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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Thursday, 11 August 2016
The 7th Annual Conference on Regional Integration in Africa (ACRIA 7) was held in Cotonou, 7-9 July: access the presentations
The nomination process for the next AU Commission election has re-opened (AU)
In accordance with the Note Verbale sent to Member States, the schedule for the process is as follows: Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson - Candidatures should be submitted to the Commission (Office of the Legal Counsel, in sealed envelopes) on or before 30 September 2016. Commissioners - (i) Member States should submit candidatures to their respective regions on or before 19 August 2016.
African Caucus: 2016 Cotonou Declaration (pdf, World Bank)
The African Governors of the IMF and the World Bank met at Palais des Congres de Cotonou (Benin), 4-5 August, for the African Caucus, chaired by Mr Abdoulaye Bio Tchane, Beninese Minister of State for Planning and Development, Chairman of the African Caucus. The discussions focused on the general theme “Scaling Up Bretton Woods Institutions Support to Address Shocks, Boost Growth and Enhance economic Transformation in Africa”. As outcome of this meeting, the African Governors agreed to the following:
Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index: SA losing ground in global manufacturing stakes (Fin24)
South Africa and most of its fellow Brics members – and the African continent as a whole – need to take a long, hard look at investing in cutting edge technology to catch up in the global manufacturing stakes, a new study shows. According to the three-year Deloitte 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index (pdf), South Africa is losing momentum compared to global leaders, although it remains the most competitive manufacturing country in Africa. Looking at the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – South Africa occupied 27th position, a drop of three places since 2013. Brazil, Russia, and India all experienced a significant decline in their ranking over the last few years.
Global Africa Investment Summit: Kigali investments summit to ‘demystify’ Africa’s potential (New Times)
In an attempt to demystify the continent and bridge the gap between foreign investors and Africa, COMESA and Rwanda are co-hosting the Global Africa Investment Summit. The summit, 5-6 September, targets over 1,000 delegates comprising of heads of government, industry captains, and representatives of multilateral organisations. “The primary objective of the summit is to engage the private sector on the TFTA initiative, and explore how the public and private sector can work together to help realise the aspiration of Africa’s largest single market,” a concept note of the forum reads in part.
Women Matter Africa (McKinsey)
The Women Matter Africa report highlights that Africa has taken big strides forward in terms of women's representation in the private and public sectors, achieving and in some cases exceeding global averages. Yet it is far from achieving gender equality.
China concerned about South African trade investigation (Tax-news)
On 8 August 8, China's Ministry of Commerce issued a statement expressing concern at South Africa's initiation, on 29 July, of a WTO safeguard investigation into certain cold-rolled steel products. The MOC statement expressed concern over the effect that the safeguard investigation will have on bilateral trade between China and South Africa. The Ministry stressed that China "attaches great importance to both communication and cooperation between trade authorities in the field of trade remedies, [and] hoped that South Africa will act in accordance with WTO rules in a fair, equitable, and transparent manner, and protect the rights of Chinese enterprises."
China the top investor in Mozambique in 1st half-year (MacauHub)
China was the top investor in Mozambique in the first half-year with $154m, nearly 60% of total FDI, indicate figures from the Investment Promotion Centre. Far behind were next-ranked South Africa ($45m), Mauritius ($29m), the UK ($22m) and Portugal ($14m). The other countries on the list of top ten investors are Turkey, Italy, India, Spain and the United States. Almost 80% of foreign investment approved by the CPI is concentrated in the construction and public works, industry, agriculture and agro-industry sector. More than half (55%) is for the provinces of Maputo and Maputo City, followed by 21% for Sofala province.
Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries down 13% in 1st half-year (MacauHub)
The value of trade between China and the Portuguese language countries fell 13.34% year-on-year in the first half of the year to $41.691bn, indicate official figures released on Tuesday by Forum Macau. In the first six months of the year China exported to the eight Portuguese language countries goods worth $12.938bn (-33.78%) and imported merchandise worth $28.753bn (+0.63 percent), incurring a trade deficit of $15.815bn. Second-ranked Angola accounted for trade worth $7.165bn (-31.29%), with Chinese exports falling 66.01% to $729m and Chinese imports falling to $6.435bn (-22.29%). Fourth-ranked Mozambique accounted for $855.7m of trade with China (-28.87%). Chinese sales fell 33.74% to $648.9m, while Mozambican exports were down 7.54% to $206.8m. [Angola/China Chamber of Commerce trains entrepreneurs]
Spillovers from China’s growth slowdown and rebalancing to the ASEAN-5 economies (IMF)
This paper studies the potential spillovers to the ASEAN-5 economies through trade, commodity prices, and financial markets. It finds that countries with closer trade linkages with China (Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand) and net commodity exporters (Indonesia and Malaysia) would suffer the largest impact, with growth falling between 0.2 and 0.5 percentage points in response to a decline in China’s growth by 1 percentage point depending on the model used and the nature of the shock. The impact could be larger if China’s slowdown and rebalancing coincides with bouts of global financial volatility. [China’s Central Bank plans push to increase yuan’s global usage]
Angola joins convention of World Customs Organisation (MacauHub)
Angola has formalised by parliamentary resolution its accession to the International Convention on Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures of the International Customs Organisation, which aims to facilitate world trade.
