The selection: Thursday, 3 December

Selected African trade and development conference alerts:

In Addis, in January 2016: 'Citizens’ Continental Conference', to be held on the margins of the AU Summit, 24-31 January

In Nairobi, next week: a CUTS conference on the theme 'Relevance of competition and regulatory reforms in pursuing SDGs in developing countries'

Launching, on Monday in Harare, Accra, Nairobi, Geneva: the 2015 Africa Capacity Report on the theme 'Capacity imperatives for domestic resource mobilization'

Today, in Luanda: Forum of SADC financial institutions

The Angolan capital, Luanda, will host this Thursday and Friday a forum of financial institutions of SADC member states to discuss the current situation and industrialisation in the sub-region. The forum will focus on the SADC Strategy of Industrialization and Working Plan, a statement from the SADC Financial and Development Resources Centre says.

PwC says Kenya firms pay less tax than their African peers (Business Daily)

Kenya is emerging as a tax-friendlier destination with businesses paying nearly 10% points less tax than the continental average and spending less time filing returns thanks to a technology-based tax system, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report. The PwC data capturing tax payment trends for the one year to December 2014 shows a Kenyan company in total pays an average tax rate of 37.1%, using a mean 202 hours to comply with its taxes while making 30 payments. According to PwC, Kenya retains a competitive tax position in Africa with the continental average for the total tax deductions standing at 46.9%. Companies take 313 hours to prepare, file and pay their tax obligations on average in Africa. [Downloads]

Is Kenya ready for shift to tax havens? (Business Daily)

Kenya and other African countries have now established a technical group to discuss the recommendations contained in the BEPS Pack. The technical group will consider domestic legislative changes and provide recommendations to the Governments on tackling BEPS. However, it’s important to note that the OECD’s BEPS recommendations may not be applicable in all instances for Kenya given that its tax system and policy goals are different from any developed countries. However, the fact that we have large reliance on corporate income tax, particularly from multinationals, reflects the importance of handling transfer pricing and BEPS issues. Therefore, it is important for KRA to follow closely the development of the transfer pricing and BEPS issues to overcome the existing gap in our current tax legislation to maintain the basis of taxation, and reduce leakages in the collection.

EAC states adopt new measures to curb tax loss (The East African)

New reporting code for MNCs could save Africa $35b (The East African)

Kenya and South Africa tax deal takes effect in January (The Star)

India looks to amend tax pact with Mauritius to prevent tax evasion (Livemint)

India is in talks with Mauritius to amend the tax treaty between the countries to prevent its abuse for tax evasion, Akhilesh Ranjan, joint secretary in the income-tax department, said on Thursday. He did not rule out that India is seeking the right to levy capital gains tax. India has been trying to renegotiate the tax pact with Mauritius for the past few years to check so-called round tripping and other treaty abuses. Round tripping entails moving money out of one country into another, and getting it back under the garb of foreign capital.

Zimbabwe, South Africa trade war looms (Financial Gazette)

South Africa, Zimbabwe's major trading partner exporting over 70% of its products into the country, has lodged a formal complaint to government over import restrictions. The complaint by South Africa, presented to Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha during a recent conference of SADC Ministers of Trade in Botswana to review the region's industrialisation policy, follows a raft of tax measures that have undermined competition by South African products on the local market. Bimha told a retailers conference in Harare last week that the South Africa trade minister had personally expressed his reservations against Zimbabwe's protectionist measures during the meeting in Botswana. He said he had defended the hikes. But he said it was "within South Africa's right to complain".

Uganda: Poor standards affecting exports to South Africa - envoy (Daily Monitor)

It isn’t lack of demand for Ugandan products that is making it difficult to penetrate South African market, but failure to meet international standards, the South African High Commissioner has said. “Phytosanitary standards are one of the reasons cited as to why some Uganda products have difficulty in finding access to markets in South Africa. It is, therefore, important to address these various challenges,” Maj Gen (Rtd) Kekoa Solly Mollo said. He made the revelation while announcing that South African companies registered in Uganda are to have a platform dubbed Forum for South African Businesses in Uganda. The forum, which comprises more than 70 South African companies that have presence in Uganda, will be launched in Kampala today.

India, China, SA raise stakes in trade battle with US, EU, Japan (Livemint)

At a closed-door meeting of select countries on Tuesday, trade envoys of India, China, and South Africa told WTO director general Roberto Azevedo that they will not accept the language proposed by the three facilitators as a basis for negotiating the draft ministerial declaration to be adopted at the WTO’s 10th ministerial meeting in Nairobi beginning on 15 December. The three countries presented detailed textual language to be inserted in the preamble and post-Nairobi work programme to reaffirm the continuation of DDA negotiations immediately after the Nairobi meeting.

