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Envoys meet over SADC roadmap
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi yesterday met ambassadors from SADC member-states to discuss modalities of developing an Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap ahead of the region’s Extraordinary Summit in Harare on April 30.
The roadmap will facilitate accelerated industrialisation through effective and practical interventions, while promoting and enabling the region to use its diverse resources to achieve economic and social development through beneficiation and value addition. Regional leaders resolved, during the 34th SADC Summit in Victoria Falls in August last year, to give impetus to beneficiation and value addition as part of a broader industrialisation strategy.
Speaking after the meeting, Minister Mumbengegwi said discussions were about “exchanging views” as the country prepares for the Extraordinary Summit. “We were directed to engage experts on industrialisation and we had a very constructive meeting as we went into fairly detailed discussions relating to arrangements being made for the Ministers responsible for regional integration who are going to prepare documentation for the Summit, then the issues relating to the meeting of Council of Ministers which will be held sometime next month and then the Summit itself.
“These Ministers should meet and look at the document relating to what our region can do to ensure that SADC has a roadmap on industrialisation.” Minister Mumbengegwi said ambassadors had offered “good suggestions” to ensure the planned meetings go well. “We did cover many areas of the procedures, arrangements, protocol, administrative and there were a lot of good suggestions to ensure the two Ministerial meetings go well and the Summit extraordinarily well,” he said. He said the Summit would primarily focus on industrialisation. “The idea being that Sadc needs an industrialisation roadmap, which can be implemented,” Minister Mumbengegwi said.
“You can talk of trade but you cannot trade if you do not have commodities to trade in. Therefore, the main idea behind this Summit is to see if we can come up with an identification of which country has got the best advantage to produce and process certain commodities, so that each SADC country is able to produce and process a number of commodities, which then can be used for our trade. This is best than to have a situation where a few have goods to trade in while others do not have anything and this is something we must work to do away with in the SADC region.”
Industrial development has been identified as one of the main drivers of integration in southern Africa as the region moves away from an economic path built on consumption and commodity exports onto a sustainable developmental path based on value addition and beneficiation. The Dean of African Diplomats and DRC Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Mwawapanga Mwanananga, said each country should have “comparative advantage in something.”
“It is going to be a give and take issue that means everybody brings something and gets something,” he said. “Our experts will tell us what needs to be done to ensure that the region becomes integrated economically. Another exciting issue that came out is the fact that the Summit is going to take place in Harare, which has more hospitality and accommodation, some of the challenges we had in Vic Falls.”
The challenge facing most countries in the SADC region is to transform their economies from being raw resource-dependent to ones that enjoy beneficiated products and are technology driven, dynamic and diversified.
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Women in business complain about red tape in EA borders
Concrete steps should be taken by the government and the Tanzania Women’s Chamber of Commerce (TWCC) to reduce red tape at Tanzania’s borders and enhance women’s cross border trade.
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Malawi to host COMESA-EAC-SADC trade meeting
Malawi is expected to host a four-day meeting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-East African Community-Southern Africa Development Community (COMESA-EAC-SADC) Tripartite Trade Negotiations Forum (TTNF) from February 21-24.
Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesperson Wiskes Nkombezi said Monday that the meeting would, among other things, finalise work on tariff offers, the rules of origin regime, provisions in the annex, main agreement on trade remedies and dispute settlement and movement of business persons.
“This meeting will be preceded by the fifth meeting of the Tripartite Technical Working Group on trade remedies and dispute settlement as well as the ninth meeting of the Tripartite Technical Working Group on rules of origin,” he said.
He added that the two meetings would be held concurrently from 16-19 February.
Nkombezi said 25 member states are expected to attend the meeting such as Botswana, Burundi, Angola, Comoros, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, Lesotho, Kenya, Libya, Namibia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Mauritius, Mozambique, Uganda, Swaziland, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the host Malawi.
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EAC leaders to discuss bloc's sustainable financing mechanism
Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) partner states are expected to meet in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, this week, for a summit that will, among others, discuss sustainable financing mechanisms for bloc’s activities.
In a statement, released yesterday, the Minister for EAC Affairs, Amb Valentine Rugwabiza, said the new financing mechanisms are expected to be presented as per a directive by the Summit in November 2013 that tasked the Council of Ministers to present a report on alternative financing mechanisms, including the option of one per cent of imports from outside EAC.
This is one of the ways the bloc is looking at to reduce overreliance on donor aid, where going by the 2014/15 Budget passed by the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), last year, out of the total budget of $124 million, member states contributed $41.9 million, while $73.2 million came from donors.
Other areas to be discussed include the creation of the One-Area Network that will ease telecommunication by residents in the five partner states.
“They will also discuss the extension of jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to cover Trade, Investment and Monetary Union matters; negotiations for the admission of South Sudan into the EAC; and initiation of a constitution-making process and a road map for the EAC Political Federation,” the minister said.
A statement from the EAC Secretariat also said the meeting will appoint new judges to the EACJ and designate a new principal judge of the court.
The meeting will also consider the appointment of a new deputy secretary-general from Burundi to replace Jean Claude Nsengiyumva, whose tenure of office will end in April.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to hand over the EAC chair to Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete.
The Summit was postponed from November, last year, as President Kikwete could not attend.
One-Area Network
Last year, the leaders of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda called for the speedy implementation of the One-Area Network for SMS, data and mobile financial services to facilitate roaming phone use within the region.
The directive, mooted at last November’s Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit in Nairobi, was effected earlier this year within the three countries and the initiative is set to be extended to the entire bloc.
According to media reports, EAC leaders are expected to adopt alternative means to raise $100 million for the Central Corridor (Tanzania and Burundi) and Northern Corridor (Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda).
Kenya’s foreign affairs minister Amina Mohamed is quoted as saying that the Northern Corridor infrastructure projects will run as they are under the larger EAC infrastructure programme, and the same will apply to the Central Corridor projects.
Mohamed said: “The ultimate objective of both projects is minimising delays in the movement of goods and people across the region, which is the main agenda for the EAC integration.”
Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan want to construct crude oil and petroleum products pipelines to ease reliance on petroleum tankers with the delays involved, while the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR), planned to run from Mombasa to Kigali, and also to South Sudan, has begun in Kenya.
In the central corridor, Tanzania and Burundi intend to construct a 200-kilometre SGR between Uvinza in Tanzania and Musongati in Burundi.
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Angola spends US$3.5 billion on rebuilding railway network
Reconstruction of the network of railways in Angola, destroyed by the country’s civil war, between 2005 and 2015 cost over US$3.5 billion, Angola’s Minister of Transport, Augusto da Silva Tomás said Monday.
The minister was speaking in Luau, formerly known as Teixeira de Sousa, where he opened the final stretch of the Benguela Railroad (CFB) in Moxico province, representing the return, 32 years later, of the train connection between the Atlantic Ocean (Lobito) and the interior of Angola, a route covering 1,344 kilometres.
Reconstruction of the three national lines built during the colonial period – along with CFB, the Luanda Railroad and the Moçâmedes Railroad – involved a public investment of US$3.5 billion in 2,612 kilometres of the network and construction of 151 railway stations from scratch.
The Angolan railway network, rebuilt by Chinese companies, was also used for the passage of a fibre optic cable, and involved acquisition of 42 locomotives, 248 carriages of various types and 263 wagons, added the minister.
The ceremony in Luau was attended by Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos, and the Heads of State of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila, and Zambia, Edgar Lungu Chagwa.
The two countries that border Angola in this region can use the rebuilt railway to export – along the CFB and through the port of Lobito – the ore extracted in the regions of Katanga (DRC) and the copper region (Zambia), with the future interconnection of the three railways.
Reconstruction of the CFB line, now fully completed, has cost nearly US$1.9 billion, crossing four Angolan provinces with seven million inhabitants.
