News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 10 July 2015
The selection: Friday, 10 July
Featured tweet, @AMB_A_Mohammed: Africa’s fundamental commitment is to Trade Multilateralism; For Africa, for us, it is Multilateralism first and last.
Better leveraging of services trade in Africa could yield major employment and growth benefits, the UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report 2015 argues, while ongoing negotiations towards a continental free trade agreement offer a unique opportunity to align national and regional policies on services trade to that end. The report also argues that building continent-wide policy coherence in financial services would boost economic productivity and help reduce poverty.
“Africa must bridge the policy disconnect of services trade in order to unlock the sector’s potential for the continent’s growth and economic transformation,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said. “Furthermore, the impact of a continent-wide free trade area will only be meaningful for Africa if services are opened up in parallel with trade in goods. This is because services, such as transport and storage services, are necessary components of trade in goods.”
The establishment of a continental free trade agreement, most recently on the agenda at an African Union summit in June 2015, is in itself a unique opportunity for African countries to align their existing national, regional and global policies on services trade, the report argues. The report finds that many national development plans mention services trade as a vehicle for development but fail to link it to existing regional plans or regulation on services in the context of their regional economic communities.
Economic Development in Africa Report 2015: table of contents [Download]
Chapter 1: The services sector in Africa - emerging trends
Chapter 2: Making regulation work for services in Africa
Chapter 3: Addressing the policy disconnect in Africa’s services trade
Chapter 4: Unlocking financial services potential in Africa through cross-border banking
Chapter 5: Main findings and recommendations
Lesotho: Shoprite money transfer cross-border remittances facility (FinMark Trust)
The Shoprite Money Transfer cross-border remittances facility will be officially launched today in Maseru by the Minister of Finance Dr Mamphono Khaketla. The purpose of this initiative is to assist Basotho who are legally working and residing in South Africa to send money home through an affordable, convenient, safe and real-time channel using a chain of Shoprite, U-save and Checkers stores across South Africa. This service is targeting the unbanked workers who have been using informal ways and most often than not; high risk and high cost channels to send money home to their families.
Airtel introduces cross-border money transfers in Niger (IT News Africa)
EAC guidelines for joint trade negotiations with global partners in the offing (New Times)
The East African Community has drafted a negotiation framework to guide its trade negotiations with third parties, including the US, the European Union and China, which are some of its main trade partners. The proposed policy is awaiting validation by the five member states. “The draft has been circulated and is now undergoing national consultations before we can have a harmonised framework, hopefully by end of the year,” James Kiiru, an official in Kenya’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Trade economic and international trade directorate, said on Tuesday. The region has previously struggled to attain a common position while negotiating for trade pacts with other blocs.
Djibouti Corridor Authority to be established (COMESA)
The Ministers of Transport from the Djibouti Corridor states have agreed to the establishment of the Djibouti Corridor Authority (DCA) to improve the coordination, efficiency and management of corridor activities. The agreement was reached during the first ever meeting of Djibouti Corridor Member States convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last month. The Ministers also approved a work programme and funding mechanism for the DCA to be signed by 01 September 2015. The Corridor connects Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan. Funding of the DCA will be through blending of three major sources including contributions by Member States, user levy and support from co-operating partners, especially in the area of programme implementation.
World Tourism Barometer (UNWTO)
In Africa, demand weakened in 2014 after years of solid growth, affected mainly by the Ebola outbreak among other challenges. Limited data currently available for January-April 2015 points to a 6% decline, as African destinations struggle to recover from the misperceptions affecting the continent.
Home affairs won't back down on child visas - minister (Fin24)
Resolve SA-Kenya visa row amicably (editorial comment, Business Daily)
Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Probing Violence against Foreign Nationals: update I, update II (RSA Parliament)
As the Heads of State will be meeting in Botswana for the 2015 Heads of State and Government Summit, the ordinary peoples of Southern Africa will also converge at the Big Five in Gaborone, Botswana from 15th – 16th August, 2015, under the auspices of the Southern Africa Peoples Solidarity Network. The theme: Reclaiming SADC for People’s Development: SADC Resources for SADC People
SADC: Ministerial meeting on disaster preparedness and response
World crop prospects positive in 2015; but food insecurity hotspots pose concern (FAO)
In Africa, the overall 2015 production outlook points to a decline from last year's high level, with all regions expecting reduced harvests, except Central and North Africa. In Southern Africa, aggregate cereal production is projected to decrease by 17%, mainly due to irregular seasonal rains and an extended dry spell. Aggregate maize production - which accounts for the bulk of the subregion's cereal output - is forecast at 20.6 million tonnes, 26% below the bumper 2014 output.
