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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, 29 June 2016

Erastus Mwencha: ‘Sino-Africa cooperation: taking stock’ (The Herald)

Justin Yifu Lin: ‘Beyond aid and concessional borrowing: new ways of financing development in Africa’ (pdf, Bank of Tanzania)

‘The State of Economics, the State of the World’: download the presentations (World Bank)

Africa in the next 50 years: revisiting Africa’s economic planning (pdf, AfDB)

To gain deeper insight into the relevance of economic planning as a model of policy making and development in Africa, the Development Research Department seeks to undertake a series of studies on economic planning in Africa, drawing lessons from countries that have successfully used this type of model to accelerate economic transformation and development. One such country is South Korea. Experience from other East Asian countries and those in South Asia and Latin America, as well as African countries with successful planning experiences will also be used as examples. Drawing lessons from South Korea and other countries would therefore provide African policy makers with requisite knowledge to stir their economies onto a sustainable growth path for accelerated poverty reduction and inclusion. The specific roles and contributions of the consultant will cover the following tasks: [Download the EOI]

Six things to consider when doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa (The National Law Review)

Market data deficit makes it harder to do business-as-usual: For an investor, the data deficit in Africa makes decision-making harder. When it comes to market and research analysis, conducting diligence on prospective local partners, or assessing customers’ credit history, investors need to be aware that traditional means of data gathering and analysis are often unavailable, which requires alternative approaches. While the data gap is narrowing thanks to the increasing use of mobile communications to collect information, at this point, on-the-ground presence remains the best way to mitigate this problem. [The authors: Witney Schneidman, Adele Faure, Khadijah Robinson] [2015 Africa Country Policy and Institution Assessment Factsheet (World Bank)]

Brexit updates from Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Uganda and Tanzania:

Brexit: Mauritius will need to have a bilateral trade agreement with the UK, PM says (GoM)

Notwithstanding the scenario that will govern the EU/UK trade relations, Mauritius will need to have a bilateral trade agreement with the UK to safeguard its trade interests. In the event UK decides to maintain the EU commitments towards the Member States which have signed the Interim EPA, namely Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, there may not be any need for a fresh trade agreement. In the eventuality that the UK would wish a change from the current Interim EPA model, Mauritius would have to enter into consultations with the UK over a new agreement safeguarding our trade interests. This reply was given yesterday in the National Assembly by the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, to a Private Notice Question pertaining to measures that are now being taken to deal with the impact of BREXIT on Mauritius. He pointed out that the Technical Committee is also examining the five principal options of Economic Partnership which UK may choose as a model for negotiation during the two-year transition period.

South Africa: Western Cape outlines potential Brexit impact (GCIS)

The analysis was conducted by the [Western Cape's] Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s Economic Planning unit and the Department of Agriculture’s Business Planning and Strategy directorate. “There are several factors which will influence the economic impact of the UK’s exit. The vote could preceed two years of negotiations. A comprehensive analysis of the effect will only be clearer once the EU announces how it will relate to the UK, outside of the EU relationship,” said MEC Winde. Key observations and figures on trade with UK and EU highlighted in departments’ analysis include:

Rwanda: Brexit unlikely to affect economy - Rwangombwa (New Times)

Britain’s exit from European Union is unlikely to have any adverse impact on the Rwandan economy, central bank governor John Rwangombwa has said. “The biggest impact would be on our reserves, but the good thing is that we do not have much reserves in the currencies that have been hit such as the Pound Sterling, which has depreciated by about 10%,” he said. Rwanda’s reserves in the Pound Sterling is 1.1%, while with the Euro its only 0.2% of the total reserves. A majority of Rwanda’s reserves are in the US Dollar, at 83.2%. “Our trade with UK directly is about 2% of exports and 1% in imports,” Rwangombwa said. Indirectly, however, the impact could be with the EU as exports to the bloc stand at about 20%.

Brexit not likely to be catastrophic for Namibia (The Namibian)

The vote by Britain last week to leave the European Union is not likely to be catastrophic in the short term, given the declining role of the UK as Namibia's trading partner over the past five years, Namibia Equity Brokers said yesterday. Preliminary 2015 trade statistics from the Namibian Statistics Agency reflected how trade with the whole EU bloc has changed over the last five years, with exports dropping 38% to N$9,5 billion, and imports surging 62% to N$6,5 billion. “We note how trade with the UK has plummeted as exports fell 86% to N$893 million, and imports dropped 75% to N$413 million. Over the same period, exports to the EU (ex-UK) fell by 6% to N$8,6 billion, while imports surged 152% to N$6,2 billion,” the firm said yesterday. [Brexit: Uganda Shilling weakens against the dollar (Daily Monitor), Economic implications of Britain's EU exit for Tanzania (The Citizen)]

The UK's trade and investment relationship with Africa: 2016 (pdf, Office for National Statistics, UK)

Export competitiveness, regional trade integration could spur South Africa’s export growth (dti)

“It is imperative that South Africa leverages the devalued currency and the capabilities that exist to drive a national export effort with a particular focus on Africa. It is a well-documented fact that the economic and employment multipliers which arise from exports are significant. However our export basket remains too small and concentrated on primary products. But the fact that vehicle exports now account for 14.7% of exports demonstrates what can and must be done to ensure that value-added exports break SA’s dependence on commodity exports,” said Minister Rob Davies, speaking at the Manufacturing Indaba in Kempton Park.

