The selection: Monday, 20 July

AU Trade Ministers meet in Nairobi today (tweets by @AMB_A_Mohammed)

As part of my consultative efforts to prepare for MC10, I will be meeting a group of African Union Trade Ministers, [Monday] in Nairobi. WTO Director-General could not be here because of negotiating responsibilities, in Geneva, but he has designated a Team of his Senior officials and advisers to provide Ministers with an update on the state-of-play and potential areas of "deliverables" for MC10.

African ministers warm up to December WTO forum (Daily Nation)

Speaking at the same meeting the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi called on African governments to slow down on commodity exports. “Slowing down on commodity exports gives you pressure to think of areas - other than commodities and raw materials being exported to china - as a leaver for growth. It allows the capacity to start producing “made in Africa and made in Kenya.” Mr Kituyi said. Dr Kituyi also called on the governments to think around what needs to be done right to ensure that “we don’t just import products made in china, some components can be made locally,” he said.

Ms Mohammed also called upon Africa to work together to ensure the continent achieves, the threshold of two thirds of the total number of Acceptances required for the Trade Facilitation Agreements to enter into force by end of November this year.

Will Aid for Trade momentum continue after Global Review? (Devex)

CCC to study supermarkets impact on entrepreneurs (Zambia Daily Mail)

The Common Market for Eastern Southern Africa Competition Commission (CCC) intends to undertake a study on the impact of proliferation of supermarkets on the local entrepreneurs. CCC director George Lipimile said the increase in the number of supermarkets have pushed the small businesses out of the market and contributed to the rise in the poverty levels in the member states. Mr Lipimile said in an interview on Thursday that the commission is currently organising funds for the study whose objective will be to look at the anti-competitive practices currently going on the market. “We plan to conduct a study on the mushrooming of the supermarkets in the region, its effect on local entrepreneurs, if it is killing the local entrepreneurs at what rate, what actually is required and how would they be regulated,” he said.

Wallie Roux: 'The TFTA is far from a done deal' (The Namibian)

However, reality paints a different picture in that the TFTA is not a done deal yet, especially given the numerous outstanding issues. An eagle's eye-view from above might observe these intricacies as a potential political pipedream that maybe extended its hand too far. Let's look at the facts:

Political will key to African free trade (Mail and Guardian)

Despite the slow pace of trade regime harmonisation in Africa, the various regional initiatives to eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers will eventually bear fruit and boost business, experts believe. “It is all about baby steps, as long as they are moving in the right direction,” says Venter Labuschagne, head of the KPMG Africa Tax Solutions Centre.

Why bother about regional harmonisation of legal and operational frameworks of central banks? (New Era)

Bank of Namibia is currently reviewing the Bank of Namibia Act in order to align it to international best practices and the SADC Model Law. Some of the provisions of the SADC Model Law required amendments to Article 128 of the Namibian Constitution that defines the role of the Central Bank. The changes effected in 2014 included clarification of the central bank’s authority.

Namibia: Trade deficit slows in first quarter (The Namibian)

The Namibia Statistics Agency said this week the decline in the deficit was due to a slight decline in the overall import expenditure to N$19,4 billion recorded during the first quarter of this year from N$20,6 billion in the first quarter of 2014. “The overall export revenue for the first quarter of 2015 remained relatively constant when compared to the same quarter a year ago. It rose only by a mere 3,9% to account for N$13,6 billion up from N$13 billion in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year,” the agency said.

Namibia's total exports for the quarter was valued at N$13,6 billion of which the bulk valued at N$8,6 billion was destined for Botswana, South Africa, Switzerland and Angola, including N$739 million which was destined for the Export Processing Zone. South Africa, China, Switzerland, Botswana and DRC were the main sources of imports for Namibia during the quarter. The overall value of imports from these markets increased by 22% to N$16,3 billion in the quarter under review as compared to N$13,4 billion the same period last year. [Download]  

Zim imports water, toothpicks (NewsDay)

Zimbabwe's import products list is growing and now includes water and toothpicks which Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha said should be procured locally. Bimha told a meeting of retailers and wholesalers on Friday that a number of products from the Open General Import License had been removed to reduce some of the imports coming into the country. "We have set up a committee that comprises of ministry officials and representatives of the private sector which will be evaluating applications for imports before recommending the same to us for approval,” Bimha said.

Kampala-Kigali railway project derails (The Independent)

The Kampala-Kigali leg of Standard Gauge Railway line, under the northern corridor infrastructure development initiative, may delay as Uganda shifts its priority to “a more economically viable line” to South Sudan. And in the wake of Kampala’s changed priorities, Rwanda has been left with no option but to look east to Tanzania, a non-member of the so-called coalition of the willing of the northern corridor, for a quicker railway connection to the sea. Individuals familiar with these developments told The Independent in Kigali on condition that they are not named that the burden is now on Kenya, with huge business interest in Rwanda and the vast DR Congo, to try and persuade Uganda to stick to the original plan to prioritise construction of Kampala-Kigali railway line.

