News
tralac’s Daily News selection
The selection: Monday, 11 January 2016
Featured tweet, @kaushikcbasu: Lookout for the Jan 13 launch of our World Development Report 2016 Digital Dividends, analyzing M-Pesa, Aadhar, digital retail trade and more.
African Union Gender Pre-Summit (Addis Ababa, 17 - 21 January)
The overall objective of the Gender Pre-Summit is to bring together voices of key actors in the gender equality and women’s empowerment arena to update and discuss critical developments in the field, assess the extent of implementation of commitments, especially the Declaration on 2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development Towards Africa’s Agenda 2063 as well as the Mid-Term Review of the African Women’s Decade, identify future priority areas of action including the implementation of the 2016 year of Human Rights with a focus on the Rights of Women, and call for greater acceleration in the effective implementation of commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The specific objectives are to: [Concept note]
US-Africa 10th Biennial Business Summit (Addis Ababa, 1-4 February)
It is expected to bring together more than 1000 private sector and government representatives, including heads of state, from all parts of Africa, the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The statement said this year’s summit would feature insightful plenary sessions, sector-focused panels, country-specific forums, peer-to-peer roundtables, site visits, exhibitions and networking opportunities. The summit, which will be attended by other African heads of state including the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and senior government representatives across Africa, will immediately follow the AU’s Annual Heads of State Summit. [Note:Summit highlights include a 'Special Presidential Plenary on the Northern Corridor' and a discussion 'From Cape Town to Cairo: scaling success in regional trade']
Aid and International Development Africa Summit 2016 (Addis Ababa, 2-3 February 2016)
Gathering more than 250 senior representatives and advisors from regional governments, UN agencies, international and regional NGOs, CBOs, investors and donors, research institutes and the private sector, this unique summit looks at how technological innovations and best practice can improve aid delivery and development strategy in East Africa. The summit demonstrates best practice approaches, current initiatives and latest innovations, offering trans-disciplinary discussions with participants from all relevant stakeholder groups.
Second Commonwealth Conference on Youth Work (Pretoria, 8-10 March), Commonwealth Africa Summit (London, 14-16 March)
Enterprising Africa: what role can financial inclusion play in driving employment-led growth? (Foreign Policy Centre)
With a foreword provided by the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr Carlos Lopes, the FPC publication focuses on how responsible financial sector development might be linked to employment creation objectives and targets across the real economy including productive sectors such as agriculture, food production and rural manufacturing. The FPC report argues that such developments would be timely given the today's global population rise which is driving a global surge in the demand for food. By 2055, Africa South of the Sahara will boast the largest and youngest global workforce with the number of 15 to 24 year olds rising to 452 million – more than doubling its current size. This presents huge employment opportunities for young people and women already disproportionately disadvantaged by unemployment, underemployment and a lack of financial access. Yet, African food production is failing to keep up with rising local and global demand. There is an absence of the access to finance needed to acquire land and secure the appropriate technology and develop innovation needed to make agriculture more productive, commercially viable and create employment. [Download]
David Pilling reviews Deborah Brautigam's Will Africa feed China (FT/Business Day)
Power Africa: US Trade and Development Agency accepting proposals for projects (USTDA)
An implementing agency of the US government’s Power Africa initiative, USTDA invests in project preparation activities designed to generate renewable and gas-fired power, modernize electric grids and increase energy efficiency. The Agency’s programs are available to help African project sponsors prepare bankable clean energy projects. Interested project sponsors in sub-Saharan Africa – or U.S. companies working with African project sponsors – should submit their project concepts to USTDA no later than February 19, 2016 to be considered for funding.
Outsourcing to South Africa - expectations (Transeo)
As a BPO destination South Africa is relatively new to the global market and currently services the UK as the primary base along with Australia, the US and other Euro zones. Being culturally aligned to both the UK and Australia is clearly an advantage for South Africa, though they have yet to fully harness their overall position in the industry with a modest 20,000 seats servicing overseas markets. With Australian companies like Coles and iiNet already achieving results beyond expectations, including outperforming well established onshore divisions, it won’t be long before others follow suit.
Zimbabwe imports goods worth $2bn from SA (Fin24)
Zimbabwe imported goods worth more than US$2bn from South Africa as trade between the two countries reached $3.86bn in the 11 months to November 2015, latest figures show. South Africa remained Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner with trade between the countries amounting to $3.86bn in the period under review. According to Zimstats, Zimbabwe exported goods worth $1.7bn to its southern neighbour and imported goods valued at $2.1bn.
Zimbabwe: Ex-AfDB VP Sakala named new IDBZ boss (Southern Times)
Botswana’s dream of becoming a regional steel hub takes shape (Southern Times)
Mozambique: 2015 Article IV Consultation (IMF)
This box [Box 2] illustrates how renewed external shocks can explain most of the reserve losses in 2015 by causing higher BOP pressures than anticipated at the time of the fourth review of the PSI-supported program: Mozambique’s exports - having already fallen short of projections by $170m during the first half of 2015 - are performing worse on account of further declines in key commodity prices, especially for aluminum and natural gas but also affecting traditional exports. Coal companies have reacted to continued low coal prices by limiting export volume growth to contain their losses.
Foreign direct investment for megaprojects has come to a halt - halving during the first semester of 2015 - with finalization of key production agreements between the government and concessionaires taking longer than expected previously, delaying investments in coal infrastructure in LNG processing facilities. Aid disbursements have continued their longer-term downward trend in 2015, in contrast to fourth review projections which proved too optimistic in projecting a slight rebound.
