News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 12 August 2015
The selection: Wednesday, 12 August
First Annual Southern Africa Business Forum: Savuti Declaration
The Southern Africa Business Forum proposes [inter alia] the following as a way forward:
The revised RISDP and Industrialisation Strategy acknow-ledge the private sector as at the centre of plans for growth and employment creation in SADC. The documents should be made available to the private sector and input sought into the activities and timelines for action, including the plans for public-private dialogue, inclusive business and creating an enabling environment that focus on implementation of specific issues.
SADC needs to urgently address the movement of goods, services and business people in the region and provide certainty with regards to processes, regulations and timeframes. The private sector is very disappointed to see the lack of progress in the negotiations on the movement of business people under the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement. [Download]
SADC to set new Customs Union deadline (Mmegi)
Briefing the media on standing committee meetings being held in Gaborone ahead of next week’s Summit, SADC Director of Policy, Planning and Resource Mobilisation, Dr Angelo Mondlane said although the original target was not met, significant progress has been made towards regional integration efforts with all but two of the SADC members now part of a Free Trade Area . “We have not set a new deadline for transforming into a customs union. It is one of the items to be discussed here as we realised that operating without a target is not very helpful,” he said. The Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in Gaborone from August 17-18, 2015.
According to Mondlane, there are numerous reasons why the original target was not met, which include overlapping membership with some SADC countries belonging to multiple organisations such as East African Community and Comesa. Under the envisaged SADC CU, a country can only belong to one union. Mondlane however said that SADC is being cautious in implementing its integration blue print, the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, as fresh thinking is needed around regional integration, due to changes brought about by globalisation.
Power surplus in Southern Africa to harm independents, SADC says (Bloomberg)
New independent power producers in southern Africa will increasingly struggle to win sales agreements from governments as the area moves closer to a projected electricity surplus in 2019, a regional economic cooperation body said. While the region had a power deficit of 8,247 megawatts at end of June, that shortfall is expected to be eliminated within four years, said Remmy Makumbe, the Southern African Development Community’s infrastructure and services director. SADC estimates that member countries will add 24,062 MW of new generation capacity in the next four years, 70% of that from renewable energy sources.
SADC states agree on roaming charges (The Namibian)
Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe have agreed on a pilot project to lower mobile phone roaming charges. The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran) and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology last week hosted officials from the four countries in Windhoek to discuss the idea. The meeting was chaired by Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana, permanent secretary of the ministry of information. The pilot project will commence among all the operators of the four countries by 1 September.
Tanzania-Malawi: SADC border row panel meets again soon - govt (IPPMedia)
SADC: Botswana to promote industrial agenda (Daily News)
Official urges regional postal sector to be innovative (Daily News)
South African Futures 2035: can Bafana Bafana still score? (ISS)
Using updated population forecasts, this paper presents alternative growth scenarios for South Africa up to 2035, and their implications for employment, politics and poverty. ‘Bafana Bafana Redux’ is the expected current trajectory. This scenario takes into account the impact of policy incoherence and the electricity supply crisis on South Africa’s long-term prospects. With concerted effort and much greater focus, an improved future, dubbed 'Mandela Magic Lite’, is possible – but neither scenario has a significant impact on structural unemployment. South Africa will only achieve long-term stability and prosperity with a leadership committed to inclusive political and economic practices.
South Africa: Mid-year State of the Nation Address implementation update by President Zuma (GCIS)
South Africa and AGOA: US demand proof South Africa ready to lift meat bans (Business Day), South Africa under pressure to implement US poultry trade agreement (The Poultry Site)
MTN takes a firm grip on Kenya online business space (Business Daily)
South Africa’s telcom giant MTN has made a stealth entry into the booming e-commerce business in Kenya, steadily taking a commanding lead in the online shopping space. The mobile company, which is Africa’s biggest, had unsuccessfully tried to enter Kenya in 2008. Apparently, the firm never gave up on Kenya and has been covertly making forays into the local online shopping market, a strategy that seems to have found its rivals off-guard.
East Africa: the next hub for apparel sourcing? (McKinsey)
What is the true potential of East Africa to grow into a major garment-sourcing hub? To find out, we visited factories in the region; interviewed stakeholders, including manufacturers and buyers; and analyzed market data. In addition, we conducted our third survey of chief purchasing officers (CPOs), this time with a series of questions focused on East Africa. This year, 40 apparel CPOs, representing a combined $70bn in 2014 purchasing volume, responded to our survey. We found that East Africa could indeed become a more important center for apparel sourcing, but only if stakeholders - buyers, governments, and manufacturers - work together to improve business conditions in the region. As part of our analysis, we created, tested, and refined three scenarios for the evolution of East Africa - in particular, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda - over the next decade.
