The selection: Monday, 13 July

Featured tweet, @kaushikcbasu: Tax revenue (central govt) as % of GDP (approx)

Featured tweets by @aeyakuze:

‘@MINEACRwanda: Did you know that Kenya set up 396 businesses in Rwanda btn July 2010 & Dec 2014’

‘@MINEACRwanda: In turn Kenya issued 411 to Rwandan nationals between July 2010 & December 2014’

EAC in drive to eliminate barriers to trade in services (New Times)

Member states of the East African Community appear to be racing against time to meet a self-prescribed deadline of December 2015 by which they pledged to have fully implemented the Common Market Protocol, which came into force on July 1, 2010. The protocol, which was ratified by all five partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, provides for four freedoms within the region; free movement of goods; labour; services; and capital.

While the partners have done well with the other freedoms, there are sticky issues regarding certain provisions of the protocol that have made it hard to implement commitments to free movement of services and their providers; these require amendments. With these gaps still in the protocol, it’s unlikely that member states will meet their December deadline with just five months remaining.

Financing for Development Conference: selected updates 

UN conference opens with call for 'reboot' of development finance (UN News Centre)

Statement by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (African Union)

Positioning Africa in the Financing for Development Conference (Common African Position) 

Min Zhu: 'Partnership, commitment and flexibility in Addis Ababa and beyond' (IMF)

Decent work and financing for sustainable development (ILO)

MDBs announce $400bn to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (AfDB)

Driving sustainable development through better infrastructure: key elements of a transformation program (Brookings)

The current infrastructure investment and financing model needs to be transformed fast if it is to enable the quantity and quality of growth that the world economy needs. The urgency of action cannot be overemphasized. Given the already high level of emissions, the next 15 years will be a crucial period and the decisions taken will have an enduring impact on both development and climate outcomes. The forthcoming U.N. Conference on Financing for Development at Addis Ababa in July provides a historic opportunity to reach consensus on a new global compact on sustainable infrastructure. To this end, the paper proposes six critical areas for action:

Financing the end of poverty (World Bank)

Global leaders are meeting July 13-16 at the 3rd International Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to develop a financing plan for a new set of priorities – the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – prior to a September meeting to agree upon those proposed targets. Will we see this (arguably more sensible) approach exceed what was achieved in Monterrey in 2002? At stake is nothing less than financing an end extreme poverty in our generation.

Donald Kaberuka: 'The EiB - an effective implementing partner for European Development Policy' (Friends of Europe)

BRICS Summit outcomes

7th BRICS Summit: Ufa Declaration

BRICS Ufa Action Plan

The Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership

Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation with the New Development Bank

World needs more development banks like BRICS’, not ‘mindless austerity’ – minister (RT)

BRICS is gaining momentum as an increasingly effective organization and its New Development Bank is likely to become new source of funding for the current infrastructure gap, South Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told RT.

$100 billion BRICS lender more keen on risk than World Bank (Bloomberg)

“We do need another development bank but of a different kind,” Mboweni said. The BRICS nations, who are all members of the World Bank, “have nevertheless also found that there are problems with the World Bank group. We want to take on the riskier infrastructure projects and other development projects, but there may be cases where we have to work together.”

Egypt’s textile industry threatened by temporary ban on cotton imports (Ahram)

Tuesday’s decision by Egypt's agriculture ministry to temporarily ban cotton imports, it says to protect domestic cotton production, is stirring fears among experts that the country's own textile industry may end up paying the price. The decision dictates that all imported cotton will not be allowed in the country for an indefinite period of time, excluding imports shipped before 4 July.

According to the government, it intends to protect and improve marketing for domestic cotton production, and “defend the interests of cotton producers, manufacturers and exporters”. However, in a country where textile manufacturing is highly dependent on imported short-staple cotton, a crop rarely grown in Egypt, the decision has sparked fears of a backlash on the domestic spinning and weaving industry.

Lakshmi Mittal asks for South Africa govt's assistance to counter losses (Economic Times)

With his company's operations in South Africa running into losses, Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has sought South African government's intervention to counter cheap Chinese imports and asked for an imposition of a 10 per cent import duty on steel, according to a media report. The weekly Sunday Times reported that Mittal was in the country last month to brief the government, including President Jacob Zuma, on a possible rescue assistance, failing which his company ArcelorMittal South Africa ..

Tanzania: Cashew nut stakeholders call for more govt support (Daily News)

Cashew nut stakeholders in the country have asked the government to intensify support to industries processing the crop by addressing critical challenges. Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) Processing Manager, Simuli Yahaya speaking at a stakeholders' meeting here over the weekend, mentioned some of the challenges as shortage of processing equipment like boilers, driers, shelling and packaging machines.

Zimbabwe: Food imports continue to grow (The Herald)

Processed food imports have surpassed the $1bn mark each year from 2012 negatively contributing to the trade deficit, which reached $3,4bn last year. Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president Mr Sam Malaba said processed food imports contribute a significant part of the current account deficit. Presenting a paper on Containment of Inflationary Pressures on Food Prices and Funding of the Entire Value Chain at the inaugural Zimbabwe Food Conference Expo, Mr Malaba said the major driver of overall inflation deceleration has been food inflation; now in consecutive decline for over a year. “Local firms in the food sub sectors increasingly face thinning margins against the background of intense competition from imports. Processed food imports constitute a dominant share of the manufactured imports; in excess of $1,1bn per year since 2012,” said Mr Malaba.

AfDB Board approves African Natural Resources Center Strategy for 2015-2020

The Strategy is intended to operationalize the Center by spelling out the Center’s strategic approach to assisting governments in their management of the opportunities and challenges of natural resources management (NRM). The Strategy proposes two pillars, namely: a) integrated natural resource development planning to protect the environment through sustainable development; and b) good governance of natural resources to support negotiations, local content and transparency through public participation. In respect of the value chain, the focus of the Center’s work will be on upstream natural resources management.

Peter Drysdale: 'Realising India's economic potential' (editorial comment, East Asia Forum)

In this week's lead essay, Alok Sheel, economic advisor to the government in the state of Kerala and former head of the prime minister's advisory council, points to the 'long shadow' between ideas and reality in Indian policy making. While it may turn out as many in India now claim, he says, that India's 'manifest destiny' is to overtake China and become the fastest growing major economy and a world power, unless India successfully introduces productivity reforms and opens its markets, this 'destiny' will remain a pipe dream.

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