The Gambia: ECOWAS must implement trade facilitation measures (The Point)
A two-day trade facilitation dialogue has just been held in The Gambia, under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and the ECOWAS Commission with support from GIZ Germany Cooperation. The meeting focused on regional agreement to expedite the movement of goods across borders, as well as to set out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
Africa’s next step should be agricultural reform: Japan trade group exec (Naija247). As a leading producer of oil, copper ore and other natural resources, recent weak prices and sluggish markets have slowed African economies. Growth potential on the continent remains immense, however, with populations growing faster than the world average. What are the economic prospects for Africa, and what challenges does it face? An expert on the subject, Katsumi Hirano, executive vice president of the Japan External Trade Organization, spoke with The Nikkei about these issues and more.
With TICAD, Japan pursues African growth and export markets (Japan Times). Will there be any new pledges by Tokyo? Most likely. At the last TICAD, the Japanese government offered up to ¥3.2 trillion in assistance over five years with an emphasis on infrastructure and human resources. Some 70% has already been provided. Tokyo will probably deliver a new pledge depending on progress. It will also agree a program for the next three years.
TICAD side-event: African industrialization. Prior to the sixth Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD VI, 27-28 August), UNIDO, the AUC and the Government of Kenya will organize a high-level side event on the theme “Enhancing Africa’s structural economic transformation through Agenda 2063 and inclusive and sustainable industrial development: fostering partnerships between the Government of Kenya, the AUC, UNIDO and the private sector”. [AfDB Group participation in TICAD VI]
Zimbabwe: Passports go to migrants (The Chronicle)
The South African Government has given Zimbabwe the nod to deploy its officers to issue passports, birth certificates and National Identity Cards to locals residing in the neighbouring country. The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Cde Obedingwa Mguni, said the documents would be issued from selected points in the neighbouring country as soon as South African authorities identify sites to conduct the exercise. He said his Ministry would approach Botswana with the same request.
Kenya: Planned Machakos leather industrial park inches closer to reality (Business Daily)
Industrialisation Minister Adan Mohamed added that once established at the facility, companies would also enjoy a 20% tax-free incentive to sell their wares locally, thereby giving Kenyans and other members of the East African Community access to newly made and genuine leather products at attractive rates. According to Mr Mohamed, a leather policy to help set standards in the industry and block importation of synthetic products sold to unsuspecting buyers is already being formulated. The Kenya Leather Development Council chairman Titus Ibui said a Leather Inspectorate had been formed to vet all products entering the country at ports and border entry points to keep substandard leather goods off the market. The Inspectorate will also be tasked with ensuring all products exported to overseas markets meet a set required standard that will make Kenyan leather products attractive. [Ethiopia: 'One of the industrial parks can create more than 400000 job opportunities for citizens']
Cameroon ratifies EU trade deal but suspicions remain (DW)
Cameroon's decision to accept an Economic Partnership Agreement EU puts it at loggerheads with the five other members of Central African Economic and Monentary Community (CEMAC), which are Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. A week ago, CEMAC leaders met in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, and the consensus was that they would only sign an agreement that was fair and balanced. But on August 4, Cameroon reneged on the deal and ratified its existing draft EPA. [Collapse of EU trade deal: Kenya finds itself isolated for a third time in four months (The Standard)]
Who uses electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa? Findings from household surveys in 22 SSA countries (pdf, World Bank)
This paper is part of a broader study examining the financial viability and related aspects of the power sector in Africa. The broader study focuses primarily on grid electricity for reasons of data availability at the regional level. It asks the following questions: How widely is electricity used? What are the barriers to making electricity the main source of energy in Africa for lighting and powering appliances? Is electricity affordable? Is there potential evidence suggesting that female‐headed households are disadvantaged in some ways with respect to electricity use? Although household expenditure surveys capture spending on all forms of electricity, as with the broader study, detailed analysis is carried out primarily on issues associated with grid connection. [Companion paper: Financial viability of electricity sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa - quasi-fiscal deficits and hidden costs]
Disaggregating the impact of the internet on international trade (World Bank)
The Internet has transformed the way countries trade by reducing the costs of exporting. This paper quantifies the impact of Internet adoption on international trade. It shows that the Internet has a positive, nuanced, impact on international trade: bilateral exports are more affected when Internet adoption increases in the exporter than importer. A 10% increase in the exporter's internet adoption leads to a 1.9% increase in bilateral exports, largely explained by an increase in the number of goods exported. A 10% increase in the importer's internet adoption leads to a 0.6% increase in bilateral exports, explained by an increase in the average value of existing exported goods. The analysis also finds that when both countries have high levels of Internet adoption they are more likely to trade with each other, compared with country pairs with different (high and low) or low levels of Internet adoption.
Anabel González: Globalization is the only answer (Project Syndicate)
SA and Abu Dhabi’s financial regulators sign deal to collaborate (Business Day)
Nairobi city protests: businesses count the costs (pdf, KEPSA, TIFA Research)
India pens tourism MoU with South Africa (Travel Daily)
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