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EU resumes aid to Zimbabwe
The European Union (EU) has given Zimbabwe €234m, it said on Monday, the first time the government has received EU aid since 2002.
The EU has gradually eased biting sanctions to encourage political reform, although it has kept an asset freeze and a travel ban on President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, as well as an arms embargo.
Since imposing the sanctions, the EU has shunned the government, and restricted its funding to charities.
The EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Philippe van Damme, said during a signing ceremony that the agreement opened a new chapter in the bloc’s relationship with Zimbabwe, but cautioned that new problems could still emerge in future.
"Does this mean that everything is suddenly sorted out and that we are entering a new honeymoon? No, we have cleared some obstacles in our partnership, and as in any partnership new problems may emerge, old problems may reappear," he said.
Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party has long demanded the complete removal of EU sanctions it denounces as illegal.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the aid marked a significant step towards improving ties but that sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his wife would hurt full normalisation.
"As long as the CE remains under sanctions, our relations remain poisoned and unproductive," he said.
Half of the money would be released this year, and the rest would be paid gradually until 2020, Mr van Damme said.
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Why Nairobi Is Ranked the 'Smartest City' in Africa
Nairobi is the most intelligent city in Africa according to a report released by The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). Nairobi has been listed among the 21 most intelligent cities for a second year in a row and the only African city to make the cut. However, Nairobi missed out on the top 7 position, losing out to three cities in the US, New Taipei City, Rio de Janeiro, Ipswich in Australia and Surrey in Canada.
Communities around the world nominate cities that have the greatest capacity to create opportunities and prosper in the broadband economy. According to the New-York based think tank and CNN, 5 factors make Nairobi an intelligent city:
1. Mobile Money Economy
Nairobi is the biggest city with the most subscribers of mobile money and has nearly 70 percent mobile phone penetration. The mobile money ecosystem has created related enterprises and products. The report gives an example of M-Shwari savings product which has a customer base of 7 million and facilitated $14 million in loans in the last two years after launch. ICF credits the growth of the mobile money economy to the liberalization of communications sector towards the late 90's.
2. Government policies
The government's deliberate move to make ICT one of the central pillars in the Vision 2030 development plan has been lauded as progressive. The government's emphasis on ICT has been one of the key factors tech multinationals have set up base in Nairobi. "If present trends continue and gain greater momentum, Nairobi may achieve the coveted goal of developed status sooner than anyone expects," states ICF.
3. Innovation ecosystem
The Intelligent Community Forum identifies iHub as the genesis of innovation hubs that have now spread across the country. The model has allowed tech entrepreneurs develop and launch innovative products, not just in Kenya but across Africa. Multinational organizations have found a working system to plug-in and partner with. ICF gives an example of how Microsoft has partnered with Intel and a school association to create devices bundled with educational apps and affordable data plans.
4. Partnerships between the private sector and Universities
Multinational and regional tech corporations are partnering with universities to equip practical skills of students. Huawei, Intel, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, Google, Samsung are some of the companies that have university programs.
5. Diversified economy
Nairobi accounts for 60 percent of Kenya's GDP with various sectors such as manufacturing, financial markets and tourism contributing to the economy of the country. "The beginning of a modern market economy has permitted private-sector and public-sector progress to take hold."
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Employers, trade unions urge EAC to fully implement common market protocol
Speaker Kidega promises Assembly’s support
Employers and the trade union fraternity in the region now want the EAC to speedily and fully implement the Common Market Protocol. The East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) and the East African Employers Association (EAEO) are taking the issue a notch higher by calling for the removal of all barriers in a bid to promote free movement of workers in the region.
The trade union body and the workers organisation yesterday called on the EALA Speaker, Rt. Hon Daniel F. Kidega in Arusha, Tanzania, to make a case for facilitation for freer movement.
The Chairperson of the East African Employers Association and Executive Director of the Federation of Uganda Employers, Rosemary Ssenabulya led the delegation. The Chairperson of the East African Trade Union Confederation, Mr. Francis Atwoli was represented by Mr. Wafula Wa Musamia, a Member of the Governing Council of the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) and General Secretary of the Kenya Quarry & Mine Workers Union. Also in attendance was the Executive Director of the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE), Dr. Aggrey Mlimuka and senior officials of EATUC. Present also was the Chair of EALA’s Legal Rules and Privileges Committee, Hon Peter Mathuki and Hon Bernard Mulengani. In his remarks, the Speaker of EALA stated that the hopes of the citizens of the region can and will be fulfilled by the full implementation of the Common Market.
“A lot was expected following the entry of the Common Market Protocol in July 2010. While the intentions are noble and good, the outcome in terms of implementation has not lived up to our expectations. More could have been done in terms of the provisions of the free movement of persons, labour, goods, services and capital. We are hoping as an Assembly that the Protocol shall be fully enforced”, Rt. Hon Kidega said. The Speaker urged the EATUC and EAEO to consider petitioning the Assembly over the matter, promising that EALA will seek to address the issue.
He pledged EALA’s support to the workers and promised to take collaboration with both organisations a notch higher in the short term and the long term.
On work permits, the Speaker remarked that some of the Partner States had entered into bilateral arrangements to reduce the existing permit fees and rooted for harmonisation on the part of all Partner States. “There is need to ensure consensus across board”, Rt. Hon Kidega said.
The Chairperson of the EAEO, Rosemary Ssenabuluya noted that employers in the region welcomed the integration process as it shores up factors of production and enables free movement across the Common Market and this was an impetus for economic growth and job creation in the region.
“Given the importance of free movement of labour, EATUC and EAEO have embarked on a process to provide joint recommendations to the governments of the EAC Partner States in order to speed up this process for the people of East Africa to feel the direct benefits of the regional integration, while respecting the need for a timeframe with adequate transitional mechanisms”, the EAEO Chair noted.
In his remarks, the General Secretary of the Kenya Quarry and Mine Workers Union, Wafula Wa Musamia lamented that the barriers to goods and free movement were hindering growth of the region.
He remarked that mobility of workers led to reallocation of competences across sectors thus promoting co-operation. He challenged Partner States to consider the abolition of work permits all together in the spirit of fostering integration.
Mr. Wa Musamia noted that Partner States were content to holding on to the issue of permits as a revenue collection base.
“There are important benefits to be reaped by increasing labour mobility and if anything, we should have work permits retained if and only it would boost data collection and not necessarily just as a revenue collection base”, he added.
The Executive Director of ATE, Dr. Aggrey Mlimuka, called for sustained effort in enhancing social dialogue and said it was important for the workers, employers and regional legislators to meet more frequently.
“In this regard, the idea of having a Memorandum of Understanding between the concerned parties (EATUC, EAEO and EALA) is more than welcome”, Dr. Mlimuka said. Hon Peter Mathuki stated that the workers and employers of the region formed a solid bloc in strengthening the implementation process.
“The stakeholders here today were fully involved in long hours of deliberations and discussions during the negotiations for the Common Market Protocol. We need to work more closely with them and to monitor the process as interested parties, Hon Mathuki stated.
The position paper states that although the Common Market Protocol was already in force, the expected benefits of the citizens were yet to fully materialise. Partner States are yet for example to amend (harmonise) their internal work permit procedures to make provision for equal treatment to EAC citizens, as provided for under Article 12 of the said Protocol.
The position paper further states that the process of obtaining work permits is still cumbersome and bureaucratic and that the regimes, categorizations and procedures within the Partner States vary. The procedures of obtaining a work permit remain complicated in each country and the regimes seem to be considered a means of immigration control, rather than a tool for labour market regulation and integration, the report reads in part. The paper further analyses and states discrepancies between the Common Market Protocol and the situation on the ground and such includes the work permit classes and procedures, issuing authorities, processing time, required documents and the fees charged. In recommendations issued jointly, EATUC and EAEO propose that the processing time for handling the work permits should be shortened to a maximum of 30 days and that priority of handling the work permits be given to applications from the EAC citizens. At the same time, the organisations are pushing for the standardisation of the required documents for work permit applications.