Reduce imports, urges Central Bank Governor (Club of Mozambique)
Rwanda: Textile industry to recover as tax raised on imported clothes (The East African)
The Rwandan government plans to impose a 100% duty on imported clothing in order to protect the domestic textile industry. Import duty is set to rise this month from the current 35% on clothes imported from outside the EAC to 70%, and to 100% in July. The increased duty will make imported clothes more expensive and encourage the purchase of fabrics from the only textile mill in the country, L’Usine Textile du Rwanda (Utexrwa). Utexrwa has been pushing for protectionism in order to save its 30-year-old factory, valued at $75m; production has fallen steadily against the backdrop of increasing imports.
Businesses protest new Tanzania rules for expatriates (The East African)
The new work permit requirements for foreign nationals in Tanzania is causing unease in the region, with the East African Business Council calling on Dar to reconsider measures, which are contrary to the EAC Common Market Protocol. A notice issued last year from Tanzania’s Prime Minister’s office indicated that all foreigners wishing to work in the country would be required to obtain separate work and residence permits. The EABC said the move undermines the Common Market Protocol, which allows for free movement of people, goods and services in the bloc.
DRC: the true cost of mineral smuggling (ISS)
The ISS research found that smuggling networks are well coordinated between and within states, driven by the demands of international markets and comprised of a web of dangerous, intertwined groups that link the market chain from the mine to jewellery stores. These networks often operate in the formal and open sector as well as the illicit underworld; making them both invisible and opaque. Networks are made up of decentralised components that enjoy significant autonomy, but which ultimately answer to political elites and business moguls. The latter parties facilitate illicit trade by compromising formal state structures, state security measures and other trade regulations. For the networks, the control of flows and routes – including cross-border channels – is more important than control of territories. [The author: Sebastian Gatimu]
China explores Lake Victoria's transport potential (Global Post), Burundi crisis slows trade with Rwanda (The East African)
CEMAC: a stronger community for stronger and more inclusive growth (IMF)
This takes me to my third topic for today - the policies needed to secure strong and inclusive growth in CEMAC. With oil prices projected to remain low for long and oil reserves depleting, macroeconomic stability will hinge on smart fiscal policies and determined structural reforms to strengthen the business climate and regional integration. It will require the region to open up to its neighbours and tap into their markets to regain momentum. I see three priorities: spend better, collect more, and make the region work for you. Let me take each in turn. The good news is that non-oil revenue in CEMAC improved last year to about 13% of regional GDP. Yet there is scope to reach the regional indicative level of 17%. How? By reducing the widespread use of discretionary tax and customs exemptions within the region. These exemptions undermine overall state revenues and weaken governance. [The author: Christine Lagarde] [CEMAC www]
Fitch affirms West African Economic and Monetary Union's country ceiling at 'BBB-' (Reuters)
The support provided by France under its monetary arrangement with the WAEMU member countries significantly reduces the correlation of transfer and convertibility risk with regional sovereign risk. WAEMU countries must pool their foreign reserves at the regional Central Bank of West African states (BCEAO), which in turn deposits at least 50% of its foreign reserves into a dedicated account at the French Treasury. The latter then backs the convertibility of the CFA franc at the fixed rate of XAF655.957/EUR1, if needed through an unlimited overdraft of this account. This represents significant foreign currency liquidity support in case WAEMU member countries suffer a temporary shortage of foreign currency receipts.
The pains of traveling across West Africa (Daily Trust)
Our reporter went on a West Africa road trip from Nigeria to Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana. She recounts her experience on Seme, Hilla Condji and Aflao border crossings. Google map estimated the journey from Accra to Lagos to be about eight to 10 hours. This happened to be a gross underestimation as the journey lasted for 23 hours.
Ghana: Regulatory body for road transport - a necessary policy prescription (Modern Ghana)
The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Transport has realized the need for effective regulation in the transport sector and has proposed a Road Transport Authority (RTA) to improve services and performance in the sector. The findings of the CREW project echo the fragmented nature of the passenger transport sector due to unrestricted entry by private bus operators. The Ministry of Transport with the support from the EU engaged a consulting firm to advise the ministry on the relevance of the road transport authority and to provide the framework legislation of the same. Regrettably, almost three years since the report was submitted to the Ministry, it has not received the needed traction on the side of government. [The author: Ms Edayatu Lamptey]
Post-2015 international development agenda in the context of interlocking trade and financing in the LDCs (ICTSD/E15Initiative)
The report sequentially looks at recent economic and financial trends in the LDCs, documents of the UN and other international organisations related to the post- 2015 agenda, and policy options related to the deployment of specific financial instruments for improving the trade performance of the LDCs. [The author: Debapriya Bhattacharya]
Jonathan Fried, Permanent Representative of Canada to the WTO: 'After Nairobi, what lies ahead for world trade?' (WEF)
Trilateral cooperation: conference report (IGD)
The symposium, held in Pretoria, offered conceptual and empirical analyses on research conducted by a range of scholars on trilateral cooperation, including a presentation on key findings of a research report commissioned by the national treasury and co-authored by Mr. Daniel Chiwandamira on South Africa’s trilateral cooperation. The report thus gave a comprehensive review of all of South Africa’s trilateral cooperation between 2004 and 2014. This was one of the first public platforms in which the key findings were disseminated to a wider audience of practitioners and non-practitioners involved in development cooperation broadly, and trilateral cooperation specifically.
The World Bank's classification of countries by income (World Bank)
Final Official Development Assistance Figures in 2014 (OECD)
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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)
