The selection: Friday, 13 November

EU-Africa Valletta Summit: download the Action Plan, Political Declaration   

WTO negotiators start to stake out shape of Nairobi Declaration (Bridges)

Negotiators have tabled a flurry of proposals on the text of the WTO’s ministerial declaration, ahead of the organisation’s ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi being held in less than five weeks’ time.

China warns WTO its cheap exports will soon be harder to resist (Reuters)

CFTA negotiations: towards an African Business Council (AU)

The African Union Commission engaged the Private Sector on the Continental Free Trade Area negotiations processes during a three-day Conference of the African Private Sector in Victoria, Seychelles. The conference was organized by the AUC in partnership with the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The objectives of this conference included enabling private sector participants to dialogue with the Commission and sharing knowledge and experience about the CFTA. The governance structure of the CFTA provides for the establishment of an African Business Council as a necessary platform for aggregating and articulating the views of the Private Sector in the continental policy formulation processes. The ABC will thus be instrumental in collecting, processing and presenting the views of the private and business operators throughout the African continent.

Seychelles islands woo African businesses to become hub for African trade (SNS)

Speaking to the press at a meeting dubbed the ‘African Prosperity conference’ that is being hosted by the island nation, the Chairman of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Marco Francis called for greater partnership between African nations. The Africa Prosperity Conference which is coming to an end today is being organized under the umbrella of Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  This is a network of 34 national chambers of commerce of Africa established in 2009.

Nakumatt boss to speak at continental trade forum (CapitalFM)

Business openings in Africa catch eye of UAE investors: Allan Odhiambo spoke with Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, DCCI (Business Daily)

Regional cooperation in SADC stock exchanges: increasing the availability of shares? (New Era)

The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (CoSSE) was established to facilitate the cooperation and consists of ten stock exchanges from the region. Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar and Seychelles are not yet members. [The author, Festus Nghifenwa, is SADC FIP Implementation Coordinator at Namibia's finance ministry]

We do not need a dominant currency,  we need one with value (Namibia Economist)

The only question is: are there persons or groups of persons in Namibia who have the stomach to start a meaningful debate on what our Rand convertibility means for us? Given the extreme asymmetry between the South African economy and all other economies in the region, even if one put them all together, it will not be an easy task to confront the elephant to change the dispensation. Deutsche Bank released a report this week on South Africa’s latest drive to entice the international capital market back to SA government bonds. The results were dismal and the august bank thinks the Rand is going to go deep down the abyss. Compare this to the 3-day Namibian road show in Europe which had a far more successful and positive outcome in the form of a quick, favourable US$750 million Eurobond.

SACU members need each other - Zuma (The Namibian)

Sub-Saharan Africa currency crisis persists (Zimbabwe Independent)

Namibia's trade deficit doubles in Q3 2015 (Nambia Statistics Agency)

Namibia's trade deficit widened to N$10,5bn in the third quarter of 2015 versus a N$5,2bn shortfall in the second quarter, the statistics office said yesterday. The increase was due to rising imports, which rose 22% in the third quarter to N$24,5bn, the agency said. Botswana topped Namibia’s export destinations with goods worth N$3.2bn exported to that country, this represents an increase of 11% from N$2.8bn in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year. Namibia’s exports to RSA rose by 35.7%, translating into N$3bn when compared to N$2.2bn in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. This was the largest increase during the period under review. In addition, exports to Spain rose by 7%, to N$0.830bn, from N$0.767bn in the same period last year.

Transporters want JPM to find solutions to Dar-Congo route (The Citizen)

Tanzania Truck Owners Association is now pressing for the new government to find lasting solutions to the chronic problems facing transporters of cargo between Dar es Salaam and the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Zambia. Tatoa representatives, under their chairperson, Ms Angelina Ngalula, yesterday presented their complaints to Tanzania’s ambassador in the DRC, Anthony Cheche, who is currently in the country. They called upon Mr Ngalula to submit their complaints, ranging from cumbersome procedures for movement of cargo and unofficial charges imposed by transporters on transit cargo to responsible authorities. They also want him to work on such challenges as: unnecessary delays in the movement of cargo to DRC, failure by insurance companies in the DRC to compensate for the 47 trucks that were recently gutted by fire, unnecessary weigh bridges as well as higher costs of running a transport business on that route as compared to others.

Botswana: Corridors have potential to add value (Daily News)

Mr Fitt [permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications] said Botswana was working on improving telecommunications coverage in the Trans Kgalagadi Corridor and that by next month, his ministry would meet all the three major network providers to come up with ways of ensuring that there was network coverage throughout the corridor.

Angola pardons Mozambican debt (AIM)

Angola has decided to pardon half of Mozambique's debt of $61.5m US dollars. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi at the end of his state visit to Angola told reporters that his Angolan counterpart, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has assured him that half the debt will be written off, while the other half will be transformed into investment. Nyusi also announced that the question of suppressing entry visas between Mozambique and Angola will be solved next year. Mozambique has signed agreements to suppress entry visas for short visits with most members of SADC. But Angola has not yet negotiated such an agreement, despite the close historical ties between the two countries.