Latest statistics shows that South Sudan is Uganda’s main export market accounting for 15 per cent of the country’s total exports by July 2015. It was followed by Kenya, DRC, Netherlands, Germany, South Africa and UAE. Uganda mostly exports agricultural products (80 percent of total exports). The most important exports is coffee (22 percent of total exports) followed by tea, cotton, copper, oil and fish. Despite the conflict in South Sudan, Uganda trade with Africa’s youngest country has been improving with informal exports to Juba growing from $9.1 million in 2005 to $929.9 million in 2008. Formal exports also increased, but less dramatically, from $50.5 million in 2005 to $245.9 million in 2008. 

Dar Es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati railway project: EOI (AfDB)

An extensive feasibility study was carried out by Canarail and Gibb Africa and completed in March 2014 which presented viable project options together with a number of recommendations for the required Institutional and Legal framework and PPP Options. The Partner States acting through the Rwanda Transport Development Agency are seeking Expressions of Interest from suitable qualified and experienced firms (single company, consortium or joint venture) which have the capacity to finance, design, construct, operate, maintain (or some combination of those responsibilities) the 1,661 km DIKKM railway described above under a PPP arrangement.

Ethiopia: Transport and Poverty Observatory study on Modjo-Moyale Road Corridor - EOI (AfDB)

Lagos unveils Africa’s biggest deep sea port in Badagry (ThisDay)

The Lagos State Government Thursday disclosed that it would commence the construction of the biggest deep sea port in Africa, which it said, would be situated on over 1,000 hectares of land in Badagry with the capacity to create thousands of employment opportunities. The state government also disclosed that a good number of foreign and domestic investors including Maersk Group “have already signed on to the project,” thereby suggesting that the state would have largest cargo container port in Africa.

East or West, Kenya spoilt for choice in search of global business partners (Business Daily)

But why embrace both the West and East? China and US have different things to offer. China is rich in manufacturing and technology, and the US, on the other hand, has effective institutions in place. Kenya is supported by a large pool of English-speaking skilled workers with high computer literacy, especially the youth. With good partnership relations the challenge of unemployment can be tackled without much strain. Creating a conducive atmosphere for investors from the West and East will expand the economy, grow financial institutions, increase foreign currency as well as improve the living standards of Kenyans.

Fitch downgrades Kenya's credit rating (Daily Nation)

London based ratings agency, Fitch, has downgraded Kenya’s ability borrow from the international market over the long term on account of worsening public spending habits and widening current account deficit. In downgrading Kenya’s long term external borrowing outlook from stable (B+) to negative (BB-), the ratings agency said Kenya's public finances have been “deteriorating steadily since 2008, reflecting weak revenue performance, increasing infrastructure spending and persistently high current expenditure”.

Illicit cigarette trade undermining Zambia’s revenue collection (Zambia Daily Mail)

Tentative expert estimations indicate that illegal quantities of cigarettes on the Zambian market are between 20 and 30% of the market, translating to about 300 to 400 million sticks per year based on the size of the market. It is believed that these non-taxed and unstamped quantities are almost displacing legitimate quantities. The illicit trade in cigarettes is a full-blown crisis in Zambia and poses a challenge to the industry which provides a stable source of livelihood to a mix of farmers, transporters, manufacturers and distributors. [The author, Isabel Mukelabai, is executive director of the Centre for Trade and Policy Development]

OECD Economic Survey of South Africa

Thus, while some sectors are relatively well integrated into global value chains, the economy’s overall participation is the lowest among the OECD and BRIICS countries; the contribution of the service sector to manufacturing exports is also on the low side (Figures 13 and 14). Areas where the economy is most integrated include mining, the automotive industry, regional finance and retail trade. Broadening integration to other industries is key to moving up the value-added production curve. Relying on a model of exploiting natural resources to boost employment corresponds poorly with declining employment in the increasingly capital-intensive mining sector. Rather, there is a need for better framework conditions to improve external cost competitiveness, for example by removing entry barriers, tackling infrastructure bottlenecks and securing a better alignment between wage and productivity growth. [Download, Treasury responds to OECD's report]

South Africa calls for more trade with China

SADC, EU inch closer to ratifying EPA agreement (Southern Times)

DR Congo relaxes rules for foreign investors (The East African)

Workshop alert: trade and public health (WTO) 

Drivers of financial integration: implications for Asia (IMF)

Deeper intraregional financial integration is prominent on Asian policymakers’ agenda. This paper takes stock of Asia’s progress toward that objective, analyzing recent trends in cross-border portfolio investment and bank claims.

Regional trade agreements and the environment: report from a Hanoi workshop (OECD)

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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)