Accounting for the bulk of the decrease, South Africa's maize production is estimated at 10.5 million tonnes, a steep 30% reduction versus the high level of last year. Zambia and Malawi's 2015 maize harvests are estimated to be 21% and 26% below 2014, and rainfall deficits have severely impacted maize production in the import-dependent countries of Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland, with declines ranging from 13% to 43%.
Strategies for addressing smallholder agriculture and facilitating structural transformation (OECD)
This report aims to identify the main constraints that limit smallholders in emerging countries from accessing markets. It also looks at different current policy instruments used in five countries (Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa) that contribute to the integration of smallholders into commercial structures and to their development.
Using national statistics to increase transparency of large land acquisition: evidence from Ethiopia (World Bank)
AGOA: advancing the role of agriculture in US-Africa trade (AgriPulse)
WEO update: growth slows in emerging markets, picks up in advanced economies (IMF)
General evolutions are unfolding very much as forecast in April, said Olivier Blanchard, IMF Economic Counselor and Director of Research, “namely, an improving recovery in advanced economies and a slowdown in underlying growth in emerging markets and developing economies.” Forecasts for the world economy are for 3.3 percent this year, marginally lower than in 2014, and 3.8 percent next year. [Download]
Levelling Up: ensuring a fairer share of corporate tax for developing countries (ActionAid)
The status quo in international corporate taxation is broken and archaic and current attempts to fix it are tinkering around the edges. We need a new approach: countries acting for themselves to boost their own corporate tax revenues, and in the long term a new global agreement to curb tax competition and tackle tax avoidance. This will benefit all countries, but especially developing countries, which currently lose out the most. [Download]
The G20’s Development Working Group has invited four International Organizations (IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank) to write a report on options for low income countries’ effective and efficient use of tax incentives for investment. The underlying concern of the DWG is that low-income countries often face acute pressures to attract investment by offering tax incentives, which then erode the countries’ tax bases with little demonstrable benefit in terms of increased investment. We are seeking your input on the question:
Global launch next week in Addis: Tax Inspectors Without Borders (OECD)
Zim to host Sino-Zim investment conference (The Herald)
Addressing an investment seminar attended by over 150 business people and investors in Qingdao yesterday, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the exact dates of the conference would be announced soon. “This international conference will aim at attracting more Chinese investors to Zimbabwe,” he said. “It will also aim at addressing any problems retarding growth and trade between the two countries.” VP Mnangagwa told delegates that as the person assigned by President Mugabe to lead Zimbabwe’s economic recovery, he was driving Cabinet ministers “military style” as he chaired several inter-ministerial committees geared towards turning around the economy.
Japanese companies eye high table of Kenya’s big business (Business Daily)
Japanese companies have increased their presence in key sectors of the economy, stepping up competition for Chinese and European firms that have long dominated Kenya’s big business. Trade data shows that the list of Japanese firms opening shop in the country has risen sharply over the past five years, gaining a foothold in infrastructure development and the consumer goods business. President Uhuru Kenyatta recently pitched Kenya as a lucrative investment destination for Japanese firms during a visit to Tokyo, urging the more than 100 big companies present at a forum to consider setting up shop in Nairobi.
Kenya: Standard gauge rail material supplies earn local firms Sh23.5bn (Business Daily)
BRICS Business Council: address by Jacob Zuma (The Presidency)
Hints of a recovery in South Africa’s manufactured goods trade balance (Engineering News)
Manufacturing production in SA decreased by 1,4% in May 2015 (Statistics SA)
Nigeria's external reserves now $31.89bn (ThisDay)
We dont have power to ban imported goods – CBN (Vanguard)
West African regulators move to improve capital markets (ThisDay)
Greece contagion reaches East Africa as Tanzania delays loan (Bloomberg)
Somalia snubs out-of-court talks in Kenya border dispute (Business Daily)
Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking (World Bank)
This week in the news
Catch up on tralac’s daily news selections for the past week:
The selection: Thursday, 9 July 2015
The selection: Wednesday, 8 July 2015
The selection: Tuesday, 7 July 2015
The selection: Monday, 6 July 2015
SUBSCRIBE: To receive the link to tralac’s Daily News Selection via email, please »click here to subscribe«.
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)
