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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Nairobi trade negotiators fight over debt management text (Business Daily)
Sources said the disagreement particularly arose from the European Union’s quest to block the developing world-backed text outlining the principles of sovereign debt treatment – and which referred to debt restructuring as opposed to the EU debt management. Debt restructuring, which is being pushed by the Group of 77, a group of 134 developing countries, seeks the passing of a new legal regime for sovereign debt management. The quest is to have a single legally-binding process through which to negotiate all sovereign debt similar to the insolvency law used by corporations.
Geingob tears into rich nations (New Era)
The President said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) could be the perfect platform to discuss issues such as tax avoidance. Geingob warned African leaders to be vigilant against attempts by some countries to downgrade the mandate of UNCTAD or outsource its responsibilities to other multilateral agencies such as the “World Bank and IMF which are famous for their destructive structural adjustment programmes in African countries”.
Seychelles government predicts changes in economic relations with UK after Brexit (Seychelles News Agency)
Seychelles Minister for Foreign Affairs Joel Morgan delivered a statement in the National Assembly on Tuesday detailing the immediate, mid-term and long-term implications of the so-called Brexit on the 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. Minister Morgan said it is possible to see a reduction in financial contributions given to developing nations such as Seychelles through the European Development Fund, with the UK being its third-largest contributor. “Although EU countries have committed themselves to fund the 11th EDF until 2020 discussions are already underway to decide what kind of relationship will exist after 2020,” said Morgan. “Our prediction indicates that there will be an impact on the economic relations between Seychelles and UK but politically and other bilateral relations will not be affected. However, it is clear that in the short and long term, there will be important changes in the economic relations between Seychelles, UK and EU,” Morgan concluded.
Uganda takes a dice on AGOA initiative (Daily Monitor)
In a meeting last week with the US Ambassador to Uganda, Ms Deborah Malac, to discuss the progress of the African Growth and Opportunity Act programme in Uganda, the trade, Industry and Co-operatives minister, Ms Amelia Kyambadde, made a case for expansion of the list of eligible products under the AGOA to include products such as sugar, peanuts, dairy, and tobacco. Ambassador Malac said the US embassy, in conjunction with the EA Trade and Investment Hub, was doing an assessment to find new businesses and new value addition sectors that could be supported under AGOA. Uganda Export Promotion Board executive director Mr Elly Twineyo while sharing his view last week on Uganda’s quest for AGOA renegotiation, said: “AGOA is an important market that if renegotiated will not only be one of the best news but benefits accrued from it will be immense.” [Africa doesn't need AGOA – AU (Ghana Business News)]
Donald Kaberuka: ‘Development banks should not be political’ (Daily Monitor)
Uganda has been warned against letting political interference take shape in the operations of the development bank. The warning came from Mr Donald Kaberuka, former executive director of the African Development Bank last week in Kampala at a panel debate hosted by Bank of Uganda to mark 50 years of existence. Mr Kaberuka noted that the African continent had, in the past, suffered the consequences of having poorly run development banks. “We do not need the kind of development banks we had in the 1960s and 1970s. These banks caused us (African governments) fiscal problems. We need a new breed of development banks that are operated on better principles,” he said. Mr Kaberuka noted that development banks should be operated using a private sector model.
Moono Mupotola: 'The African passport as a turning point for an integrated and prosperous Africa' (New Times)
Labour mobility is highly beneficial and can help fill Africa’s labour needs in the education, health and industrial sectors. Ultimately, this should also address the technical skills deficit that is prevalent on the continent. The education sector can also profit from a borderless continent. In July 2013, the Bank announced the creation of a new $154.2 million multinational science, innovation and technology Pan African University (PAU) in the next five years.
The question we should ask ourselves is what skills, labour policies and training facilities are needed at regional level to enable SADC to bring the estimated 800,000 diamond cutters jobs back to the region. The Bank is supporting a number of key initiatives to work on harmonising regulations and policies with a view of facilitating labour mobility, an important enabler for the regional integration and economic development of the continent. One such initiative is the drafting of a new migration policy for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which should enhance talent mobility in the region. [AU Summit comes to a successful end with a concerted call for togetherness]
David Lipton: ‘Bridging South Africa’s economic divide’ (IMF)
But now, the cost of insufficient action has reached the critical point. The present trajectory is simply not good enough. What is needed is a fresh and energetic review of South Africa’s policies—followed by action. The litmus test must be that the policy response fosters fundamental change that opens doors for the young people who will be the workers, entrepreneurs and innovators of the next generation; those who can power the economy upward.