A centralised database should also be established at the EAC regional level to capture information concerning work permit issuance and migration flows in the region.
In the long term, EATUC and EAEO call for the establishment of the national One Stop centres on tripartite basis (Employers, representatives of relevant ministries and trade union centres) as the central issuing authorities of work permits.
In April 2013, at its sitting in Kigali, Rwanda, EALA moved a Motion for a Resolution called for the abolition of work permit fees in the spirit of enhancing free movement of workers. The Motion was moved by Hon Bernard Mulengani. The Resolution urged Partner States to respect the provisions of Article 10 of the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market on free movement of workers.The Resolution stated that Kenya and Rwanda had eliminated the work permit fees for citizens of the East African Community (EAC) Partner States wishing to work in those countries in line with East African community spirit to have a borderless EAC.
The Resolution further stated that the fees charged to obtain work permit vary from Partner State to another. In Tanzania the fees range from Tshs. 10,000 (approximately $ 6.34) for peasants to USD $3000 (for the miners). In Uganda, it ranges from USD $250 for missionaries up to USD $2500 for mining, while in Burundi from USD 60 for students to USD $84 for regular workers.
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International Cooperation, Trade and Security (ICTS) cluster post-SoNA media briefing: 15 February 2015
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Directors-General and Senior Managers
Ladies and gentlemen of the media
Welcome to the International Cooperation, Trade and Security (ICTS) cluster media briefing following the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday, 12 February 2015. The ICTS cluster is responsible for the implementation of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) (2014-2019) commitments, as articulated in Outcome 11 whose vision is to“Create a better South Africa, contribute to a better and safer Africa in a better world”. Government achieves its goals through the cluster system that ensure integration of inter-related functions to accelerate service delivery and improved coordination.
This media briefing aims at amplifying pronouncements made by President Zuma. He made the following observations:
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That South Arica remains committed to contribute towards building a better Africa. This is demonstrated by the continued support to peace and security and regional economic integration in the continent. This has resulted, amongst others, to a number of key outcomes such as the operationalization of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC), of which South Africa is a contributing and founding member.
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That the South African National Defence Force and SA Police Service continued to participate diligently in the conflict prevention and peacekeeping in the continent.
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South Africa also continued to support conflict resolution initiatives in Lesotho, Sri Lanka and South Sudan, led by the Deputy President.
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Economic cooperation with our BRICS partners was strengthened when the first two intergovernmental agreements were concluded on the occasion of the sixth BRICS Summit.
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These were the Agreements on the New Development Bank and the Treaty Establishing a Contingent Reserve Arrangement.
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Countries of the developed North remain important strategic partners for South Africa through which the country is able to advance its national and foreign policy.
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We have a valuable partnership with the European Union in amongst others, the infrastructure Investment Programme for South Africa valued at approximately R1.5 billion.
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The renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act beyond September 2015 and a pledge to support African-led peace initiatives in the continent are among the significant outcomes of the United States-Africa leadership Summit held in the US last year.
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At a multilateral level, 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations which brings into sharp focus the need to transform the UN Security Council and other international institutions.
These observations by President Zuma highlight the level of South Africa’s committed towards playing its part in creating a better South Africa by contributing to a better and safer Africa in a better world.
Towards the adoption of Agenda 2063
President Jacob Zuma led the South African delegation at the January 2015 African Union (AU) Summit that was held in Ethiopia. The Summit took further the discussions on Agenda 2063 which is premised on six aspirational pillars, which are:
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A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development;
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An Integrated Continent, politically united, based on the ideals of Pan Africanism;
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An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for Human Rights, Justice and the Rule of Law;
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A peaceful and secure Africa;
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An Africa with strong cultural values and ethics;
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An Africa where development is people-driven, relying particularly on the potential of women and youth; and
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The meeting was preceded by the June 2014 Summit of the AU which requested Member States to consult domestically to ascertain the views of all our people, across all sectors, on Agenda 2063.
In South Africa, the consultations with government departments as well as representatives of the Youth; Academics and Think-Tanks; Women; Civil Society; the Business sector and Parliament were convened. The stakeholders welcomed the African Union’s decision to develop Agenda 2063. Furthermore, the consultations confirmed the urgency with which the stakeholders want the African Union and its Member States to strengthen the implementation of policies aimed at improving the lives of ordinary Africans. Stakeholders emphasised that Africa should have the essential resources to attain the seven aspirations of Agenda 2063.
This Agenda 2063 should be informed by the integration agenda pursued in Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and should build on progress achieved in the RECs. AU Member States and the Regional Economic Communities are required to include the elements of Agenda 2063 Plan in their national and regional programmes.
Taking the South Africa story to the World
President Zuma attended the World Economic Forum in Davos beginning of this year, with a delegation comprised of Ministers and business leaders. This is an important Forum to promote and profile the South Africa’s attractiveness as an investment destination of choice. South Africa remains a competitive business and investment destination despite challenges in the global economy. Our message was well received by investors.
Strengthening relations with China
President Zuma led a successful State visit to the People’s Republic of China from 4-5 December 2014. The President also officially represented South Africa at the closing ceremony for the “Year of South Africa” 2014 in China and hand over the Year of China in South Africa 2015 to President Xi. The objective of the Year of South Africa in China 2014 is to profile South Africa’s economic, political and cultural achievements since the end of Apartheid.
The year will also seek to explore more business and developmental opportunities, and demonstrate South Africa’s innovations, and best practices in various areas such as science and technology, fashion, mining, arts, culture, tourism and greater people to people interaction.
Advancing South Africa’s National Priorities through Bilateral Engagements
A total number of 52 economic diplomacy and image building activities to promote national priorities have been undertaken. As an example, a MoU on economic and industrial cooperation was signed with Botswana which will provide a basis for advancing mutually beneficial economic cooperation and industrial development between the two countries. South Africa and Botswana will identify projects with the potential for the development of cross-border value-chains in key sectors including, transport, mining, agro-business, tourism, agriculture, leather and processing of natural resources among others.
Elections in the region
The year 2014 has been characterised by the consolidation of democracy in the SADC region. Since South Africa assumed the role as the Chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation in August 2014, South Africa led SADC Election Observation Mission (SEOM) in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Mauritius, and Zambia. These Election Observer Missions found that the elections were peaceful, free and fair, transparent, and credible, thus reflecting the will of the people.
Lesotho is expected to hold elections on 28 February, 2015. Our presence and representation at elections in the region is a testament to our collective support for democratic norms and practises.
An Economically Integrated Southern Africa
South Africa participated at the recently held meeting of Southern African Development Community (SADC) ICT Ministers in Malawi. The meeting considered new proposals to lower the Cost to Communicate in the region, focusing on roaming prices. The meeting adopted the Roam Like At Home programme, which will see the implementation of wholesale and retail glide paths effective from this year. The progressive glide path to cost-based roaming tariffs will be applied through fee reductions by a factor of 67%, 33% and 5% over the next three years. With these implemented reductions, consumers and citizens in the regions will connect to one another cheaper and this will also contribute to more affordable broadband access.
South Africa continues to broaden market integration through the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) negotiations among 26 countries of East and Southern Africa. The TFTA is expected to create a market of 625 million people, and a GDP of $1.2 trillion. We expect to take these negotiations further in a Summit of Heads of State scheduled for May 2015.