Win for Museveni as Kenya cedes sugar regulation (Business Daily)
Kenya is set to cede regulation of its sugar industry to a regional agency in the latest bid to end a long running market access war with Uganda. The joint agency, described by the two states as “the long term solution to intermittent sugar wars”, will take up the role of licensing and vetting dealers, currently undertaken by national agencies. The two states are yet to agree on the nature of the inter-state agency — whether to make it a single entity located at border points or a joint committee made up of officials from national agencies. “We will meet in Nairobi in coming days to lay down long term solutions so that this problem does not recur,” Foreign Affairs and International Trade secretary Amina Mohamed said in a statement.
Kenya’s first oil export expected in October 2022 (Daily Nation)
Kenya’s push to start oil production by 2017 will be delayed by at least five years going by the detailed design and construction timeline for the proposed crude oil pipeline connecting Uganda and local oil fields to Lamu. The Toyota Tsusho design released yesterday shows that the flow of the first oil is expected in October 2022 at the earliest. This will come after the commissioning of the oil pipeline in the last quarter of 2020.
Uhuru and Museveni strike deal on route for oil pipeline (The East African)
Nigeria's Tomato King battles an unlikely duo: Chinese imports, SA's Shoprite (ThisDay)
Eric Umeofia steers the wheel of Africa’s biggest tomato paste plant, providing jobs and driving economic growth. But in an economy dominated by substandard but cheap tomato paste from China, Umeofia is left to fight for the life of his local plant. “If you don’t patronise your own, nobody will patronise you. Every country in this world eat their own food, except Nigerians. Look at Shoprite, 95% of goods there are imported from South Africa, yet they are packing Nigerian money. We’ve approached them to sell our tomatoes, but they refused. They are importing more from South Africa. Government should do something about these people; they are killing us, packing our money away.”
Africa’s hidden underemployment sink (World Bank Blogs)
Next, I took a closer look at labor inputs. Many workers are counted as agricultural because they spend at least some time working on farms. A striking pattern across household surveys is that agricultural workers work fewer hours per year -- 700 hours per agricultural worker compared to 1,900 hours per non-agricultural worker. Interestingly, it turns out that productivity in agriculture is a lot closer to productivity outside of it when one accounts for these differences in hours worked. On a per-hour basis, then, labor is only 1.6x more productive outside of agriculture. Why don’t agricultural workers work more hours per year?
UN body stresses vital role of geospatial data to achieving sustainable development goals (Common African Position)
Although it is probably not as well-known as some other UN committees, the Committee of Experts formulated the first geospatial resolution adopted by the General Assembly in February this year. This landmark resolution recognized the global importance of location and positioning for many areas of development. This year’s session of the Committee brought together over 290 participants consisting of ministers, heads of national mapping agencies, geospatial information management authorities and industry observers from over 85 countries. Twenty countries participated for the first time, signalling – according to the Committee – the increasing global reach of the body and the growing awareness of the use and value of geospatial information to underpin economic growth and as a vital part of sustainable development.
Money, knowledge and controversy in Brazil’s Development Bank (Inter Press Service)
“With the gradual dismantling of the state apparatus for planning and intervention since the end of the (1964-1985) military regime, the BNDES became the last of the Mohicans, the only institution left capable of formulating economic policies in the country, although in relatively restricted fields,” Cardim de Carvalho said. The Planning Ministry “was reduced to exercising oversight and control over the implementation of budgets, and in the process of erosion that demolished Brazil’s public sector, only two organs survived in the economic arena: the BNDES and the Central Bank,” said Cardim. But the bank, although “essential” for financing infrastructure works, is no longer able to cover investment needs in Brazil, which require additional financing mechanisms, he added.
UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board - documents prepared for the 62nd session, 14-25 September: Development strategies in a globalized world: multilateral processes for managing sovereign external debt, Evolution of the international trading system and its trends from a development perspective
Rwanda: Private sector urged to invest in 'emerging' export products
Is Museveni’s 2019 middle income agenda attainable?
Chile wakes up to African trade potential
NamWater threatens with dire consequences
Zimbabwe: Govt to improve investment climate
Egypt seeks to strengthen trade with rest of continent
India hits Nestle with $99 million lawsuit after noodle scare
India, US to hold key commercial talks next month
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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)