Global Africa Investment Summit: speech by James Duddridge, Minister for Africa (FCO)

So as part of our implementation of our new spending review, I want a more strategic approach to Africa – including a reassessment of how we deliver and with whom. Much of Africa’s growth story comes from innovation – driven from the bottom up, by young people, by creativity and by entrepreneurial spirit. These are the relationships we want to build and invest in.

Aliko Dangote calls on African leaders to push EU-style freedom of movement and trade (IBT)

Although Africa's current landscape contains an array of regional integration agreements, Dangote outlined the issue that African businesses "create more jobs outside of Africa than in Africa", adding that to achieve growth the continent's nations need to "create jobs among ourselves".

IGAD-Djibouti: recommendations for improved border security management (IGAD)

The IGAD Security Sector Program held a research validation workshop with senior officials from different ministries and departments of the Government of Djibouti to review and analyze research findings and recommendations that was undertaken between September and December of 2014 on border security and management between Djibouti and Somaliland border given Djibouti’s unique geographical placement. The participants discussed effective and enhanced border management practices, frameworks and mechanisms that can be applied to the 58 Kilometre border that lies between Somaliland and Djibouti in the areas of counter terrorism, insurgencies, piracy, human trafficking, money laundering and other forms of trans-national organized crimes.

Breaking the metal ceiling: female entrepreneurs who succeed in male-dominated sectors (World Bank)

This paper uses a mixed methods approach to assess how women entrepreneurs in Uganda start (and strive) operating firms in male-dominated sectors, and what hinders other women from doing so. The study finds that women who cross over into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women who stay in female-dominated sectors.

Africa’s climate opportunity: adapting and thriving (AfDB)

Addressing Africa’s climate change challenges requires collaboration between a broad range of stakeholders, at COP21 and beyond. The recommendations in this section describe how African governments and the international community can ensure a successful climate change agreement at COP21 and a transition to green growth. [Download]

Sustainable transport and climate change: statement by MDBs (World Bank)

The MDB pledge is threefold: On climate finance: In autumn 2015, MDBs committed to significantly ramp up their climate financing for adaptation and mitigation. The World Bank, on that occasion, committed to increase its climate financing to potentially $29 billion annually. Transport will play a key role in the implementation of that commitment. On low-carbon transport solutions: The MDBs will increase their focus on low-carbon transport solutions and will continue to harmonize tools and metrics to assess transport-related GHG emissions. On adaptation: The MDBs will jointly develop a systematic approach to mainstream climate resilience in transport policies, plans and investments.

NEPAD/PIDA: New business approach of linking project preparation to financing approved (AfDB)

Stakeholders welcomed NEPAD-IPPF’s focus on regional and continental infrastructure projects. This, they agreed, was an area with a growing demand driven by deepening regional integration arrangements in Africa, and the need to link markets, enhance competitiveness and reduce the cost of doing business. Aboubakari Baba-Moussa, the AUC Director of Infrastructure and Energy, observed that while it was common to view regional projects as complex, “the aim should be to make them simpler through well-prepared projects”. According to him, regional projects are critical to Africa’s connectivity as well as in achieving Agenda 2063, the blueprint for Africa’s socio-economic transformation.

SA, China ink R94 billion worth of agreements (SANews)

Among the agreements that were signed on Wednesday was an action plan on the strengthening of the joint group between China and South Africa. This plan is set to accelerate bilateral cooperation in major projects such as locomotive procurement, investment in renewable energy and investment in industrial parks, as well as promotion of trade. In the private sector, Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China signed an agreement worth R10bn over five years, which will focus on infrastructure and power. Investec and the Export-Import Bank of China signed a cooperation agreement to enhance trade and economic cooperation.

Industrial relocation windfall needs adequate preparations - don (Tanzania Daily News)

Former China Ambassador to Zambia, Zhou Yuxiao said the African governments needed to come up with the right policies to optimize the gains of the windfall from industrial relocation. He gave an example of some Railway Engineers who came from China for inspecting the railway line prior to rehabilitation but Tanzania imposed taxes on the equipment while Zambia waived them. This discourages those in authority on China side. “It is challenging,” said Amb Zhou, “strategies and policies for attracting capacity transfer and lager scale investment are still absent in many (African) countries.”

$8 billion Lagos-Kano rail tops agenda as Buhari meets Jinping (BusinessDay)

President Buhari had indicated to Xi Jinping at the New York meeting, that he wanted China to re-commence stalled rail projects under new terms that would see China providing nearly all the financing required. The statement added: “Of particular interest is the coastal railway project stretching for 1,402 kilometers linking Lagos in the West with Calabar in the East; a project that is expected to be financed with a $12 billion Chinese loan and which will create about 200,000 jobs”.

Zimbabwe, China ink 12 landmark deals (The Herald)

Achieving Zero Hunger: the critical role of investments in social protection and agriculture

As massive El Niño strengthens, UN emergency fund supports millions in affected countries (UN News Centre)

Integrity in development: AfDB and Hitachi conclude settlement agreement (AfDB)

Nigerian commission reduces MTN fine (Business Day)

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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)