The country also received 3 892 172 foreign visitors arrivals, generating R20,3 billion revenue contribution to the economy. The tourism industry is a major contributor to South African economic growth, jobs and employment our citizens. This shows that on-going efforts to showcase our country as a tourist, investment and destination of choice are bearing much needed fruits during this low global economic outlook.
Tourism continues to contribute significantly to South Africa’s national economy. The industry’s contribution to GDP has expanded by 200% since 1990.Tourism directly represents 3% of our GDP and supports over 617 000 jobs. Including indirect impacts, tourism generated 9.7% of the GDP and supported over 1.4 million jobs last year.
There is great potential for further growth, as we move towards the goal of becoming one of the top 20 global tourist destinations by 2020.
Our marketing investment strikes a balance between growth in domestic, regional African and long-haul tourism; between traditional markets and emerging source markets; and between leisure, business and events tourism. In September, South African Tourism opened a country office in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to serve the growing markets of Latin America.
Domestic marketing campaigns are being stepped up to get more South Africans to visit their own country. Over the past five months, much work has gone into planning to improve infrastructure that will enhance our destination offerings to tourists, with quality assurance embedded. This includes more detailed planning for a new Tourism Incentive Programme which will be launched next year, as well as more focussed leveraging of our Expanded Public Works Programme investment in physical infrastructure and skills development.
South African contribution towards conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peace and security and post conflict reconstruction.
South African government will continue to contribute to peace keeping on the continent through various peace keeping missions. Our involvement in peacekeeping missions is premised on our appreciation that Africa’s economic development depends on the substance of peace and stability. The SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF) contribution to peace improves the lives of fellow Africans and the continent in general, guided by the objective of contributing to peace and stability on the Continent.
The SANDF continued to participate in the United Nations Peace Support Operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the United Nations/African Union Hybrid mission in Sudan.
The SANDF also continues to provide Military Training Assistance to other Armed Forces in the continent. This Military Training Assistance is being provided to the DRC in which combat and combat support capabilities have been established. Elements of these forces have proven their combat skills along with other SADC forces during offensive operations of the Force Intervention Brigade against the M23 rebels. The SANDF has also provided Military Assistance to Angola and Namibia for Naval Control and Guidance of Shipping.
Recently the SANDF became part of the newly established African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crisis which is an Interim Mechanism to assist in peace and security in the continent until such time that the African Standby Force is ready.
Maritime Security continues to be another key operation for the SANDF in the east coast of the continent. The SANDF successfully deployed two ships, SAS MAKHANDA and SAS ISAAC DYOBHA in the Mozambican channel during the operation since 2011. This operation has served as a deterrent in the Mozambique Channel.
Disaster Management in Africa
SANDF continues to provide relief domestically and internationally. This year, the SANDF was involved in the operation to assist the people of Mozambique in disaster relief efforts after floods had threatened the survival and lives of Mozambicans.
The South African National Defence Force successfully repatriated the last remaining mortal remains of the South African who perished in tragic accident the Lagos, Nigeria church. This was the largest evacuation of South Africa’s citizens carried out by the South African National Defence Force.
A Sustainable Developed and Economically Integrated Africa
The first draft of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) implementation and Coordination Strategy for South Africa is drawn up by the Sub-Committee of Directors General on NEPAD.
The Partnership funding/commitments linked-aligned/matched to Presidential Infrastructure Championship Initiative: The draft Global Review has been released to AU Member States for consultations on the document.
A SA position paper was developed for the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) highlighting key elements reflected in the draft considered by the SADC Summit. This is aimed at advancing a developmental co-operation and integration so as to achieve industrial development, infrastructure development and market integration within SADC.
SADC is developing an industrial work programme to promote the development of regional value chains and complementarities between Member States.
An Equitable and Just System of Global Governance
We made our contribution towards an equitable and just system by participating at the following meetings:
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The United Nations’ Economic and Social Council High-level Segment, Annual Ministerial Review and Ministerial High-level Political Forum took place from 7 to 11 July 2014, in New York.
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The Trade and Development Board (TDB) 61st Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), held in Geneva from 15 to 26 September 2014.
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The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Finance (ICESDF), which met from 4 to 8 August 2014.
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Participated and advanced SA’s positions during the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council held in Geneva, 8 to 26 September 2014.
Strong, Mutually Beneficial South-South cooperation
We remain committed to strengthening South-South cooperation. Our contribution was also recognised in the second half of 2014. For an example;
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South Africa was endorsed at the Chairperson of The Group of 77 (G77) for 2015 at a Ministerial meeting that was held in New York on 19 September 2014,
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We attended the Sixth BRICS Summit held in Fortaleza and Brasilia from 15 to 16 July 2014.
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We participated at the 23rd India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Focal Point meeting held in New York on 24 September 2014.
National Obligations fulfilled towards the establishment of the BRICS bank
The key outcome of the VI BRICS Summit was the signing of the first BRICS inter-governmental agreements, such as the Agreement on the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Treaty on the establishment of a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). A decision was reached that headquarters of the NDB would be in Shanghai and that its Africa Regional Centre should be established concurrently with headquarters in South Africa.
In addition, two Memoranda of Understanding were concluded, i.e. on Cooperation among BRICS Export Credit Insurance Agencies and on Innovation among the BRICS Inter-Bank Cooperation Mechanism Parties. Subsequently a BRICS Sherpas’ meeting took place on 21 August 2014 to discuss the operationalisation of the BRICS New Development Bank and the Africa Regional Centre as directed by BRICS Leaders at the VI BRICS Summit.
South Africa continues to pursue value-added trade under the BRICS Forum to increase exports of value-added products. An example of this is the Midterm Meeting of the BRICS Business Council that took place from 9-10 February 2015 in Brasilia, Brazil. The BRICS Business Council was officially established during the 5th BRICS Summit held in Durban, in March 2013. The Council aims to create a platform that will strengthen and promote economic, trade, business and investment ties among the business communities of the BRICS countries.
The Midterm Meeting serves as an opportunity to monitor developments towards adopting a Second Annual Report, covering the 2014-2015 period, at the Seventh BRICS Summit which will take place in Ufa, Russia in July 2015. During the Midterm Meeting, the Working Groups on Energy and Green Economy; Manufacturing; Skills Development; Financial Services and Infrastructure reported their advancements and proposals to the BRICS Business Council.
The Business Council made advancements on proposals related to a favourable business environment, trade in local currencies, business travel, trade facilitation, logistics and connectivity, technical standards, investment ties and the New Development Bank. At the meeting new working groups on Agri-business as well as Deregulation and Investment Support were also adopted.
The Midterm Meeting was followed by three roundtable sessions with representatives of the Brazilian government on issues raised by the BRICS Business Council.
Beneficial Relations with Strategic Formations of the North
As at September 2014, grants amounting to R304 million were received through the Reconstruction and Development Programme fund account from the Development Partners.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) aligned to IPAP beneficial to SA’s interests from developed countries is increasing, Total investment as at end of September 2014 was R26.8 billion.
South Africa continues to enhance economic relations with countries of the North. Engagements are continuing with the US to advocate for the extension of AGOA with the inclusion of South Africa and for a sufficient period to allow for meaningful investment in view of the mutually beneficial nature of AGOA which not only benefits South Africa but also American companies based in South Africa.
Conclusion
South Africa’s foreign policy remains entrenched within the policy of Ubuntu, strengthening bilateral growth with international partners for investment and meeting its own developmental goals.
South Africa will be hosting the African Union Summit in June as well as the Forum for Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) in November.
Today, we can confidently say that the Cluster has achieved notable progress in meeting its outcome
Thank you.
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Proponents of Africa economic growth chided
The CEO Roundtable of Tanzania has criticised proponents of ‘rising African economic growth’, saying they are giving unjustifiable reasons because African countries are still in a marginal position of the global economy.