Angola’s financial sector: a roundtable report (CMI)

In the roundtable discussions, two themes emerged. The first is that the elite dominance of the financial sector means that a clear distinction between the public and the private does not hold in Angola. This poses difficulties for analysts of Angola’s economy, since what appear to be ‘private sector’ developments are instead often an extension of the interests of the governing elite. It is also a challenge for international corporations operating in Angola, who may find themselves on uncertain terrain in an economy where ownership structures are often deliberately opaque and obfuscating. The second theme emerging was the relative uniqueness of Angola’s financial sector and economy in Africa. Angola’s financial sector has grown incredibly rapidly, but remains highly concentrated in five banks and has weak links to the remainder of the economy, failing to act as a catalyst for diversification. While Angola’s financial sector appears like an outlier when compared to its sub-Saharan African neighbours, experiencing a sui generis trajectory due to its political structure, it is more similar to the financial sectors in other oil rich economies such as the Gulf states.

Zimbabwe: Zimra opposes tax incentives (The Herald)

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority says offering tax incentives to foreign companies is tantamount to surrendering the country’s taxing rights and would negatively impact on socio-economic development. But, Zimra commissioner general Gershem Pasi said tax incentives mostly resulted in benefits accruing to the country of origin of the concerned companies and not the host country. He cited China as having successfully implemented the concept of SEZs, attributing this to the fact that the zones were created for Chinese investment rather than foreign companies.

SA, Zim trade relations still intact (NewsDay)

A South African minister says despite the rejection of the rand by some sectors of the Zimbabwean economy, trading and economic relations between the two countries have remained strong. Local retailers and traders have been rejecting the South African rand as it continues its depreciation against the United States dollar. One dollar is currently being exchanged at between R13 and R14.

Egypt: Higher import tariffs ahead (Ahram)

In an attempt to control the imports bill and reduce the demand for foreign currency, the government plans to increase customs duties on a number of imported products. Believing that many imported goods are luxury items and others have locally manufactured alternatives, the Customs Authority has been commissioned to prepare a list of imports that will be subject to higher tariffs. The head of the Customs Authority, Magdi Abdel-Aziz, refused to release the names of the targeted products to avoid hoarding by traders in the internal market. He said the list of products will consist of manufactured items and not include raw materials or intermediate goods. Ahmed Shiha, head of the Importers Division at the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Commerce, told Al-Ahram Weekly he is against the move because it will lead to another wave of high prices that consumers, not importers, will pay.

Ethiopia: Development Effectiveness Review 2015 launch (AfDB)

The AfDB will launch its Development Effectiveness Review 2015 on Ethiopia on Wednesday, November 18 in Addis Ababa. The review provides a comprehensive report on the Bank’s performance in the country and tracks how the Bank’s operations have contributed to the Ethiopia’s development results.

Burundi: text of UNSC resolution 

It urged the Government to cooperate with East African Community-led, African Union-endorsed mediation to immediately convene an inclusive inter-Burundian dialogue with all peaceful stakeholders, both in and outside the country, in order to find a consensual and nationally owned solution. In that context, it expressed full support to mediation by Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, on behalf of the Community, and invited the Secretary-General to deploy a team that would, in coordination with the Government, African Union and other partners, develop options for addressing political and security concerns. The Secretary-General was also requested to present in 15 days options on the United Nations’ future presence in the country.

Informal cross-border trade in Eastern Sudan: a case study from Kassala and Gedarif states (CMI)

This paper is part of a wider study on eastern Sudan’s border communities and border problems. It is an attempt to provide an initial assessment of informal border trade between the Gedarif and Kassala States with, respectively, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The findings will hopefully provide some insights that would help draw appropriate policies that minimize government losses and maximize benefits from ICBT, especially for border communities in the region.

AG attacks SADC Tribunal proposal (The Namibian)

Attorney General Sacky Shanghala this week called on government-employed lawyers not to support a proposal that the Law Society of Namibia should sue government over the decision to suspend the operations of the Southern African Development Community Tribunal. Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, Shanghala said the proposal would subject lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General, who he said were a significant part of the Law Society's membership, to unethical behaviour and a conflict of interest if they participated in a decision against their own client.

IMF inputs to the G20 Leaders' Summit: Global prospects and policy challenges, International migration: recent trends, economic impacts, and policy implications

Cost of diaspora remittances seen falling to 3% after EU talks (Business Daily)

SADC Ministerial: environment and natural resources conference 

SADC-CNGO: Seychelles takes over the presidency (State House)

South Africa to step up investments in Uganda (Daily Monitor)

South Africa, Russia talk trade at Moscow meeting (StarAfrica)

South Africa’s position on climate change ahead of UNFCCC COP 21 Summit (The Presidency)

The AU's Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology: access prepared documentation

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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)