Angolans threaten to cancel grazing rights...for being denied access to Namibian markets (New Era)
Since May, thousands of Angolan traders have been flocking to Namibia’s border towns of Oshikango, Rundu and Outapi to sell produce such as sugar cane, tomatoes, mahangu grain and chickens, among others, at relatively low prices. Very few bother to obtain legal documents from the Namibian authorities and most of the traders enter Namibia through unauthorised areas along the border to in fact smuggle their goods into the country. Some traders come from as far as beyond Lubango. Frustrated Namibian street vendors have now started to threaten Angolan traders with violence. Angolans, on the other hand, have also made a tit-for-tat threat, saying if locals continue being hostile to them the tens of thousands of cattle in Angola belonging to Namibians should be brought back to Namibia. [Transport minister highlights cross-border logistics platforms (Angola Press)]
Angola: Foreign traders in Angola will have to pay taxes (Macauhub)
Angola’s Ministry of Trade will register and license the commercial activity carried out by foreigners in the country, including those that are currently illegal, according to a government order establishing a working group responsible for the operation. The government admitted in 2015 that the shadow economy in Angola represents 60% of the economy as a whole, putting the country among the sub-Saharan nations with the biggest shadow economies.
Uganda's Juba traders told to explore alternative markets (EA Business Week)
Uganda's Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde said the war has affected Uganda’s trade balance sheet with South Sudan. Kyambadde said South Sudan had become Uganda’s leading export destination in 2008 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. She said total exports (formal + informal) had peaked at $1.18bn in 2008. However, the fighting that broke out in December 2013 resulting to the then subsequent a civil war in South Sudan, caused a steady decrease in Uganda’s exports from $414m in 2013, to $385m in 2014, and $353m in 2015.
Mozambique: budget review focuses only on spending (Macauhub)
Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane mentioned as reasons for the government to propose a revision of the state budget: the slowdown in economic growth from 7.0% to 4.5%, the increase in the inflation rate to an estimated annual average of 16.7% and the increase of the 10.2% budget deficit to 11.3% of GDP, a percentage that is equivalent to US$77.8bn
Zimbabwe: launch of national standardisation strategy (NewsDay)
“The development of the national standardisation strategy will be driven by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe and is key to improving the capacity of SAZ to perform their mission effectively and efficiently. This will be accomplished by relating the development of standards with economic, social, environmental and other priorities of the country in line with existing government policies such as ZimAsset, the industrial development policy and the national trade policy, as well as regional development agendas under Comesa, Sadc and the African Union,” Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha said.
Tanzania: Leather industry faces bleak future (Daily News)
Tanzania's leather industry faces bleak future as global commodity price slump lowered demand for value added leather products from major importers. “The situation is worse as very little is being exported due to fall of demand from the most importing countries including China and Pakistan thus leaving most godowns full of packed semi processed leather products,” Mr Joram Wakari of the Leather Association of Tanzania said. [PM to grace forum on local content in industrialisation (IPPMedia)
Rwanda: BRD chief says to focus on key drivers of economic growth (New Times)
The New Times’ Collins Mwai sat down with the CEO of Development Bank of Rwanda, Alex Kanyankole, on the new role of the restructured development bank: Export financing is one of the key priorities for the bank. There is need to do more of export promotion projects to reduce the gap between imports and exports. Under the patronage of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, there is an initiative of export growth facility which will help exporters deal with issues of guarantees in projects, prohibitive interest rates and accessing licenses and markets.
Namibia: New Investment Promotion Bill at advanced stage (New Era)
The New Investment Promotion Bill has progressed to its final stages and was submitted to legal drafters for scrutiny before tabling in parliament. Furthermore, the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development has revealed that it started drafting the regulations for the new Investment Promotion Act, which will form part of the governing structure under which investments will be admitted into the country. This information is contained in the ministry’s 2015/16 annual report (pdf). During the period under review, the ministry facilitated 13 new investments worth N$2.8 billion and committed to create 836 permanent jobs. These investments are from South Africa, Germany, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Dubai.
Mapping mining to the sustainable development goals: an atlas (UNDP)
Large-scale mining has the potential to play a critical role in helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in resource-rich countries, according to a new report released during the UN High-Level Political Forum in New York. The report, 'Mapping mining to the Sustainable Development Goals: an atlas' (pdf) is a joint effort of the UNDP, WEF, CCSI and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It is expected that the new report will help the mining industry to: [UN chief launches first report to track Sustainable Development Goals]
Evolving agricultural policies and markets: implications for multilateral trade reform (pdf, OECD)
This study focuses on developments in world agricultural markets and in the policies (defined as domestic support policies and trade policies) of major agricultural producing regions that have occurred since 2000. The impacts of these policies on global production, trade and welfare (proxied by private household consumption) are assessed along with the effects of possible multilateral trade reform scenarios. [How can trade policy promote sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria?]
Ban welcomes African Union’s fund for peace and security operations (UN)
Russian Federation, the World Trade Organization, and the Eurasian Customs Union: tariff and non-tariff policy challenges (World Bank)
DAC temporary working group on refugees and migration: terms of reference (pdf, OECD)
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