The forum’s chairman Ali Mufuruki said those who praise Africa for robust economic growth under the slogan ‘Africa is rising’ are just creating an illusion because Africa is still facing problems such as alarmingly low education levels, lack of access to reliable energy, inefficient transport and logistics infrastructure to encourage trade, inadequate technological advancements for maximising agricultural production and depletion of Africa’s biodiversity at the hands of corruption.
The members of CEO Roundtable had an opportunity of contributing to the speech delivered by Mr Mufuruki at an international forum (TeDxEuston stage) on Friday in London.
“Studies show that in most African countries, levels of poverty have hardly changed the ‘rising’ years and inequality, the gap between the poor and the rich has widened,” said Mr Mufuruki. According to him, Tanzania and other African countries do not know the real value of their resources they’re are sitting on, including the emerging gas and oil bonanza.
“The sabotage of African economies by Africans is on the rise, be it through direct theft. Corruption or wars that never seem to end, our capacity to destroy our treasures and manpower is growing faster than our capacity to build them.”
Mr Mufuruki has also raised a question on the justification of Africa rising because China’s is currently growing at 8 per cent, while Africa is at between 6 and 7 per cent growth rate despite the fact that the former has more population than the sub-Saharan African countries.
The members of CEOs forum have supported his arguments calling for the government to take concrete action on fighting economic sabotage and corruption.
One of them, the executive director of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, Mr Godfrey Simbeye, said it was a pity to glorify a GDP growth rate of 7 per cent because to have a sustainable economic growth rate Tanzania and other African nations must achieve a growth of 15 per cent.
The managing director of Rex Attorneys, Dr Alex Nguluma, supported that Tanzania and other African countries were still suffering from poor transport and communications infrastructure comparing with the emerging economies of Asian countries.
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Mobile survey platform to give farmers data to boost yields
About one million farmers in Africa will benefit from a global mobile survey platform that will give them access to data in emerging markets by way of SMS or voice recording, including market prices and standards requirements.
GeoPoll, the global mobile survey platform, has partnered with Control Union, a global leader in agricultural certification, food safety and sustainability to boost agricultural productivity in Africa.
“Accessing information from the most remote farming communities will no longer be a barrier when asking or answering consumer questions,” said Johan Maris, the managing director of Control Union.
For a start, the project will benefit countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana, before expanding to key markets in Asia including Indonesia and the Philippines.
Target value chains include coffee, cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rice, tea, tobacco and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Farmers across Africa have remained poor due to lack of information on how to add value to their crops and where to sell their produce. Value addition tends to occur mainly outside of Africa.
In the Ugandan Nile perch trade, for example, nearly 70 per cent of the final sale value is added outside of Africa in the retail stages of the value chain. Of the 30 per cent value accrued in Africa, the largest portion is retained by foreign-owned processing plants based in Uganda.
This leaves only 10 per cent to be divided between factory agents, fishermen and the many middle-men along the value chain, a study by Nordic Africa Institute shows.
The lack of access to international markets has left farmers in the hands of brokers, local manufacturers and exporters who determine the farm gate price.
“Farmers can be assisted in meeting these challenges through extension services, training in good agricultural techniques and capacity development programmes,” said John Mutunga, chief executive of the Kenya National Farmers’ Federation. “They also need access to finances that will enable them to buy seeds, fertilisers and machinery.”
The mobile survey platform opens at a time when African countries are focusing on emerging markets as a destination for agricultural produce, given the strict standards required by European markets.
European Union governments have stepped up efforts to test fresh produce for the presence of pesticides such as dimethoate and other organophosphate chemicals blamed for the rise in cancer cases in Europe and Africa.
Last year, the EU market threatened to lock Kenya out of its market, claiming that horticultural produce from the country had pesticide residues above the recommended levels.
“The horticultural industry is upgrading its systems to enhance compliance with EU standards,” said Jane Ngige, CEO of the Kenya Flower Council.
» Press release: GeoPoll and Control Union Use Mobile Surveys to Engage with Agricultural Industry
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Incentives to draw foreign investors to Rwanda
A new code to make Rwanda the destination of choice for capital flows in the region has passed through the lower house of Parliament and now awaits a decision from the upper chamber to become law.
The code will introduce new fiscal incentives for investors.
“The strategy is to get investors to put their money in the country. As a result they will contribute in many other ways to the economy,” said Francis Gatare, the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
The incentives include duty free importation of machinery and raw materials, and a 15 per cent duty on intermediate goods and 25 per cent on finished products.
The incentives will bring Rwanda closer to the EAC common external tariffs.
The code provides tax exemptions on industrial spare parts, and a 100 per cent write-off on research and development costs. Investors are also allowed duty free importation of one vehicle, which can be depreciated over two and a half years.
The code also halves the corporate income tax from 30 per cent to 15 per cent for energy companies producing up to 25 MW of power. In the other EAC countries, corporate tax is 30 per cent.
Investors in ICT and companies that export more than 50 per cent of their total production will enjoy reduced corporate tax as well as unhindered repatriation of capital and profits.
The investment code has received mixed reactions. Rwanda Revenue Authority Commissioner General Richard Tusabe said he had reservations about the tax waiver on capital gains. He said the tax should have been reduced from the present 30 per cent to 15 per cent, as it is in Uganda.
“A zero per cent waiver is giving away too much. If you are selling your ownership in a company and you are not taxed at all, it doesn’t add up; it’s the gain that is taxed, not profit. Why should the government walk away empty handed?” he asked.
Last month, Kenya started charging a capital gains tax of five per cent.
Mr Gatare defended the decision as well as a seven-year tax holiday on profit, saying many companies had found a way around the tax by declaring losses.
“This is intended to make Rwanda more competitive. We have provided incentives, which will make it a lot more efficient, cost effective and more profitable to do business in Rwanda,” he said.
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SA retail giant Massmart opens Nairobi outlet in May
South African retail giant, Massmart, is expected to make its entry in Kenya this May with the opening of the Sh23 billion Garden City shopping mall on Thika Road.
Interestingly, the supermarket will be sharing a roof with Kenyan retail heavyweight, Nakumatt, ushering in a fresh round of competition.
Two other local retail chains, Naivas and Uchumi, are located just a stone’s throw away from Garden City across the busy 12-lane highway.
Garden City will be joining Mountain Mall and Thika Road Mall, which are almost within sight of each other along the key city road.
Already, Nakumatt is running at Thika Road Mall, located just past Safari Park hotel. Listed retailer, Uchumi is right next to Mountain Mall, from where Naivas is doing business.
Massmart, whose biggest shareholder is US retail colossus Walmart, will be trading for its first time in Kenya.
This will mark its successful entry into Kenya after failed attempts in the past. Last year, Massmart’s talks to acquire a stake in Naivas failed, pushing it to consider setting up shop from scratch.
112 BOOKINGS
The Sh23 billion Garden City mall located on Nairobi’s Thika Road, about nine kilometres from the city centre, would open for business in May, this year, with at least 112 bookings already done.
The 50,000-square-metre mall, whose construction began less than two years ago, will comprise retail, office and residential units, ushering in the entry of major brands such as Massmart.
It will also house Nakumatt, Tile & Carpet Centre, Victoria Courts, coffee shops as well as restaurants.
According to Michael Turner, managing director of Actis, which is the developer, the first phase comprising of 33,000 square metres of space, will be opened on May 28.
“We are confident that the scale and quality of this project is something that hasn’t been seen before in East Africa. We are very proud of what we have built so far, and excited to open our doors in May,” Mr Turner noted.
Massmart is marking its entry into Kenya just about the same time when French retailers, Carrefour has also booked space in the upcoming Two Rivers mall, in Runda.