Malawi Economic Monitor: absorbing shocks, building resilience (World Bank)

A recovery by Malawi’s external sector remains challenging in the context of a continued global economic slowdown; deteriorating commodity prices; and ongoing volatility in exchange rates. Malawi’s key trading partners have recently tended to record low levels of growth, with this being particularly significant in the case of South Africa, which is Malawi’s largest trade partner, accounting for 70% of external trade. Weak demand in South Africa has acted as a drag on Malawi’s regional export prospects. The decline in commodity prices has also had a mixed impact. [Blog, by Richard Record]

Lesotho: SA extends closing date of applications for Lesotho Special Permits (GCIS)

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has acceded to a request by the Lesotho authorities to extend the closing date of applications for Lesotho Special Permits to allow more time for Basotho nationals to apply for permits. The last day for applications was 30 June 2016. The date has now been extended by three months to 30 September 2016. The request for an extension was among the recommendations made at the Consultation of Directors-General of Home Affairs held in Maseru on 01 June 2016 to assess progress on the implementation of the LSP. By Monday, 27 June, close to 40 000 applications had been received.

Zimbabwe: Industrial base is degenerating - CZI (The Herald)

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries says between 75 and 80% of the mid-1990's industrial base has been destroyed. The country’s biggest and most influential industrial lobby group said the hard reality has to be confronted to revive the economy, adding industry can recover 5-10 percent annually if corrective measures are taken. This entails, CZI noted, Government and private sector dialogue and consensus on, but not limited to, finality on implementation of indigenisation, concluding the land issue, bankability of land title, confidence in State institutions and economic direction and reform of State entities. CZI president Busisa Moyo said the fact that only a fraction of the manufacturing base that existed around 1995 is still present is disturbing. More worrying, he said, is that output has started to fall sharply.

Zimbabwe: Zimra gets tough on illegal imports (The Herald)

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has threatened to seize cross border buses that transport goods banned under statutory instrument number 64 of 2016 into the country. The instrument tightens screws on imports of basic commodities without licences. The parastatal has since written to cross-border transporters warning them against carrying goods, which are restricted under the open general import licence.

Kenya: Agency raises the alarm over fake electronics hitting 80% (Daily Nation)

Eighty per cent of electronics sold in Kenya are counterfeit while 34% of medicines stocked in pharmacies are fake. This is as per a new survey by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) on the most counterfeited goods in the country. Manufacturers incur losses of Sh50 billion annually in sales revenue, the study found. Cosmetics are the third most counterfeited goods at 30%, followed by batteries at 28.9%. ACA has established the counterfeiting cartels use normal supply chains delivering with ease the fakes to formal retailers such as supermarkets and pharmacies which are popular with Kenyans.

Tanzania sees economic growth picking up to 7.4% in 2017 (Reuters)

The Tanzanian economy, East Africa's second-biggest, grew 7% last year. "The macroeconomic objectives of the government aim at achieving a real gross domestic product growth of 7.3% in 2016/17 based on the projected growth of 7.2% in 2016 and 7.4% in 2017, while maintaining inflation at single digits," the Bank of Tanzania said in its latest monetary policy statement (pdf). [Massive helium gas field found in Tanzania hailed]

India’s Trade Symposium: linking Indian MSMEs with global value chains (KNN India)

Commerce Secretary, Ms. Rita Teaotia, expressed the importance of linking Indian MSMEs with the global value chains to reverse the downward trend in India’s export. She said this while inaugurating the India’s Trade Symposium at the Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi, organised jointly by Commonwealth Secretariat, London, and FISME the leading federation of Indian MSMEs. The symposium being held on 29th and 30th June, 2016, is focused towards linking Indian MSMEs with the global value chains leveraging on the availability of inputs at competitive terms from the least developed countries of Asia and Africa. The symposium is being attended by over 35 international delegates from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, besides leading Indian businesses.

Duty-Free and Quota-Free Market Access for LDCs: draft ToR for clinical examination of its implementation (pdf, WTO)

At the Committee’s session on regional trade agreements, held on 16 March, the Chairperson provided an update on the implementation of the Committee’s decision that the Secretariat would carry out the clinical examination. During this session, the chairman reaffirmed that a written proposal from the LDC Group on the parameters of the secretariat study would help to move the process forward. The delegation of Benin, on behalf of the LDC Group, stated that the Group would submit draft terms of reference for the clinical examination at the July session of the Committee on Trade and Development. The clinical examination will be carried out on the basis of the following parameters:

Tackling illegal fishing in western Africa could create 300,000 jobs (The Guardian)

If governments in western Africa could end illegal fishing by foreign commercial vessels and build up national fleets and processing industries, they could generate billions of dollars in extra wealth and create around 300,000 jobs, according to a new report. The devastating, social, economic and human consequences of overfishing in western Africa’s coastal waters have been well documented but the report, Western Africa’s Missing Fish (pdf), by the Overseas Development Institute and Spanish investigative journalists porCausa, lays bare the extent of lost opportunities across countries including Senegal, Mauritania, Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

Human Capital Report 2016 (WEF)

The purpose of the report is to help countries assess the outcomes of past and present policies and investments in education and skills and provide guidance on how to prepare the workforce for the future demands of the global economy. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a cluster of countries, including Mauritius (76), Ghana (84), South Africa (88) and Zambia (90) score in the 60-70% range – placing them ahead of the Middle East and North Africa regional average and on a par with the lower half of the Latin American and East Asia and the Pacific regions. Other economies, however, such as Ethiopia (119) and Nigeria (127) face a range of human capital challenges, including low survival rates for basic education. With an overall average score of 55.44, the Sub-Saharan African region is the lowest-ranked region in the Index. In total, the Index covers 26 countries from the region.

Djibouti partners with China to develop local infrastructure and global trade routes (Oxford Business Group)

Sahel: Senior UN relief official warns of demographic challenges and growing humanitarian needs (UN)

Africa Carbon Forum: update (Rwanda Focus)

Business can deliver 60% of Paris pledges to cut emissions (UNFCCC)

TICAD: Africa urged to promote investor friendly policies to spur exports (New Times)


 

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