News
tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Out today: SARS will release SA’s July trade balance at 14h00. Bloomberg consensus is for the surplus to have narrowed to R8.0bn in July from R12.5bn in June. Standard Bank expects the trade surplus to have widened to R14.7bn.
Starting tomorrow, in Kampala: EABC Public Private Dialogue to discuss how intra-EAC trade is hampered by technical regulations
Activities undertaken by UNCTAD in support of Africa (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD will soon start activities on a four-year project, under the Development Account, on informal cross-border trade for the empowerment of women, and economic development and regional integration in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. Analytical work of the project will deal with issues such as how to address the complexity and opacity of trade barriers to informal cross-border trade in a context of multiple overlapping trade arrangements and how to accommodate the specificities of informal cross-border trade, especially involving women, when designing and implementing suitable supply-side services that support cross-border trade flows. A better understanding of these issues will enable decision-makers to take informed and targeted policy action. [Agenda items for Trade and Development Board, 63rd executive session, Africa and the Trade and Development Report, 27-29 September]
President Museveni’s APRM-approved discussion paper: ‘The 11 bottlenecks facing Africa’ (APRM)
The 25th Summit of the Heads of State and Government participating in the African Peer Review Mechanism endorsed the following discussion paper presented by President Yoweri Musevi. In this regard, His Excellency would like to encourage the Forum to deliberate on the following Eleven Bottlenecks and consider them as part of the APRM tool. In conclusion, His Excellency would like to highlight to the Forum that the policies governments pursue are not the end in themselves. Policies are a means to an end. The end is the total social-economic transformation of Africa as envisioned in Agenda 2063. Therefore, when countries are being Peer reviewed, it is important to see how far we have gone in eliminating these bottlenecks.
Brian Mureverwi: An overview of the agenda for the 36th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit (tralac): The theme continues the industrialization trajectory of the last two summits hosted by Zimbabwe in 2014 and Botswana in 2015, which focused on economic transformation and sustainable development through beneficiation and value addition, and on transforming natural resources and human capital to boost sustainable development respectively. The 2016 summit is expected to deliberate a wide range of issues, and notable items on the agenda of the Heads of State and Government include: economic situation in the region, regional and continental economic integration, status of regional integration: implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Plan, food security, regional peace and security cooperation, gender and development.
Incoming SADC chair calls for “unified force” on resource mobilisation: During its tenure as SADC chair, Swaziland intends to focus on raising resources from SADC Member States and from International Cooperating Partners. The issue of a sustainable financing mechanism for SADC’s regional integration agenda dates as far back as 2006 when leaders from the region acknowledged at their 26th summit held in Lesotho that the march towards regional integration has been painstakingly slow and requires greater commitment by member states in order to attain the goal of a common future for southern Africa. Ten years later, the issue is still topical but is now being addressed with more vigour. It is estimated that only 9% of regional projects are presently funded by SADC Member States while the balance of 91% comes from ICPs. [President Khama: SADC committed to industrializing its economy]
Commentaries on SADC governance: Dewa Mavhinga (Human Rights Watch) 'Reverse downward slide on rights', Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari (Amnesty International) 'SADC is failing to protect human rights'
SADC workshop: best practices on cyber security and PKI (GoM)
A SADC workshop on cyber security and PKI (public key infrastructure), aiming at sharing best practices and strengthening SADC regional cooperation mechanisms pertaining to cybercrime offenses and developing a framework for PKIs for SADC Member States, has opened in Mauritius. Organised by the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation in collaboration with SADC, the four-day event brings together more than 50 participants. Issues discussed include: current status of cyber security frameworks – legal and regulatory, establishment of Computer Incidence Response Teams and PKI; digital signatures; SADC cyber security regional cooperation and a roadmap for implementing PKI in SADC; and PKI ecosystem.
ESAAMLG: ‘Money laundering threatens region’s economy’ (The Chronicle)
Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group member states have been challenged to put in place stiff legal frameworks to fight money laundering and terrorism. Officially opening the 32nd Taskforce of Senior Officials’ meeting on Monday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Mr Willard Manungo said the African region’s economy was under threat from vices emanating from money laundering and terrorism financing. The meeting which is being attended by officials from across Africa, is part of the week-long conference which started on Sunday and ends on Saturday.