The retail giants have trained their eyes on a fast growing middle class segment in Kenya.
Construction work on Two Rivers mall is to be completed later this year paving the way for entry of Carrefour, a Majid Al-Futtaim-owned retailer.
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New World Bank Group push to revive agriculture, avert hunger for over one million people at risk in Ebola-hit countries
In a concerted push to revive agriculture and avert hunger in Ebola-hit countries, the World Bank Group has mobilized up to $15 million in emergency financing to provide a record 10,500 tons of maize and rice seed to over 200,000 farmers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in time for the April planting season.
More than one million people could go hungry unless they have reliable access to food and emergency measures are taken immediately to safeguard crop and livestock production.
A World Bank Group report shows that the Ebola crisis has taken a heavy toll on the economies in all three countries, and the agriculture and food sectors have been particularly hard hit. The funds, in the form of grants financed by the International Development Association (IDA) and the Ebola Recovery and Reconstruction Trust Fund will also be used to purchase fertilizer required to multiply foundation seed to meet tight planting season deadlines and help lay the foundations for sustained recovery.
“Agriculture is the lifeline of the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa. “By speeding supplies of urgently needed seeds of major food crops to communities in West Africa, we are jump starting recovery in rural areas and preventing the looming specter of hunger in the countries hardest hit by Ebola.”
According to the latest estimates by FAO and the World Food Programme, in Guinea, 230,000 people are food insecure and that number could rise to more than 470,000 by March 2015. Similarly, 170,000 people in Liberia are food insecure and absent interventions, the number of hungry people could top 300,000. Ebola’s onset coincided with the cropping and harvesting periods, and rural flight led to large-scale shortages of farm labor. In Sierra Leone, over 120,000 people are food insecure and their numbers could climb to more than 280,000. Kailahun, an epicenter of the epidemic, is the country’s most fertile, food-producing area.
The World Bank Group’s push marks an unprecedented effort through one of its regional programs, the ongoing West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) that spans 13 West African countries, including the three Ebola-hit countries. With support from this program, country teams fanned out and identified seed suppliers in neighboring countries. Advance preparations ahead of the planting season include elaborate plans to source seeds from eight countries, completion of needs assessments, sourcing of seed suppliers, collaboration with AfricaRice (a CGIAR Center) to multiply rice foundation seed, and organizing in-country distribution of seeds and fertilizers to farmers in a timely manner.
To enable free movement of seed-laden trucks, travel routes have been pre-arranged and the intergovernmental Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has authorized customs and border control authorities to let the trucks pass without difficulty. Truck movement will be monitored in real time through a short messaging system (SMS) especially at border check points.
Farming is essentially a social activity, and movement restrictions have severely dented farmers’ ability to harvest crops, market produce, prepare fields for planting and maintain a steady supply of seed for planting in the next season. Reports show that desperate farming families have resorted to eating stored seed originally intended for use in the next cropping cycle. Rural flight has caused harvest-ready crops to wither in the fields.
“At its best, agriculture is a risky enterprise and timely availability of critical inputs such as seed, fertilizer, irrigation and extension services are vital for securing a good harvest,” said Juergen Voegele, Senior Director of the World Bank Group’s Agriculture Global Practice. “While Ebola has had devastating economic consequences in affected countries, we are confident that focused efforts on reviving agriculture will not only help feed people, unleash economic growth and strengthen food production capabilities but also arrest the precipitous deprivation and deepened poverty caused by the disease.”
» Brief: Reviving Agriculture in Ebola-hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
The World Bank Group’s Response to Ebola
The World Bank Group has mobilized about $1 billion in financing for the countries hardest hit by the Ebola crisis. This includes $518 million from IDA, the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, to provide treatment and care, contain and prevent the spread of infections, help communities cope with the economic impact of the crisis, and improve public health systems; at least $450 million from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, to enable trade, investment and employment.
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Closing thematic debate, UN Assembly President urges better funding for post-2015 development
The creation of a coherent and synergistic strategy that marries the post-2015 development agenda, new methods of financing and efforts to reach a new climate change agreement is key if the international community intends to make strides on securing a sustainable future for all, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, declared on 10 February 2015.
Delivering the closing remarks to a High-Level Thematic Debate on Means of Implementation for a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda, Mr. Kutesa reiterated participants’ calls for “a fair, rules-based international trading regime” which, he said, would help fuel investments for development into the near-future.
Mr. Kutesa had underscored the need for better financing in order to fully satisfy the breadth and scope of the new UN development agenda at the High-Level Debate’s opening on 9 February and, addressing delegates earlier today, he reiterated that “a huge financing gap for infrastructure” remained despite sufficient global liquidity.
Nonetheless, he added, proposals had been made on how to channel the necessary funding in the most valuable manner and, in particular, from “all sources” – public and private, domestic and international.
Moreover, the General Assembly President reminded participants about “the important develop-ment role of parliaments” in determining budgets and monitoring policy implementation.
This year marks the wrap-up of the ground-breaking UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which world leaders agreed on 15 years ago. There has been significant progress in meeting the targets. For example, global poverty has been halved well ahead of the 2015 deadline; in developing countries, 90 per cent of children now enjoy primary education; the number of people lacking access to improved drinking water has halved, and the fight against malaria and tuberculosis has shown results, according to the UN.
But challenges persist, and with the deadline of the MDGs set for the end of this year, the UN will craft a new set of targets known as sustainable development goals (SDGs). The new agenda will aim to address a raft lingering and emerging challenges, such as the fact that globally, 73 million young people are looking for work and many more are trapped in exploitative jobs.
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BRICS to set up $100bn green fund
The BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is debating setting up a green fund under the New Development Bank to support green projects and technologies to promote sustainable development.
BRICS environmental ministers will discuss the fund during a meeting in April in Russia when the green economy and climate change will be high on the agenda, according to Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi (pictured).
Mr. Donskoi, currently on a visit to India, said on Friday: “During the BRICS meeting of environment ministers, we have chosen specially the topic of development of green economy… resolution of environmental problems and competitiveness of business in the context of green economy.”
The BRICS countries have agreed that the New Development Bank will be based in China with assets of $100 billion as a rival the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Donskoi participated in the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) and also held discussions with his Indian counterpart Prakash Javadekar.
According to Donskoi, the meeting in Moscow will see a key document published which will identify future projects and plans to implement them.
Donskoi said: “We discussed the draft of the document and we gave it to the Indian Environment Minister. We are now expecting further discussions on this with our Indian colleagues.”
Addressing the upcoming global climate summit in Paris scheduled for this December, Donskoi said that Russia is hopeful of signing an “all-inclusive agreement” in a differentiated manner.
“The main topic of the discussion on our part will be the necessity of signing an all-inclusive agreement which would fix differentiated approaches of different countries and the need of working in accordance with each country’s responsibility for fulfilling these conventions,” he added.
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Flower farmers wait for export tax refund
Cut flower exporters are likely to get refunds up to Sh300 million for tax incurred within the European Union between October 1 and December 24 when the duty-free regime had lapsed.
Kenya Flower Council chairman Richard Fox said the lobby group is hopeful that the government will refund the money.
“We are discussing with the government over this [tax refunds] and we hope there will be a positive outcome,” he said yesterday in Naivasha.
Cut flowers exports attracted duty of between five per cent and 8.5 per cent during the three months, which KFC estimated at Sh100 million monthly.
Exporters shouldered the tax burden due to lack of a deal between the East African Community and EU to renew the Economic Partnership Agreement.
EU ambassador to Kenya Lodewijk Briët said it is impossible for the trade bloc to refund the taxes to Kenyan fresh produce exporters because this was EAC’s fault in delaying the EPA renewal.
