The selection: Monday, 21 September

Mapping the future of development economics: access the UNU-WIDER conference presentation slides

In preparation: a UNECA report on industrial policy in Africa, compiled by ‏@haugejostein, Ha-Joon Chang

European Parliament Trade Committee meets today, Tuesday: agenda, documentation [Profiled document: draft motion on the state of play of the Doha Development Agenda in the view of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference]

South Africa: Development Indicators 2014 (GCIS)

The Development Indicators publication is one of our key sources for tracking progress towards achievement of the National Development Plan Vision 2030, on annual basis. Whereas the production of this publication predates the adoption by our country of the NDP 2030, the majority of indicators identified at the outset and tracked since then, remain pertinent to the present. This 2014 publication is useful in many respects. It is the first to be produced since government published the 20-year review in 2014, and thus further enriches the evidence-base that informs the design and delivery of our socio-economic development programmes.

The Development Indicators 2014 include a section on good governance, where we monitor the efficiency of revenue collection, audit outcomes of the different spheres of government, the perceptions of corruption, transparency in budget processes, the public’s opinion on the delivery of basic services and the ease of doing business in South Africa. These measures are useful in assessing the NDP goal to build a capable and developmental state. [The author: Minister Jeff Radebe] [Various downloads available]

Priorities of government: media briefing (RSA Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation)

The importance of reliable data for monitoring and evaluation cannot be overemphasized. Currently, there is a process of upgrading the data collection system to provide real-time data that can be used effectively in monitoring and evaluation of government’s Programme of Action. I have directed DPME and StatSA to work on the most cost effective way of developing real-time and effective data collection systems that will assist effective monitoring of the 14 priority outcomes. [National Planning Commission: new members]

World Bank and Switzerland to support South African cities (World Bank)

The World Bank Group and the Embassy of Switzerland have signed a $9m Trust Fund agreement to support South Africa’s efforts to improve the performance of its large cities by making them more inclusive, productive and sustainable. The CSP seeks to improve targeted areas such as business-enabling environment; public financial management; infrastructure finance; land management and urban regeneration; and integrated urban transport planning over a five year period. This trust fund is the latest in the growing partnership between the World Bank Group and SECO to support South Africa's development priorities.

Ivan Turok: 'Careless, unexamined expansion threatens SA cities' (Business Day)

Lauren Royston, Yahia Shawkat: 'The idea of new cities may be folly' (Business Day)

Ghana: Restructuring the National Development Planning Commission (GhanaWeb)

This is the time to draw up bold and ambitious plans for concrete, accelerated, progressive, and sustained development. I am very pleased that the National Development Planning Commission has drawn up a 40-year National Development plan to guide the various political parties as they ascend to the reign of government. We cannot develop the nation with the disjointed manifestos of the various political parties as they are not seamless and not compatible with each other. They do not complement each other and more often than not, projects and developments by previous governments are often discarded by subsequent governments. There is a complete break in the process of our development every time government changes hands. This is the reason we need the 40-year Development Plan as a standard guide, a developmental blueprint, a framework, which will be flexible enough for the various political parties to align their manifestos with. [The author: Dr. Gabriel Asare Ayisi]

Absence of reliable data Nigeria’s bane – Statistician General (Vanguard)

The Statistician General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, says lack of comprehensive and harmonized data for monitoring targets contributed in denying Nigeria most of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Dr. Kale made the assertion during the stakeholders’ workshop on data mapping for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in Abuja. This he said resulted in serious difficulties and challenges midway through implementation of the MDGs process, most especially in ascertaining Nigeria’s status in the process.

Nigeria: Ageing population set to increase amidst economic downturn (Daily Independent)

The National Population Commission has given indications that the aging population in Nigeria would see a steady increase in the years ahead, despite dwindling economic fortunes. The Commission however noted that life expectancy rates of Nigerians would gradually increase if the prospects for economic recovery by the Federal Government was anything to go by.

Kenya: Social-economic atlas good for planning, counties told (Hivisasa)

County governments have been asked to make use of the recently launched Social-Economic Atlas of Kenya by the Planning and Devolution ministry to help them prioritise key areas of development. Boniface Kiteme, Director of the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD) who co-authored the atlas with Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and Switzerland based Center for Development and Environment, said the atlas combines geographic and social-economic data that can enable policy makers and development experts in counties to understand issues affecting their people. [Highlights of The Socio-Economic Atlas of Kenya]

Rwanda: National Risk Atlas launched (UNDP)

The Government of Rwanda has launched its first National Risk Atlas, the first-ever comprehensive risk profile developed in Africa. In collaboration with UNDP, the World Bank and the European Union, the National Risk Atlas was developed through a comprehensive risk assessment to provide to the Government of Rwanda guidance in national planning and policy-making on disaster risk reduction.