Kenya pursuing her own deal after region’s EPA deadlock (The Star)
Kenya has sent a delegation to the EU for talks, to shield the country from heavy taxes on its exports, as closing the EPA by October appears unlikely. This follows failure by its neighbours – Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda – to ink the EPA deal on time, to pave way for its ratification by the European Commission on October 1. Industrialisation Cabinet secretary Adan Mohamed and Principal secretary Chris Kiptoo are leading the trade delegation including the private sector, on four days of talks in Brussels, Belgium, the Star learnt on Monday. The delegation aims to push for a bilateral trade deal with the EU. It is not clear whether Kenya wants to go it alone or seek an extension of the deadline, but an official familiar with the talks said Kenya wants to secure preferential market access even after the October deadline. PS Kiptoo, however, indicated that Kenya is still willing to sign the pact with EAC member states.
Tanzania: Bunge committee censured for suggesting EAC ‘mutiny’ (IPPMedia)
A suggestion by the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure that Tanzania needs to exit the EAC’s single customs territory has drawn a negative reaction from various stakeholders who argue that it goes against the spirit of regional integration. Moreover, the single customs territory alone can’t be blamed for rapidly declining transit cargo figures currently being experienced at the port of Dar es Salaam, some stakeholders argue. They say a more valid reason for the cargo traffic drop at the country’s main sea-port is the government’s 18% Value Added Tax imposed on transit goods; a tax that does not apply to the rival ports of Mombasa in Kenya or Beira in Mozambique. The proposal for Tanzania to remove itself from the EAC single customs territory was made by members of the parliamentary watchdog committee when meeting with officials from the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication in Dodoma on Monday. [Related: MPs warn govt over EAC single customs territory]
South Africa: ArcelorMittal settlement is new and tricky territory for competition authorities (Business Day)
The competition authorities are wading into new and tricky territory. Under the settlement, a cap has been imposed on ArcelorMittal SA’s profit margins on its products. The authorities now have to ensure the steel maker sticks to a 10% cap on its earnings before interest and tax on flat steel. ArcelorMittal SA can expect to benefit from tariff protection and preferential procurement of local steel in infrastructure projects. This settlement suggests the company and the government may have finally found the path to a symbiotic future. This might serve as a useful illustration for other industries in which the public and private sector are at loggerheads to the detriment of the economy. [The analyst: Trudi Makhaya] [ITAC hearing: Call to scrap steel import tariffs in SA]
Zimbabwe: ‘Include all wheat flour on SI 64’: grain millers (The Herald)
Grain millers are lobbying Government for the inclusion of all types of wheat flour on Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 so that they be subjected to the same import control regime as other products listed under the measure as they seek to halt the continued decline in national bread consumption. National bread consumption has fallen sharply to under one million loaves per day from around 1,5 million about five years ago. This translates to a bread flour requirement of about 400 tonnes of flour against an aggregate national installed flour milling capacity of 2 100 tonnes per day. In this regard, the millers said continuation of bread flour imports is self-destructive because current national bread flour demand is less than 25% of national installed flour milling capacity. [Bakeries operate at 45%]
Mozambique: log export ban from next year (MacauHub)
In a measure designed to encourage local processing, exporting whole logs from Mozambique will be banned outright from next year, regardless of the species concerned. The National Director of Forestry in the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Xavier Sakambuera explained that a bill on the subject has already been sent to parliament for review and approval. Latest figures indicate that the current level of timber harvest is between 500 and 670 thousand cubic metres per year. Overall loss of forest is running at about 220 thousand hectares, including the impact of other actions such as wildfires, cultivation, and the construction of housing and other infrastructure. [Mozambique seeks Kimberley Process certification to export newly-found diamond wealth]
COMESA trade policy processes: selected updates
Trade and Customs Committee: ‘implement regional instruments for integration to deepen’: Ms Kayula Siame, Permanent Secretary in Zambia’s Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, says COMESA has put in place a number of institutions, instruments and policies aimed at improving integration and boosting intra-COMESA trade, but these are not implemented fully by the various member States. This, she said, has contributed to the region to delay in attaining its key objective of promoting joint development in all fields of economic activity and programmes to raise the standard of living of its people and to foster closer relations among member States. She revealed that a recent survey undertaken by the Secretariat has shown low levels of implementation of regional commitments at national level and suggested sustained sensitization and awareness campaigns of the COMESA protocols and more importantly the intended benefit of regional integration. “Awareness creation is crucial for COMESA, ultimately trade investment is spearheaded by the private sector and this is the audience we need to sensitize in order for them to have the utmost confidence in the opportunities within the region,”
COMESA experts meet in Nairobi for harmonized commodities list: Senior trade ministry experts and heads of customs from 19 countries forming COMESA met in Nairobi [last Friday] to agree on a harmonized list of products and taxes to be charged on those products, officials said. Francis Mangeni, Director of Trade, Customs and Monetary Affairs at the COMESA Secretariat, said the experts met to discuss a new list of 6000 products that are traded around the world to agree on the common taxation and how to classify them.