“It wouldn’t be quite right if we are blamed for taxes that Kenya has incurred. The tax was reinstated because the EAC delayed to ratify the EPAs,” he said.
As a result, the EU classified Kenya among countries under the General System of Preference which are considered middle income economies.
The EU remains the largest market for Kenya, consuming an estimated 80 per cent of its fresh agricultural produce exports. Kenya accounted for 30 per cent of EU’s imports of roses in 2014, made up, according to Briët.
EU said the EAC must improve competitiveness against low-cost producers such as Ecuador and Colombia, which are clawing EU market shares even without preferences.
“The private sector needs to adjust and adopt new approaches to foster competitiveness and the EAC governments have to implement sound policies,” Briët said.
He said the country has since earned back its duty-free, quota-free access to the EU, eliminating uncertainty among exporters.
“However, Kenya might be reverted back to the GSP in September 2016, if the EAC fails to sign the agreement in June,” he said.
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Intra-regional migration within SADC and implications for International Migration policy
Introductory Remarks by Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba for Third Roundtable on International Migration: Intra-regional migration within SADC and implications for International Migration policy, February 6th, 2015
Good morning, I would like to thank you all for joining us today. We have represented here, participants from the academy (Wits), media, research institutions (the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, South African Institute of Race Relations, Centre for Development and Enterprise); organized labour (COSATU), organized business (Business Unity SA), other government departments (Departments of International Relations & Cooperation, Economic Development and Labour), and foreign governments (the State of Qatar). You are all welcome, and we appreciate your participation here as we continue our series of expert roundtables exploring various important aspects of international migration.
Background the immigration policy review process
Changes to immigration regulations came into effect on May 26, 2014, but these were to address glaring weaknesses and needs for rationalization. This was not a full scale policy update.
SA last adopted an International Migration policy in 1999, there have been significant changes in the landscape since then.
We have accordingly identified the need for a full policy review and decided to widen policy development efforts in order to take account of the changed landscape since 1999 which has placed before us new challenges that require that, instead of tinkering with the policy process, we overhaul it and comprehensively review it;
The management of international migration (IM) is part of DHA’s core mandate. We are mandated to manage it in a way which maximizes our development, enhances our security, and ensures the fulfilment of our constitutional and international obligations.
The notion of “management” imposes the need for a paradigm shift away from the narrow, reactive approach with its over-emphasis on regulation and, where possible, attempting to combat an obviously inevitable process, towards a more proactive, engaging approach that seeks to harness this process in order to realise its optimal socio-economic benefits.
Proper management seeks not only to harness the positive forces and consequence of international migration, but it also is underpinned by:
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a proactive approach that regards immigrants as a potential for development whilst taking into consideration national security concerns;
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harnessing multi-stakeholder involvement between the different government departments as well as between the different tiers of government;
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harnessing government and non-governmental stakeholders, including the broader community, towards the common objective of managing international migration, particularly immigration, in the national interest that is clearly defined, common understood and shared;
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harnessing regional, continental and international stakeholders in order to share the risks, benefits as well as responsibilities, and;
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ensuring through all of this that public support, trust and confidence is won which would make ordinary people recognise the positive effects of immigration not only in relation to our socio-economic development, but towards what is often neglected, and that is, social cohesion.
Thus we emphasize that international migration is something to be managed thoughtfully, not limited instinctively.
This inherently involves balancing trade-offs and competing interests. It is impossible to please everyone. We hope that throughout the policy development process, stakeholders will trust that we are open to all suggestions on how to best maximize the aforementioned interests, bearing in mind the balancing act we must perform.
IM is a complex issue with important and far-ranging implications. Thus it is critical that the policy development process be robust and thorough, and incorporate broad and diverse input and perspectives from academics, thought leaders, practitioners, stakeholders such as business and labour as well as ordinary citizens.
Through the process of roundtables leading to a colloquium, we hope to widen our understanding of all the perspectives and issues, to enrich the policy development process.
These roundtables are useful to ensure we are asking all of the right questions. At the colloquium we will start to see initial recommendations from the papers presented; and these will all feed into the policy development process thereafter. We hope to have a policy on International Migration adopted by cabinet by the end of 2015/16.
Overview of the situation: intra-regional migration within SADC
South Africa values its connectedness with the world, and the rest of the African continent in particular. International migration is a key aspect of this connectedness.
We see our national development as being inextricably linked to regional development, and greater economic linkages with SADC and the continent is a key part of our economic development plans.
South Africa, in line with the African Union, shares the view that African states should work towards progressively freer movement of citizens within regions, to eventually reach the point of free movement of Africans across the continent.
Currently, we have individual agreements with most SADC countries which waive visas for short-term visits to South Africa, for up to 90 days in a calendar year.
Of course, SADC and African citizens are also able to live, study, work and invest in SA using our mainstream visas and permits.
The main challenge we face regarding intra-regional migration within SADC is around irregular migration. We receive high numbers of economic migrants, which in this context refers to irregular migrants from SADC and beyond, who come to SA for primarily economic reasons, but outside of the regular immigration process. These are primarily low-skilled job seekers, as well as small/micro-entrepreneurs, who are not catered for by our mainstream visa regime.
Irregular migration presents a challenge for all governments. Not knowing who is in your territory, undermines the state’s fundamental responsibility to provide effective administration:
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It presents problems of revenue collection, planning, service provision, labour market disruption, and security;
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Attempts to obtain South African citizenship through fraud and corruption undermines the integrity of our identity systems, including our NPR, the credibility of our travel documents, and our ease of travel abroad;
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It undermines our ability to keep foreign nationals in our country safe, as they fear interaction with authorities lest they be deported, and are vulnerable to criminals and corrupt officials; and
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It poses an ever-present threat of skirmishes and conflicts, which can get violent, between nationals and foreign nationals, sometimes over scarce resources or sometimes petty issues
In our context, a particular challenge has been that economic migrants acquire de facto work or business permits through the asylum-seeker system, which has consequently been overwhelmed:
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SA receives the greatest number of individual asylum-seekers globally; only about 5% are granted the refugee status. Most of the remaining 95% are claiming asylum to buy time in order to work and to find ways, often illegal, of staying in South Africa;
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In 2013, SA received about 70 000 new individual applications for asylum, 49% of which applications came from the SADC region;
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This causes enormous delays for genuine refugees to have their status recognized, and to receive support and thus undermines the fulfilment of their rights, particularly to security and the pursuit of their social lives;
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Some unknown number of irregular migrants stay illegally in South Africa without claiming asylum, with many seeking to regularise their stay through fraud and corruption; and
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Estimates vary widely as to the total number of irregular immigrants in the country, I will avoid giving you a number that we can stand behind
We are mindful that South Africa is to a great extent a product of historical flows of migrants from Southern Africa, the rest of the African continent and beyond. These migration patterns flowed into sectors which included mining, hospitality, domestic work, commerce and education.
No country in the world with a stronger economy than its neighbours managed to effectively exclude migrants from neighbouring countries seeking work.
A serious challenge is that there is a gap in policy, legislation and systems for economic migration linked to national and regional development. The current permitting regime does not enable the regulation and management of work-seekers with lower levels of skills, including those from the SADC region in spite of actual and historical labour flows. An exception is the corporate work visa, which allows companies to apply for a quota of workers they can then recruit from outside the country, key examples being the mining and agricultural sectors.
South Africa has a legacy of skewed development and high levels of structural unemployment, with most work seekers having low level qualifications. This brings many foreign economic migrants into direct competition for jobs and resources with the poorest of South Africa’s poor, many of whom have migrated to the same urban settlements from rural areas.
Apart from economic migrants from the SADC region, there are smaller numbers of more visible migrants from Asia and other African regions who establish small businesses in inner city areas, former townships, informal settlements and small towns. Tragically, as we have seen previously and in recent weeks, both these categories of migrants are vulnerable to civil unrest, social conflict; and to extortion and exploitation by criminal syndicates and employers.