Zambezi River Basin: strategic plan, law review (HydroWorld)

The eight-nation Zambezi Watercourse Commission has renewed calls for expressions of interest from consultants to develop a strategic plan, harmonize national water laws and upgrade the hydro-meteorological system for the Zambezi River Basin Management Project in southern Africa. Responses to three solicitations now are due September 25. [Procurement details]

Taking stock of the Global Partnership for Development (UN)

The “Taking Stock of the Global Partnership for Development” report of the United Nations MDG Gap Task Force monitors the recent achievements and challenges in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal 8, while looking ahead towards the new sustainable development agenda that will be adopted by world leaders at the Sustainable Development Summit this month (September 25-27), and which will include the launch of a new set of Sustainable Development Goals. [Various downloads available]

Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz: Reflections on global economic governance at the “start of a new era” (ICTSD)

Kikwete chairs health crises response panel (Daily News)

Third conference on China-Ethiopia production capacity cooperation (Ethiopian Herald)

The Conference on China-Ethiopia Production Capacity Cooperation took place in Zhejiang Provincial State on 6 September. This was third business forum attended by the high-level Ethiopian delegation in China, according to MoFA. Zhejiang Provincial State is known for its small and medium scale industries in textile, leather and agro-processing, and the Prime Minister said these were exactly the areas on which the Government was focused and in which Ethiopia needed quality investment.

Malawi: Public finance management institutional support project (AfDB)

The project adds value to Government and other development partners’ efforts to address the PFM challenges faced by the country. It will contribute to: (i) addressing the weaknesses in the PFM institutions, as a priority for the GoM and its partners; (ii) strengthen the fiduciary systems in government institutions, by promoting transparency and tackle corruption and leakage in public funds; (iii) strengthen revenue mobilisation efforts of Government thereby reduce financing risks arising from delayed, reduced or suspended foreign aid; and (iv) help consolidate and sustain the gains realised through the Bank’s previous and the on-going operations and interventions by other DPs.

Swaziland must repay SACU E1 billion (Swazi Observer)

The finance minister explained that SACU receipts continued to be the country’s major revenue source. However, in 2016/17 SACU receipts would decline by about 33% from E6.9 billion in the current financial year to about E4.5 billion. He said this decline comes as a result of the fact that SACU CRP under collected by E7.6 billion in 2014/15. “Emanating from this under collection and in line with the 2002 SACU agreement, Swaziland will pay back to the CRP above E1 billion. The Other SACU partners will also pay back to the CRP varying amounts,” he said. Dlamini said the under collection for 2014/15 has to be made up in 2016/17 in line with the SACU agreement. This stipulated that the CRP forecast used to calculate the size of the revenue shares for the member states in the year must be reconciled with the actual and any adjustments be done two years after the year of under collection.

West Africa: Harmonizing policies for the management of mining resources (UNECA)

The meeting (6-7 October) will assemble the experts of the ministries in charge of mines and natural resources of the Member states of the ECOWAS, country-level officials of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, mining experts of the ECOWAS and WAEMU Commissions, as well as experts from other structures of the UN and international development institutions working in the field of natural resources in West Africa. The participants will discuss the problem of the effective consideration of the African Mining Vision, the Directives of the ECOWAS and the EITI Standards and Principles in the main policies, laws and regulations on mining in the ECOWAS countries.

Rwanda Civil Society Agriculture Forum: update (New Times)

At least 60 civil society organisations yesterday inaugurated a joint forum to harmonise their voice in advocating for development of the agriculture sector in the country. Among the priorities of RCAF include advocacy to ensure effective participation of non-state actors in the formulation of agriculture policies and the agriculture budget making processes, coordination of efforts in the sector, and advocating for changes in some of the current agriculture policies in the country.

Alternative futures for global food and agriculture: developing robust strategies (OECD)

The global food system faces a range of challenges which will shape developments towards 2050. Feeding a growing and more affluent population while preserving sensitive ecosystems, competing for access to limited land, water and other natural resources, increasing agricultural productivity growth while both adapting to and mitigating climate change and other threats, and contributing to rural area well-being: the future for food and agriculture poses numerous trade-offs, challenges and opportunities. Three contrasting scenarios are developed to sketch different views on how the world may unfold towards the middle of the century:

Kenya to hold international investment conference (Global Post)

Kenya is planning to host an international investment conference from Nov. 22 to 25 to attract investors for projects, including expansion of airports, railway, tourism, roads, dams and energy projects. Kenya Investment Authority Managing Director Moses Ikiara said the investment summit would present investors with "business unusual plans" in wind energy, solar power, nuclear power plants and long-term projects in the oil, gas and geothermal sectors.

Infrastructure investment demands in emerging markets and developing economies (World Bank)

The authors have assembled 1960–2012 infrastructure stock data from 145 countries to estimate the demand for infrastructure services in emerging markets and developing economies. This paper identifies that the required resource flows to satisfy new demand while maintaining service for existing infrastructure amounts to $836 billion or 6.1 percent of current gross domestic product per year over the period 2014–20. The annual infrastructure investment gap for emerging markets and developing economies is $452 billion per year, which implies that emerging markets and developing economies should almost double their current spending.

PIDA: AU Infrastructure and Energy Department concludes preparatory meeting (SomalilandPress)

Inaugural Africa Islamic Finance Forum: update (Saudi Gazette)

ARMFA: ‘Bridge financial gaps for road works' (Times of Zambia)

US Chamber of Commerce partners with West African business group (The Hill)

Migration and fragility: briefing paper (OECD)

South Africa takes measures to tackle fallout from China slowdown (SCMP)

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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)