Global prices of commodities affect COMESA trade: COMESA’s global trade for 2015 recorded a deficit mainly due to the fluctuating prices of commodities on the world market. Assistant Secretary General for Programmes Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget revealed in Lusaka that provisional figures available at the Secretariat are showing that COMESA’s global trade deficit was at $100bn in 2015. Both 2014 and 2015 had the highest levels of trade deficit recorded in the past 9 years at $97bn and $100bn respectively.
COMESA Committee on Statistical Matters hears calls for a regional statistical network: Secretary-General Sindiso Ngwenya has called on statistical technocrats from various Central Statistical Offices, central banks and ector ministries in the region to form a regional statistical network to enhance knowledge sharing and information exchange if meaningful regional integration is to be attained. Mr Ngwenya was speaking when he officially opened the seventh meeting of the COMESA Committee on Statistical matters in Lusaka on 22 August 2016.
ECA to launch monthly continental ‘Statistics Flash’
Oliver Chinganya, of the ECA’s African Centre for Statistics, says the Flash is a one-stop shop document that will provide an understanding of what is going on in Africa at a glimpse. Areas covered include price levels, the consumer price index, population, life expectancy and related issues. He said the Flash will look at a different country of the 54-member States every month. First to be featured by the Africa Statistical Flash are the 13 fastest growing African economies which are the drivers of Africa’s GDP, among them Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana. “We have populated about 80% of the database; we are still cleaning it up before we can share it with the public. If we are going to be that one stop-shop for critical data on Africa, we need to have credible data that can be used not only by us but also our member states. Together with our partners, we aim to create our African Statistics Database.”
ECOWAS: member states work out means of implementing conflict prevention tenets
Representatives of ECOWAS Member States are meeting in Abuja to iron out means of implementing the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework. Noting that since inception in 2008, there has been limited knowledge and ownership of the ECPF by the Member States who signed it into existence, the Commissioner observed that due to the occurrence of many security challenges in the region, there have been limited programmes developed by the Commission to generate awareness about the ECPF in Member States. The Commissioner further remarked that the security situation in the region has become a concern at the national, regional and international levels since the terrorist attacks in Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Mali just as the increasing incidence of clashes between farmers and herdsmen, rural banditry, electoral violence, ethno-religious violence are matters of urgent concern that requires preventive interventions. [IGAD consultative meetings: development of regional strategy on preventing and countering violent extremism]
AfDB consultancy: Promoting intra-African investment, regional investment policy framework (pdf)
The specific duties and responsibilities of the consultant will include: (i) provide support to three selected RECs, namely ECOWAS, WAEMU and CEMAC in designing or reviewing their Regional Investment Policy Framework or regional investment agreements and SMEs policies to address the misalignment between the regional policy and the national policies, (ii) help the above-mentioned RECs and regional member countries to review these frameworks, agreements and policies; update, harmonize and implement them, (iii) develop and recommend SMEs policies to promote SMEs integration in the regional productive/value chains and access to intra-regional/African investments and markets.
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