The economic future of South Africa is firmly tied to that of SADC. However, the economies of SADC are still largely oriented towards the colonial pattern of exporting raw material and internal trade and infrastructure are seriously underdeveloped. Currently, SADC as a region has not developed a coherent policy response to migration beyond reaching an agreement to work towards facilitating the freer movement of people within SADC once sufficient countries have ratified the Protocol.
Key questions arising
The following are some of the key questions I see as presenting themselves in this discussion:
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How might labour flows within SADC be better and strategically managed to benefit all countries, including South Africa?
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Assuming it is not possible to accommodate every economic migrant who wishes to reside in SA, what is the optimal mix and use of levers to limit irregular migration?
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Economic migrants are often perceived as competing with economically marginalised and vulnerable South Africans for opportunities and resources. Does existing research prove or disprove this assertion?
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How can we prevent negative and damaging labour market distortions, where unscrupulous employers use the availability of desperate and vulnerable foreign labour to put downward pressure on wages and labour conditions?
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As a relatively wealthier and more developed country in SADC, and given the role many of these countries played in our liberation struggle, does South Africa have a moral obligation to stretch itself in accommodating some degree of economic migration?
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By regularizing large numbers of economic migrants from SADC, would South Africa risk contributing to a moral hazard, undermining the development trajectory of our neighbours by lessening the pressure on these societies to create opportunities for all their citizens?
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Regarding nation-building and social cohesion: How can we bring all citizens along, to be accepting of SADC economic migrants? How can we better integrate migrants into our communities and society as a whole?
Agenda for the day, discussion in two parts
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Do economic migrants from SADC in SA have a negative, neutral, or positive impact to our economy, particularly in relation to the vulnerable working class and unemployed people of our country?
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What policy options should we explore for economic migrants from SADC, which can ensure positive regional and national economic and social impact?
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What would be the essential elements of this policy?
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What should be avoided or excluded from the policy?
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Which regions or countries are good examples of elements to include and to avoid?
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We have brought you here because we want to hear your perspectives, whether we agree with them or not. We want to: table all the issues; understand all the challenges and opportunities; identify blind spots we may have; and explore key trade-offs.
We look forward to a fruitful discussion. I thank you.
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Northern Corridor Kigali Summit pushed to March
The Northern Corridor Integration Projects (NCIP) Summit previously scheduled for mid this month, in Kigali, has been postponed to early March.
Monique Mukaruliza, the national coordinator of the NCIP, told The New Times on Tuesday that the Summit is now scheduled for March 7.
She said during this time, leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan will look into how best to fast-track the implementation of the 14 projects envisaged to help transform fortunes of the Northern Corridor partner states.
The meeting usually has three sessions beginning with one in which senior officials, including permanent secretaries, heads of institutions and experts in various fields, make reports to submit to subsequent ministerial level session before the latter also report to the Heads of State.
According to Mukaruliza, the initial two-day session of experts and other senior government officials will start on March 4, followed by the ministerial deliberations on March 6, and the Summit on March 7.
“At every Summit, the Heads of State get reports on project implementation. In March, the Heads of State will again get updates on everything including the One Network Area which Uganda has recently joined,” she said.
The One Network Area is one of the integration projects under the NCIP framework. It enables people to make calls across the NCIP states free of roaming charges.
Uganda operationalised the system on January 2, while Rwanda and Kenya began implementation last year.
“We expect South Sudan to have joined by the next Summit. Various other achievements in other project areas will be presented by ministers. Currently, officials are meeting and will have a report ready by end of this month,” Mukaruliza said.
During last year’s Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, ministers were directed to ensure adequate representation, participation and adherence to set timelines in all cluster meetings and projects and complete their reports two weeks to the Summit.
Focus on the private sector
Ever since the NCIP framework was mooted, Mukaruliza said, the region’s private sector has always been engaged in many areas but during the Summit next month, this engagement will be taken to the next level.
“Previously, the private sector was always consulted, for example, in the single customs territory project but this time around, the private sector will be officially invited. We want them to be more involved and effective as we head into the implementation phase. We want them better understanding projects and investing in them. There is no need, really, of seeking foreign investors yet we have ours,” Mukaruliza said.
“Take the case of the oil refinery in Uganda. Investors from the region could also take part. There is a lot to be done. If, for example, we remove trade barriers, the private sector needs to know the changes and ably take advantage.”
Last year’s Summit, among others, appreciated the commitment made by partner states toward their participation in shareholding of the oil refinery project in Hoima, western Uganda.
During the Nairobi Summit, the Heads of State renewed their commitment to fast-tracking the implementation of the infrastructure projects.
Among the projects are the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) development; the Summit directed Ministers for Transport and Infrastructure to expedite ratification of the SGR Protocol and together with the Ministers of Finance, Infrastructure and Attorneys General or Ministry of Justice to jointly mobilise financing for NCIP and report to the next Summit.
Construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Section started last year.
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Regional integration centres will improve EAC experience
Ugandans will soon enjoy a better East African Community (EAC) experience when we operationalise the Ministry of East African Community (MEACA) outpost/ support centre at the Busia border post in a few months’ time.
The MEACA support centre, which shall be referred to as the Busia Regional Integration Centre (RIC), is a facility we are creating for the dissemination and sharing of information on EAC as well to provide support to cross-border traders, majority of whom are women engaged in informal trade.
The establishment of the RIC is in line with the decision of the EAC Council of Ministers that requires every partner State to set up such a facility, the main function of which includes regularly updating stakeholders on developments in the regional integration, as well as receive feedback on the opportunities and challenges in the process.
The elimination of non-tariff barriers, being the biggest constraints to the free movement of goods, services and people, will command a special focus under this arrangement. RICs are also expected to create harmony and foster close working relations among different players at the border.
The operationalisation of RICs will be a major achievement for MEACA and mark another milestone in reaching out to the grassroots, and in particular the communities who cross our national border in pursuit of trade and other worthy activities.
The centre will also offer capacity building to all border agencies and personnel, facilitate joint border committee meetings as well as monitor performance of regional programmes. For regular travellers, the RIC officer will assist them when they face challenges.
It is important to point out that Kenya has already benefited from RICs, having established three offices as early as 2011 at the Busia, Namanga and Lunga Lunga border posts. A delegation from MEACA visited Kenya’s Namanga and Busia RICs in October 2013, and picked several lessons to help Uganda in establishing similar facilities.
RICs have been instrumental to the Kenyan government as a conduit for information flow, and dispelling misinformation within and across communities. Admittedly, any visitor to the border area will encounter a crowded place with many mechanisms already addressing issues to do with the movement of goods and persons.
The rationale for the establishment of the RIC is, therefore, to build synergies and create a better understanding of the costs and benefits of providing seamless services through building trust and ultimately a sense of ownership of the integration process by all Ugandans.
This means the RIC will support the various trade facilitation agencies by creating a “bridge” for the engagement between the agencies and cross-border traders and transit operations, as well as private sector operators such as importers, exporters, freight forwarders and customs brokers to dialogue on how best to galvanise the benefits from the trade facilitation measures that have been put in place at Busia.
Similar centres have been tried and tested in other regional integration arrangements such as the European Union.
Therefore, while we continue to lobby for increased funding to, among others, address challenges at the macro and operational levels, we are committed to doing whatever is functionally possible to extend the scope and coverage of awareness on EAC integration throughout the country, because we believe EAC integration is for all Ugandans.
In all our endeavours, the Ministry of East African Community Affairs operates an open door policy and we welcome feedback on issues pertaining to EAC integration.
Ms Mwanje is the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of East African Community Affairs.