News
tralac’s Daily News selection: 5 October 2015
The selection: Monday, 5 October
The 2015 Ibrahim Index of African Governance launches today
Global Forum on Competition: does competition kill or create jobs? Contributions from Swaziland, South Africa
G20 meet: India to oppose premature conclusion of Doha Round (The Hindu)
India will speak out at the G20 trade ministers’ meet this week against attempts by some developed countries to conclude the ongoing Doha Round of World Trade Organisation by delivering on just a handful of issues “cherry-picked” by them while ignoring the rest.
G20 energy ministerial: communiqué
We adopt the G20 Energy Access Action Plan: Voluntary Collaboration on Energy Access, the first phase of which focuses on enhancing electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa where this problem is most acute. We welcome the discussions held with African Energy Ministers at the Conference on Energy Access in Sub-Saharan Africa on 1 October. We recognize the importance of a conducive enabling environment for increased investments and sustainable growth of the power sector, taking into account national circumstances, including available indigenous energy sources, needs and priorities. We are committed to strengthening G20 coordination and activities on energy access through the Plan, which establishes a long term voluntary cooperation framework.
Africa heads to India, demanding 100% access (The East African), UAE, Singapore special invitees at Africa meet (Times of India)
Towards inclusive and sustainable development in Africa through decent work (ILO)
The 13th African Regional Meeting convenes [30 Nov-3 Dec] at a critical moment. A new era has opened up, making the achievement of sustainable growth with decent work a realistic prospect. Africa can indeed reap the benefits of a demographic dividend and draw on the energy of its young women and men, who are better trained and have easier access to new technology and knowledge networks than ever before. The continent taken as a whole enjoys high economic growth and relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. There is evidence of strong entrepreneurial spirit along with recognition of the transformative role of social protection. Africa also possesses natural resources that are in chronic shortage globally. Though much potential is going untapped, precluding more inclusive and sustainable growth, a better future is possible provided that policies move in the right direction. There is growing awareness of the benefits of such a policy shift. Employment and decent work loom large in Africa’s vision of the future. [Report of the ILO Director-General]
Mauritius: supporting the new National Employment Policy (ILO)
World Bank forecasts global poverty to fall below 10% for first time
The number of people living in extreme poverty around the world is likely to fall to under 10% of the global population in 2015, according to new World Bank projections, giving fresh evidence that a quarter-century-long sustained reduction in poverty is moving the world closer to the historic goal of ending poverty by 2030. The Bank uses an updated international poverty line of US $1.90 a day, which incorporates new information on differences in the cost of living across countries (the PPP exchange rates). The new line preserves the real purchasing power of the previous line (of $1.25 a day in 2005 prices) in the world’s poorest countries. Using this new line (as well as new country-level data on living standards), the World Bank projects that global poverty will have fallen from 902 million people or 12.8 per cent of the global population in 2012 to 702 million people, or 9.6 per cent of the global population, this year. [Various downloads available]
Talks on South Sudan joining COMESA
COMESA Secretary General, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya led a delegation to the Republic of South Sudan from 29th September to 1st October, 2015 to consult with the government on the long awaited integration of the new State into the REC. “The talks focused on the benefits that would accrue to South Sudan upon membership to the regional bloc and in particular from COMESA’s financial institutions that include the PTA Bank, the African Trade Insurance Agency, PTA RE Insurance Agency (ZEP RE), the COMESA Clearing House and the COMESA Infrastructure Fund,” Mr Ngwenya said. The Secretary General recalled that at the COMESA Summit that was held in Uganda in 2012 arrangements had provided for the Republic of South Sudan to sign the instrument of accession.
EAC turns to IMF for tax harmonisation advice (The East African)
“We are asking for input from the IMF, which has experience and is able to give us advice on how best we can achieve tax harmonisation,” said Peter Njoroge, director of economics at Kenya’s Ministry of EAC Affairs. “It is a complex issue, because even the European Union has never fully harmonised its taxes.”
Rules on cargo bad for growth of Uganda’s vibrant transit business (The East African)
However, Uganda Customs is currently only giving 30 days and at times just 7 days to warehouse and re-export the cargo. This time is not sufficient due to the regular political problems in the neighbouring countries. No prior notice was given to importers that the Uganda Revenue Authority was planning to amend the period of warehousing. These new policies will affect the economy in four ways: First, trade with the neighbouring countries will automatically go down.
Arusha-Mwatate road to improve trade 'by 50%' (The Star)
The volume of cross-border trade between Kenya and Tanzania will increase by 50% once the Arusha-Mwatate road is complete, outgoing Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete has said. The 90km road is being constructed by China City Construction Group. It is co-funded by the African Development Bank and the Kenya and Tanzania governments. Kikwete launched the Sh8.4 million road at Taveta town yesterday at the start of his three-day state visit to Kenya.
