The selection: Tuesday, 1 December

Selected trade and development conference updates:

In Dakar: Building Africa’s negotiating capacity for improved terms of engagement with the rest of the world (UNECA)

In Addis: AERC December Biannual Research Workshop

In Vienna: UNIDO's General Conference

Concluding today: Fourth ISID Forum

The fourth ISID Forum aims to address how UNIDO can contribute to advancing industry, infrastructure and innovation in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 9. It will highlight the achievements of UNIDO’s new Programme for Country Partnership, which is being piloted in Ethiopia and Senegal, and is expected to be extended to a number of other countries in Asia and Latin America.

Measuring the Information Society Report (ITU)

In Africa only one country, Mauritius, has an IDI value above the global average of 5.03, while three others (Seychelles, South Africa and Cape Verde) exceed the average value for developing countries of 4.12. Altogether, 29 out of 37 African countries rank in the bottom quarter of the 2015 IDI, including the 11 countries with the lowest rankings of all, illustrating the importance of addressing the digital divide between Africa and other regions. The average rise in IDI values in Africa between 2010 and 2015 was 0.65, lower than that in other regions in nominal terms, but from a lower base and therefore higher in proportion to the benchmark set in 2010. The most significant improvement was achieved by Ghana, which increased its IDI value by 1.92 points and rose 21 places in the global rankings. Other substantial improvements in the rankings were achieved by Lesotho, Cape Verde and Mali. [Downloads]

Eastern Africa’s manufacturing sector: promoting technology, innovation, productivity and linkages (AfDB)

These country reports were prepared as part of a regional assessment of the manufacturing sector in Eastern Africa covering seven countries – Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda – commissioned by the African Development Bank and the East African Regional Resource Centre.

Uganda country report: The report shows that policy reforms and other initiatives in Uganda since the 1990s have led to commendable strides in macroeconomic stability and economic growth. The structure of the economy has changed, with agriculture's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) declining from about 70% in 1980, to 29% in 2000, and 23% in 2011. In contrast, the share of the services sector is large and growing, with its contribution to GDP rising from 48% in 2000 to over 51% in 2011. The contribution of the industrial sector to GDP has fluctuated between 23% and 27% over the last decade, while that of manufacturing averaged only about 7%.

Tanzania country report: Tanzania's manufacturing sector is relatively small: its share in GDP is about 10%, and employment is on the order of 600,000, less than 5% of the total labour force. The sector has a narrow range of products which are mainly low value-added basic goods, consisting mainly of limited processing of agricultural or resource raw materials. Food and beverage products constitute about 50% of total MVA, followed by nonmetallic mineral products (11%), tobacco (7%) and textiles (5%). Automobile & motorcycle assembly has been established recently. The private sector dominates (91%) manufacturing as the 56 SOEs constitute 8% of the total manufacturing enterprises. 97% of manufacturing entities are micro enterprises with less than 10 employees; most of these operate in the informal sector. While the manufacturing sector in Tanzania has developed little over the long run – today, the sector contributes less to GDP than it did in the 1970s – there has been a turnaround in performance in the past decade, with manufacturing growing at a pace of 8.6% per annum in real terms. Manufacturing exports have grown strongly at about 31% per annum over the period 2000 to 2010.

Seychelles country report: The Seychelles economy has opened up considerably in the last decade, transitioning from state intervention to market-based economic policies. In terms of structure of the economy, the services sector has a dominant and growing share while industry and manufacturing have declined substantially since 2000, with manufacturing's share falling from almost 20% to about 8%. The agricultural sector is very small. Seychelles' Manufacturing Value Added per capita, which used to be the highest in Africa, has significantly declined in the last ten years and is now below the MVA per capita of countries such as Mauritius or South Africa (but still well above the regional average).

India’s manufacturing sector growth hits 25-month low in November (Livemint), Chinese manufacturing sinks to three-year low (DW)

Used goods: Regional efforts are the way out (New Times)

On Wednesday November 25, 2015 The New Times carried a brain-pricking headline about used leather products. It quotes Trade and Industry Minister, Francois Kanimba announcing hefty tax increment as a means of curbing the dumping of used leather products into the Rwanda. This commendable initiative by Rwanda needs to be scaled to regional level, to reap the benefits of a larger common effort, as well as larger investment opportunity for prospective investors in the leather industry. The EAC is affected by the dumping and damping of used goods and counterfeits as a region. Consequently, we have become net exporters of jobs, since we provide a market for the countries that produce these used and counterfeit products. Once the initiative is taken by the EAC, it should be approached at two levels, namely taxation and policy/regulation.

