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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Wednesday, 14 September 2016
Mainstream human rights into trade agreements and WTO practice (OHCHR)
The United Nations Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, has called on States and Parliaments to ensure that all future trade agreements stipulate the primacy of human rights. Existing treaties should be revised to ensure that they do not conflict with the duty of States to fulfill binding human rights treaties and meet environmental and health goals. “Investors and transnational enterprises have invented new rules to suit their needs, rules that impinge on the regulatory space of States and disenfranchise the public”, Mr de Zayas warned during the presentation of his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council. [Reposting: Human Rights Impact Assessment of the CFTA (pdf)]
International trade is growing again after two years of decline (WEF)
Trade among members of the G20, a group of 19 countries and the European Union which represents 85% of global GDP, grew modestly in the second quarter of this year, the first increase since early 2014. Combined exports in the G20 rose by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2016, after falling for the previous seven quarters. However, there were some marked differences between individual countries. Exports grew in almost all G20 economies except Argentina, Canada and China. India, South Africa and Turkey all registered growth of more than 5%. [OECD: G20 Q2 GDP growth]
Chinese Special Economic Zones: lessons for Africa (pdf, AfDB)
The Chinese SEZs success should also be treated cautiously to the extent that these SEZs were part of a broad Chinese liberalization strategy and only consisted of a fraction of the reforms. Indeed, the most successful Chinese SEZs were those that were established and operated as a part of a national economic development reform strategy, and not as a “one off” venture. Experience from other regions – including the Chinese model – may not be replicable, and they must be willing to make adjustments and tailor the plan to their geographic, political, and economic situation. With this in mind, China’s experience provides the following four main lessons for Africa: [Update: Guangdong’s Africa Investment and Cooperation]
EAC monetary union ‘a threat’ to mega construction projects (Business Daily)
Bank of Uganda deputy governor Louis Kasekende said countries in the region would have to ensure their infrastructure or other spending ambitions are in line with the fiscal deficit ceiling set under the monetary convergence criteria. “Countries in this region have big infrastructure projects going on. These must in future be consistent with the EAC macroeconomic and monetary union convergence criteria,” he said. Mr Kasekende said the countries in the region would also need to ensure greater integration of operations in terms of trade. He noted that there had been residual barriers to trade, movement of capital and labour which prevented the full realisation of the integration project.
Addressing mixed migration in Southern Africa: Linking protection, immigration, border management and labour migration (IOM)
At the MIDSA Technical Workshop held in Gaborone from 16–18 August, SADC Member States and participating co-operating partners had the opportunity to reflect on, and discuss the progress made since the MIDSA Ministerial that was held in Victoria Falls in July 2015. Progress on the implementation of these activities, conclusions and recommendations, will be reported to the next MIDSA Ministerial anticipated to be held in the second half of 2017. Extract: Expedite national consultations on the Regional Bilateral Labour Agreement Guide for Southern Africa, the Regional Guide to Facilitate South-South Labour Mobility within Southern Africa, and the Regional Roadmap on Implementation of Output 2.3 of the Updated SADC Labour Migration Action Plan (2016-2019) with a view to taking it through the formal SADC processes for eventual adoption as official SADC guidelines. Use the guidelines provided for in the documents referred to in 3.4 above to develop national guidelines and tools to enhance labour mobility and labour market integration. Consider the establishment of a SADC ‘Labour Migration Forum’ to facilitate the ongoing exchange of information and good practices and to enhance co-ordination and co-operation. [The Elders: report on refugees and mass migration (pdf)]
Neil Cole: ‘Do Rwandese deserve SA’s blanket ban on travel visas due to diplomatic tension?’ (Business Day)
A Rwandan professional offered employment by a Pretoria-based intergovernmental organisation has been prevented from entering SA. The South African authorities have chosen to take a diplomatic stance against the country by withholding all South African travel visas to Rwandese citizens. Rwanda has not retaliated to the travel ban. South Africans are allowed to travel to Rwanda without visa requirements. This is probably because it is not in Rwanda’s national interests to deny access to citizens of one of Africa’s strongest economies. Despite the cause of tension between the two countries, and even if Rwanda is believed to be the initiator, mature states respond in ways that protect their national interests.
Univisa delays cost Zambia revenue, says tourism trade (Tourism Update)
The KAZA univisa, which allows travellers to enter both Zimbabwe and Zambia on a single visa, remains suspended despite appeals from the Zimbabwean travel trade to reinstate the visa. “Zambian authorities maintain that they have run out of paper allocated for Immigration by the UN,” explains Emmanuel Fundira, Group CE of Astoc Leisure Group. However, he adds that the industry view is that it is “a lame excuse”. There has been loss of revenue to Zambia in terms of net tourism inflows resulting from cross-border pick-ups, according to Fundira.
Botswana: We will cut red tape in business, Khama pledges (Mmegi)
President Ian Khama has told the 14th National Business Conference that his government would promote effective regulations and private property rights to ensure businesses are not hobbled by red tape. The President also said that to further modernise the economy and position it as a global competitor, “We will open up the provision of public utilities such as water and power as well as delivery of road infrastructure projects to private capital”.
