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Building capacity to help Africa trade better

tralac’s Daily News selection

News

tralac’s Daily News selection

tralac’s Daily News selection

The selection: Wednesday, 24 February 2016

SADC Council of Ministers' meeting, 14-15 March: briefing note

African Economic Platform: inaugural meeting (14-16 April, Mauritius)

Extract: The inaugural platform will tackle amongst other issues the potential for the Continental Free Trade Area to boost intra-African trade and investments; the role of governments and the private sector in industrialization and an African commodity sector; bridging the skills deficit in the continent, measures to speed up free movement of people on the continent and the challenge of building a competitive African business and private sector in a fast changing continent and world. “The ultimate aim of the African Economic Platform is to catalyze economic transformation on the continent by seeking solutions to, among other things, economic integration, promoting greater intra-African trade, skills development and capacity building,” the AU Commission Chairperson said when making the announcement. [Twitter updates: @AfriEconPlatfrm]

Egypt’s turn to Africa: much more than goods (Financial Times)

Yet the true potential cannot be accounted for in terms of goods trade alone. It is an enigma that there is hardly a single investor in Egypt from sub-Saharan Africa. This needs to be rectified, given the sizeable pockets of liquidity and net worth across the continent, coupled with the compelling entrepreneurial skills we see in many of these markets. [The author, Karim Sadek, is managing director, transportation and logistics, at Qalaa Holdings]

ANSI announces Standards Alliance support for Trade Africa (ANSI)

The American National Standards Institute is pleased to announce an expansion of the Standards Alliance, ANSI’s public-private partnership with the US Agency for International Development that provides technical assistance to developing countries specifically related to implementation of the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement. The expanded scope of the Standards Alliance will allow ANSI to engage with five additional countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zambia. To date, ANSI has engaged in ten countries and regions under the Standards Alliance, including those in the EAC and SADC. The work plans in these regions have included successful activities such as:

Nouakchott Declaration on the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (AfDB)

Welcome the announcements by the governments of Mauritania, Indonesia, Senegal – as Senegalese President Macky Sall confirmed at the conference – and Seychelles to start the process of forming a dedicated National Multi-Stakeholder Group for the FiTI within 2016, implementing transparency in their fisheries sectors based on a participatory process. Urges states, business, civil society, international partners and providers of financial and technical assistance to take active steps in promoting the Fisheries Transparency Initiative and supporting its long-term sustainability. [Background]

Kenya: Finish old projects before budgeting for new ones, MPs told (Daily Nation)

Parliament’s experts on budget and economic policy have asked the national and county governments to concentrate on finishing ongoing development projects before new ones are started. In its report to MPs ahead of the processing of the Budget, the Parliamentary Budget Office has asked MPs to request project appraisals before a project is selected for inclusion in the allocation for the next financial year. It says that while the allocation to development grew 29 times between 2002 and 2015, the rate of completion has been very low. “It is estimated that as of June 2015, there were more than 1,000 projects which were classified as ongoing. The estimated cost to complete these projects is Sh3 trillion,” the PBO says. [Special Economic Zone at Mombasa to boost business (New Times)]

Boost for regional trade flow as DRC joins Comesa FTA (Business Daily)

The flow of goods on the Mombasa-Malaba corridor is set to ease further after the DRC joined the Comesa free trade area, signalling intention to eliminate time-consuming customs procedures. Comesa secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya said the DRC was committed to a phased tariff reduction scheme, starting with an instant tariff reduction of 40 per cent which would be followed by two equal cuts of 30 per cent. [Tanzania: We should remove barriers to trade, DRC envoy urges (IPPMedia)]

Zambia: ‘MFEZ earmarked for Kabwe’ (Daily Mail)

“KCCI plans to set up the first private sector-led MFEZ to revive the local economy of Kabwe and the entire Central Province, and to build the capacity of the local small and medium-scale entrepreneurs. The potential for industrialisation and value chains in Kabwe and the surrounding areas of Central Province is viable and a potential contributor to Zambia’s gross domestic product,” Central Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice chairperson Andrew Sinyangwe said in an interview on Thursday.

South Africa: International cooperation, trade and security cluster briefing (GCIS)

Extracts on SACU: South Africa assumed the position of Chair of the SACU in June 2015. Following a special meeting of the Council of Ministers and Heads of State and Government in November 2015, there is agreement to convene a Retreat in April 2016 to give strategic direction to the implementation of the six-point work programme. This will be followed by a Summit of SACU Heads of State and Government by June 2016. The Preferential Trade Agreement between SACU and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, has now been ratified by all member states and this agreement is expected to enter into force in the first semester of 2016. The agreement will offer new market access opportunities for South African exports and also strengthen our South-South Cooperation. [Trade and Industry undertakes investment and trade initiative to India (GCIS)]

Resilient: Africa bets are off (Financial Mail)

Relilient Reit is putting on ice its plans to build 10 shopping centres in Nigeria, placing it among a growing number of SA companies whose African bets haven’t quite panned out. The key reason for the move is that it is becoming more difficult for clothing retailers to trade profitably in Africa’s largest economy. De Beer says the sharp drop in the oil price and government’s subsequent attempts to limit the depreciation of the naira against the US dollar by, among other things, introducing wide-ranging import controls have left a number of the large clothing retailers without any stock.

