (Common Africa Position)
BRICS trade strategy: time for a rethink (VoxEU)
This year’s BRICS summit occurs during tougher times for the leading emerging markets – each of the BRICS’ exports are falling and when only India is expected to see faster economic growth in 2015 and 2016. The exposure of BRICS commercial interests to discrimination by foreign governments revealed in this report calls for a rethink of BRICS trade strategy. At best, current BRICS trade strategy is incoherent. On the one hand, the BRICS have sought to bolster trade between them with more generous credit lines for exporters and the like. On the other, the BRICS are responsible for a third of all of the harm done to each other’s commercial interests. This cannot make sense.
Moreover, BRICS Trade Ministers may want to rethink the wisdom of them excusing protectionism imposed by developing countries on the grounds that their economies are deserving of special and differential treatment. This report showed that four-fifths of the 2,733 trade distortions harming the BRICS were implemented by developing countries. There isn’t much evidence of BRICS solidarity either as one third of the hits to BRICS commercial interests come from another BRICS member. [The author: Simon J Evenett] [Download]
Book launch: Structural change and industrial development in the BRICS (UNIDO)
Alexander Gabuev: 'Another BRIC(S) in the Great Wall' (Carnegie Moscow Centre)
Trade turnover between BRICS countries reached $291bln in 2014
Increased complexity of trade driving demand for good data (WTO)
Trade Data Day is a collaborative effort of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Bank and the WTO. This year's seminar examined the main advances in trade and market access statistics and looked ahead to future challenges. Two issues were of specific focus at the seminar: the monitoring and analysis of non-tariff trade policy measures; and trade and market access information systems on commercial services.
Profiled reports from 'Trade Data Day':
NTMs today, progress and statistical challenges
Data and statistics for analysing trade in services
Trade in services statistics: the joint efforts of Geneva-based agencies
Emerging issues and challenges ahead
SADC-PF conference: speeches delivered on the opening day (RSA Parliament)
SADC seeks to review regional energy programme (BH24)
Uganda: Staff Report for the 2015 Article IV Consultation (IMF)
Backed by sound policies, economic performance since the 2013 Article IV Consultation has been positive. In response to fiscal stimuli and credit recovery, growth is picking up from the low levels that followed the credit-boom-and-bust-cycle. Careful central bank policies kept inflation low and the financial sector stable, despite shilling volatility. Lower export demand and high infrastructure-related imports widened the current account deficit, but reserves and debt remain at comfortable levels.
Progress towards East African Community (EAC) regional integration is gradually taking place and has the potential to further enhance trade and structural transformation. Uganda ratified the Monetary Union Protocol, and has been actively participating in work to establish EAC regional institutions and to create a fiscal surveillance process. The Ugandan authorities plan to achieve greater integration by continuing progress towards the reduction of nontariff barriers; implementing common-market agreements; integrating payment systems; and harmonizing policies in the context of the medium-term convergence program. These improvements would allow Uganda to reap its comparative advantages and maximize efficiency of production, raising prospects for attracting investors.
Uganda’s ambitious infrastructure plan set to boost economy (IMF)
Rwanda: Logistics sector players upbeat as govt, DHL sign Rwf2.5b deal (New Times)
The cost of cargo transport and other logistical support services could reduce following the signing of a deal between government and DHL Express to construct a world-class logistics facility at Kigali International Airport. Under the deal, DHL, a subsidiary company of Deustche Post DHL and one of the leading global logistics firms, will invest €3 million (about Rwf2.5 billion) in the modern logistics facility. Charles Brewer, the DHL Express managing director for sub-Saharan Africa, said the facility will operate as an airside transit gateway, adding that the company wants to use Rwanda as a hub for its operations in East African region.
How Kenya lost bid for top global shipping job (Business Daily)
State of Safety Nets 2015 (World Bank)
More than 1.9 billion people in 136 low- and middle-income countries benefit from social safety net programs. The combined spending on social safety nets amounted to about US$329 billion between 2010 and 2014. Some 718 million people are enrolled in cash transfer programs, including public works, and constitute 36 percent of social safety net globally. Cash transfers constitute the highest share of spending in all regions except in Sub-Saharan Africa, where food and other in-kind transfers dominate. [Download]
Congo: Investment climate and forest governance support project - appraisal report (AfDB)
Rolling out CVTFS in DR Congo (COMESA)
Nigeria takes critical legal steps to launch as Africa's financial hub (BusinessDay)
Nigeria: Importers groan as Customs returns to 100% manual cargo inspection (BusinessDay)
WTO: Impasse in agriculture trade reform continues at over benchmarks (LiveMint)
Kenyan firms cry foul as Chinese company building $3.8-bn railway imports cement into country (M&G Africa)
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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)