Africa Dubai Precious Metals Forum calls for air transport restrictions for gold (PRweb)
Leaders of the global gold industry have called on airlines and aviation authorities to ban the transport of the precious metal as hand luggage to reduce the risk of smuggling, which is said to be costing billions of dollars a year in lost government revenue. They want gold to be shipped only as hold cargo, which would allow for "proof of responsible sourcing" and lift what is regarded as a threat to miners’ employment and mining companies’ profits.
Monetary policy and the future of central banking: implications for Africa (IMF)
All of this greatly complicates the conduct of monetary policy. Still, the good news is that many of Sub-Saharan Africa’s central banks have built adequate international reserve cushions. This includes Kenya, giving the CBK greater room for manoeuvre, and reducing the risk of a sudden reversal of capital flows in the first place. This confluence of international developments is heightening the domestic challenges that central banks are facing. Many still have limited operational capacity. This partly reflects persistent weakness in government cash flow management, which makes it difficult for central banks to adequately manage liquidity conditions. Another challenge facing many African countries is the persistence of very high spreads between the interest rates offered on deposits and those charged on loans. This has led to understandable frustration among borrowers about the cost of credit, and has produced political pressure for interest rate controls. However, the politicization of monetary policy bears well-known risks – for the soundness of the financial system and for credit access, notably higher-risk borrowers. [The analyst: Mitsuhiro Furusawa, IMF] [Uhuru Kenyatta: speech during Central Bank of Kenya’s 50th anniversary celebrations]
Yaounde Declaration, Plan of Action (2nd Africa Rural Development Forum)
Within the context of the Cotonou Declaration action points ‘A blueprint to implement rural development policies in Africa’ was developed and subsequently Endorsed at the 2nd Africa Rural Development Forum as a vehicle for advancing rural transformation across Africa and accelerating pace towards the visions of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The Blueprint will support member states and regional players towards an integrated, cross-sectorial, and coherent set of actions based on local realities, priorities and a shared African vision and narrative.
EACCAS Climate Centre: update (New Times)
Rwanda has become the first country to sign up to a framework that paves the way for the establishment of the Climate Application and Prediction Centre for Central Africa, which will serve the 11 member states of the Economic Community of Central African States. The centre, which will be hosted in Cameroon, is expected to start operations next year. The centre will facilitate the development and provision of climate services at the regional and national level, and allow for the streamlining of climate information into various regional priority areas such as disaster resilience, food security and agriculture, fishing and aquaculture, natural resources management, water resource management and health.
Using foreign factors to enhance domestic export performance: a focus on Southeast Asia (pdf, Working Party of the Trade Committee, OECD): This paper discusses how countries can use foreign value added to enhance their domestic export performance. The discussion of the results, although applicable to all countries covered in the TiVA database, focuses on the ASEAN region which has been engaged in an ambitious regional integration process and seen their participation in regional and global value chains grow considerably. ASEAN’s participation in GVCs does not only create jobs at home, it also supports jobs in other countries: in 2011, ASEAN exports used foreign inputs produced by over 14 million workers located in other countries. China accounted for more than 4.5 million of these workers, with 4 million in other ASEAN countries and 2.5 million in India. ASEAN exports also supported 600 000 jobs in the EU, 400 000 in Japan, 370 000 in North America and Mexico, 140 000 in Korea and 100 000 in Australia and New Zealand. In ASEAN, as in other countries, workers engaged in forward GVC jobs have, on average, a higher productivity than workers employed in the production of gross exports – underscoring the importance of these jobs.
Export competitiveness and FDI performance across the regions of the Russian Federation (World Bank): Russia’s lagging regions have much more tenuous international engagements than the rest of Russia in exports and foreign direct investment. These findings suggest that foreign orientation is an important determinant of socioeconomic development and could be an important item on Russia’s regional policy agenda. Such policies might have a variety of objectives:
Opening markets: Mexico uncovers and slashes local barriers to competition (World Bank): In the past few years, the Mexican Federal Competition Authority (COFECE) and Better Regulation Authority (COFEMER), internationally recognized institutions, as well as the World Bank Group, have pointed out that subnational regulations restrict competition in local markets. In many municipalities in Mexico, regulations and government interventions allow market incumbents to deny entry to new firms, to coordinate prices, to impose minimum distances between outlets, or to grant incumbents exclusive rights to artificially protect their dominant position. In total, a lack of vigorous marketplace competition costs the Mexican economy about one percentage point of GDP growth each year – a shortfall that affects the country’s poorest households by an estimated 20% more than its richest households. Most countries, however, have never systematically scrutinized local barriers to competition.
United States challenges excessive Chinese support for rice, wheat, corn (USTR): USTR Michael Froman and US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack were joined by bipartisan members of Congress in announcing the complaint which challenges China’s use of “market price support” for three key crops (rice, wheat, and corn) in excess of China’s commitments under WTO rules. In 2015, China’s “market price support” for these products is estimated to be nearly $100bn in excess of the levels China committed to during its accession. This trade enforcement action marks the 14th complaint brought by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) against China at the WTO since 2009.
IGAD: communique of the 28th IGAD Extra Ordinary Summit on Somalia
Botswana: Govt issues first uranium mining licence
Trade Mark EA gives Sh24m grant to boost Mombasa port public participation
ECOWAS, TMEA Delegations visit EAC Secretariat in Arusha
Kaushik Basu: The state of economics, the state of the world
Christine Lagarde: Making globalization work for all
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