China targets Kenya’s ports in trade (Daily Nation)
China is targeting Kenya’s ports of Mombasa and Lamu in expanding its global influence through trade and connectivity. The Chinese government lists the two ports as important to its One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative, an ambitious programme meant to create “a community of common destiny” from among 63 countries around the world with about 4.5 billion people.
Graduating from AGOA (The Whitaker Group)
USTR has announced that the Seychelles will cease to be an AGOA beneficiary as of January 2017. Reason: the Indian Ocean nation and its 92,000 inhabitants have, with a per capita GNI of $13,990 in 2014, joined the ranks of high income countries as defined by the World Bank and so have become too wealthy to qualify for GSP.
Nigerian exporters paying heavy price for compromising standards (Business Day)
The sad tale story of Johnsie Company Limited reflects the daily experiences of Nigerian exporters whose products are rejected at the borders of advanced economies, notably the European Union, the Americas and Asia, on the basis of compromise to or ignorance of globally accepted standards.
Advancing inclusive insurance in Africa: innovation in industry, policy and development (Chatham House)
The expanding microinsurance market in Africa, and integration of micro products into existing insurance strategies, is both a commercial and developmental opportunity. Technological innovations and new products and distribution channels are helping to overcome barriers of low profit margins, low levels of consumer knowledge and uncertainty surrounding regulation. Access to microinsurance gives households and small businesses peace of mind to invest for the future, and lessens the impacts of losses on the most vulnerable. This conference [30 Sept] will evaluate innovation and progress in microinsurance initiatives across Africa, and discuss barriers to inclusion and challenges to further developments.
Experts meeting on trade in sustainable fisheries: recommendations (UNCTAD)
Participants recognized five main interrelated pillars for a 2030 agenda on sustainable fisheries and agreed on several next steps. They also recommended that countries prioritize a) market access constraints while recognizing special and differential treatment and, b) transparency, notification and monitoring issues regarding certain forms of subsidies that promote overfishing in the upcoming Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization.
World prices for agricultural goods will “remain flat or decline in the next ten years” (WTO)
The current growth in agricultural production, especially in Africa, could mean that in the next ten years world prices for food will remain flat or even decline, according to a session devoted to agriculture at the Public Forum on 1 October. Food security, agricultural subsidies and the participation of farmers in global value chains were also discussed.
Egypt: Cotton loses its glory (Ahram)
In a bid to save the country’s cotton industry former prime minister Ibrahim Mehleb issued a decree to form a higher committee on cotton headed by the prime minister and including the ministers of agriculture, industry, planning, finance, and investment, along with the chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and representatives from the Syndicate of Spinning and Weaving. The aim of the committee is to investigate how Egyptian cotton can regain its competitiveness in local as well as international markets. The committee should submit a report next month including concrete procedures to restructure cotton cultivation and the cotton trade in Egypt.
The 2015 Africa Agriculture Status Report: Youth in agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
AGRF 2015 communiqué: Walking the talk on women and youth
These trends request increased and better management of labour migration statistics and data. It is crucial that the National Statistic Offices take the natural lead. However, there is need to work with the other stakeholders, in particular the ministry of labour and its relevant administrations. To this effect, it is my plea that Member States set up national LMIS coordination Unit, involving the social partners, as requested by the LMIS-Framework. The Commission will provide technical support in collaboration with the ILO.
The EU-IOM seminar brought together government officials, EU Member States representatives in the Country, partner agencies and civil society to examine various aspects of Mozambique’s and Southern Africa’s changing migration dynamics.
African Union small and medium enterprise masterplan 2015-2017: validation workshop, 5-10 October
Strengthening national evaluation systems initiative in Ethiopia/Tanzania and provide support to the African Parliamentarians’ Network on Development Evaluation: EOI from the AfDB
High Level Dialogue on Conflict and Development in Africa (UNECA)
Emerging powers and global governance: whither the IMF? (IMF)
The governance structure in global bodies like the IMF continues to be disproportionally dominated by advanced economies. Sustained rapid growth in emerging and developing economies (EDEs) in the past 2-3 decades has led to their growing relative weight in the global economy, but with little increase in their voice in the IMF. The emergence of regional financial arrangements reflects the growing dissatisfaction of the EDEs with the current framework. The global economy is on the cusp of an epochal change moving the fulcrum of economic power from the North Atlantic towards Asia after more than 200 years. This must be recognized and responded to adequately. [The authors: Rakesh Mohan, Muneesh Kapur]
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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)