Lesotho – where to? (tralac)

Manufacturing and in particular the textiles and clothing sector is the main contributor to the growth of Lesotho’s formal GDP, but this sector is stagnating in the face of competition from low-cost Asian producers and rising labour costs. Access to the US market under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act means that Lesotho is vulnerable to increased competitive pressures from Asia and the United States of America. Mining, the fastest growing sector in Lesotho, is the one bright spot in Lesotho’s economy, and water is an important renewable asset as the export of water to South Africa contributes about 3% of GDP. Tourism is important for economic diversification but, again, there are problems with productivity as well as infrastructural constraints. [The author: Ron Sandrey, Download]

South Africa: October 2015 trade statistics (SARS)

The R21.39bn deficit for October 2015 is due to exports of R86.35bn and imports of R107.74bn. Exports decreased from September 2015 to October 2015 by R5.49bn (6.0%) and imports increased from September 2015 to October 2015 by R14.64bn (15.7%). Africa trade surplus: R16 502 million - a 16.8% decrease in comparison to the R19 843 million surplus recorded in September 2015. Trade statistics with the BLNS for October 2015 recorded a trade surplus of R9.83bn. The surplus is a result of exports of R12.69bn and imports of R2.86bn.

Rand tanks as trade deficit widens (Business Day)

SA trade balance disappoints; ZAR nervous (Standard Bank Research Portal)

No more Angolan Kwanza in Namibia (The Namibian)

The Bank of Namibia and Banco Nacional de Angola have temporarily suspended the Currency Conversion Agreement as from 2 December 2015. The suspension will run for the next 19 days to allow the two banks to prepare mechanisms for a new CCA, BoN Govenor Ipumbu Shiimi said during a media briefing on Monday. He explained that the new mechanism will not see further exchange of Angola Kwanzas in Namibia but will see the exchange of the Namibia Dollar in Santa Clara.

Standard Bank to pay $32.6m over Tanzania bribery scandal (The Guardian)

A former unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank based in London has agreed to pay $32.6m (£21.7m) in fines and repayments of bribes and profits following an alleged bribery scandal in Tanzania. The high court in London heard how the bank’s division had agreed to the payments in exchange for the Serious Fraud Office offering it the UK’s first deferred prosecution agreement if conditions are met.

TRA chief Bade axed in Magufuli tax crackdown (The Citizen)

Tanzania Revenue Authority Commissioner General Rished Bade was sent home [Friday] as President John Magufuli cracked the whip on tax evasion which is believed to cost the government billions of shillings every year. Mr Bade was suspended alongside five other top TRA officials, including his deputy Lusekelo Mwaseba, as the state ordered investigations into Sh80 billion in tax revenue that could not be accounted for by the taxman. The Sh80 billion was tax due from the importation of some 349 containers whose whereabouts could not however be explained by the suspended TRA officials during a surprise visit to the Dar es Salaam port yesterday by Prime Minister Majaliwa Kassim.

COP21 updates: Development Banks vow to mobilize collective resources to confront climate change (World Bank), India unveils global solar alliance of 120 countries at Paris climate summit (The Guardian), $248m pledged to GEF climate fund for most vulnerable countries (Global Environment Facility)

A call for action and the way forward for reform in Francophone Africa (World Bank Blogs)

The call was made by 200 high-level delegates from 20 countries: decision-makers and practitioners from both the public sector and professional accounting organizations, and representatives from multilateral development organizations and civil society. Going forward, a partnership committee was set up to monitor the implementation of the call both at regional and country levels and report back at 2016 conference. In particular, member countries of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) adopted in 2009 and 2011, respectively, a series of directives to improve and modernize public financial management. The call urged countries to accelerate the implementation of these directives, especially:

Evolving monetary policy frameworks in low-income and other developing countries (IMF)

The country case studies (which include Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda) are complemented by analyses of common issues faced by countries in currency unions in the CFA franc zone, selected resource rich countries, and advanced economies and emerging markets during their modernization process of monetary policy regimes. Finally, the background paper also contains a discussion on the benefits of effective communication in conducting monetary policy.

Beira and Zambezia Development Corridors: government identifies four major projects (Club of Mozambique)

Speaking in Beira, at the opening of the International Investors Conference of the Development Corridors in Sofala and Zambezia, Carlos Mesquita revealed that the projects identified will have a major impact on employment opportunities for Mozambicans. Mesquita explained that the projects will be financed by the World Bank, and predicted that they come into action early next year, as feasibility studies are already at an advanced stage. He said that despite the satisfactory results of recent years the Beira and Zambezia corridors need to overcome challenges related to production and productivity in order to attract traffic and exploit the already-installed capacity.

Spanning Africa's Infrastructure Gap: how development capital is transforming Africa's project build-out (ECN, Baker & McKenzie)

The report contains detailed analysis of the $US93bn in commitments made by thirteen of the largest development capital institutions across 22 African countries between 2009 and 2014. Over 67% of DFI-funding approvals analysed were provided by four institutions: The World Bank and related bodies, Development Bank of Southern Africa, African Development Bank, and Agence Française de Développement and related entities. [Download]

Paving the road ahead: China-Africa co-operation in the infrastructure sector (CCS)

Namibia: Competition Act under review (Namibia Economist)

Egypt: developing a national e-commerce strategy (UNCTAD)

Sudan: establishing trade facilitation priorities in the context of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (UNCTAD)

Illovo looks to Africa to replace lost EU sugar sales (Agrimoney)

South Africa elected to International Maritime Organisation council (GCIS)

Mombasa port cargo traffic up 10% (Business Daily)

US Senate confirms Gayle Smith as the new head of USAID

China’s Renminbi approved by IMF as a main world currency (New York Times)

Why rich countries better not haste end of Doha Round (Borderlex)

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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)