Nam food production at its lowest (The Namibian)

Food production is at its lowest in Namibia with only 21% of national cereal requirements being met through local production. This is according to the 2015 crop prospects, food security and drought situation report released by the agriculture ministry. Economic Planning minister Tom Alweendo, who was speaking during the zero hunger review validation meeting just outside Okahandja, said there are risks involved when a country is so dependent on other countries to meet its food needs.

Kenya: To EACC: Follow the money to catch all these corrupt officials (Daily Nation)

The recent sackings, in one fell swoop, of Kenya Ports Authority’s top officials has left keen observers of the perennial shenanigans and power plays around the port of Mombasa scratching their heads. Methinks that we in the press have not adequately captured the true significance of what has taken place in Mombasa — an upsurge in raids on container freight stations, sensational discoveries of contraband in freight stations, and the high profile sackings at KPA. There are many long-term policy questions here. What must be done to improve security and regulation of the country’s maritime affairs? When will Kenya ever have a fully financed and efficiently operating coast guard?

Kenya inks agriculture, irrigation deal with Israel (Business Daily)

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have signed a deal on irrigation and agriculture that could boost the one million acre Galana-Kulalu project. Israel has played a key role at the Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme, having extended a Sh7 billion loan for the development of the 10,000-acre model farm. The agreement was signed Tuesday in Jerusalem, Israel, where Mr Kenyatta is on a three-day State visit.

Rwanda: RRA surpasses 2015/16 revenue collection target (New Times)

The tax body collected Rwf470.6bn against a target of Rwf460.3bn during the period, with tax revenue collection for July-December 2015 standing at Rwf463.5bn compared to Rwf455.0bn targeted. Rwf8.4bn was collected above projections, giving confidence RRA could meet its annual revenue targets. Overall, tax revenue grew by 13.9% during this period with non-tax revenue collections of Rwf7.1bn against a target of Rwf5.2bn and a surplus of almost Rwf1.9bn – an equivalent of 35.6% over the target.

Tanzania GDP rises in Q4, full year 2015 (Reuters)

Faster growth in the communications, mining and financial services sectors boosted Tanzania's economic growth at the end of 2015, the statistics office said on Tuesday. East Africa's second-biggest economy grew 7.1% year-on-year in the fourth quarter compared with 4.1% in the same period a year before, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Overall GDP growth for 2015 rose to 7.1% from 7.0% in the previous year. [NBS: Download]

Egypt's central bank widens exceptions on import restrictions (Ahram)

Egypt's central bank excluded manufacturing inputs, spare parts and computers from a measure requiring importers to provide 100% cash deposits at banks on their letters of credit, the bank said in a statement on Monday. The central bank raised in December the requirement from 50% in an attempt to boost domestic production against foreign competition and shore up limited resources of the hard currency.

Min Zhu: 'Small middle-income countries in Africa need to rethink their growth strategy' (Brookings)

The small middle-income countries in Africa represent a successful group that has experienced solid economic growth and sustained improvements across a broad range of development indicators. Recently, a moderation in growth has slowed the rise of their income towards advanced-economy levels. This has raised concerns that some of the countries may be caught in the so-called “middle-income trap.” The growth slowdown reflects both the weaker global conditions and domestic constraints. These countries thus need to adjust their policies to preserve stability, while at the same time advance on the next generation of structural reforms that will set the basis for long-term growth and a transition to advanced-economy status.

UN adviser calls for new mobile-industry partnership to achieve sustainable development (UN)

Speaking at the Mobile World Summit in Barcelona yesterday, David Nabarro, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s advisor on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, called on the mobile industry to “work with Governments and the international community to expand connectivity, lower barriers to access and ensure that tools and applications are developed with vulnerable communities in mind.”

Second-generation biofuel markets: state of play, trade and developing country perspectives (UNCTAD)

This report focuses on how these market opportunities can be capitalized on and how to promote technology transfer for developing countries interested in engaging in advanced biofuel markets for the attainment of the SDGs, and as an instrument to meet their commitments under COP21. By carrying out a non-exhaustive mapping of cellulosic ethanol projects and recent policy lessons around the globe, this report seeks to provide public and private practitioners with a macro-picture of the advanced biofuels sector, with a specific focus on cellulosic ethanol as of 2015-2016. The report concludes with five suggestions for the responsible development of the second-generation biofuels industry:

Move over China, India may be Africa's new mining frontier (M&G)

Diamond mining: Zim violates agreement with China (NewsDay)

Angola taken off money laundering blacklist (Macauhub)

Jim Yong Kim: 'Lessons from Vietnam in a slowing global economy' (World Bank)

2015 Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture: debate summary (UN)

New time series of global sub-national population estimates launched  (World Bank)


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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 350 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.

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