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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Tuesday, 20 September 2016
Launching today, in Gaborone: Botswana’s Aid for Trade Strategy - promoting private sector key to development (@AndersP_UN)
In Nairobi, Kenya’s Parliament holds a special sitting to consider the ratification of the EPA with the EU
Decisions and Declarations from the AU’s Kigali Summit (pdf, AU)
Featured commentary, by Melaku Desta: ‘New AU financing formula and WTO law: some unknowns’
Beyond the MFN issue, what if an African country has already undertaken a zero tariff commitment at the WTO – i.e. the bound tariff level for the particular product is set at 0%? Any increase, even to 0.2%, would be in breach of GATT Art. II on schedules of commitments. Countries such as Mauritius that have gone in the Hong Kong direction of establishing a duty-free import regime may have a point here (and this might explain, at least in part, why Mauritius registered its reservations to the above AU Assembly Decision).
Finally, what if an African country has already concluded a bilateral/regional trading arrangement with a non-African country/ies in which it has undertaken to eliminate tariffs on “substantially all trade” as is required by WTO law? Will the introduction of a 0.2 % levy not put that country in breach of its bilateral/regional treaty obligations and, indirectly, of its WTO obligations (because chances are that such a bilateral/regional treaty has been reported to the WTO and justified under one or another of the exceptions mentioned above – GATT XXIV, Enabling Clause, GATS Art. V)? The Euro-Med agreements signed between AU member states in North Africa and the EU or the EPAs signed by some of the other African countries with the EU might easily encounter these challenges.
Ministers of Finance agree on the roadmap for implementing the 0.2% import levy to fund the AU
Mbogo Ngabo Seli, Chad’s Minister for Finance and Chair of the Committee of the Ten Finance Ministers (F10), emphasized that the meeting seeks mainly to implement the decision taken by the Heads of State and Government and indicated that the Ministers of Finance ought to identify how best to sufficiently implement the decision by enriching proposals made by the AU Commission, in order to bring into force the new financing mechanism. The AUC Deputy Chairperson also led deliberations on the composition of eligible goods, where it was agreed that the composition of eligible goods shall consider development programmes and national priorities of member States. Goods exempted from the AU import levy shall take into account goods already exempted by national laws and development policies. Further and in compliance with the Decision to begin the implementation in 2017 and in noting the variations in legislative requirements across member States, the AU Commission and the Ministers proposed a transitional period of implementation of the Decision of no later than the end of 2017.
CFTA: 6th meeting of the Continental Task Force (AU)
The 6th Meeting of the Continental Task Force on the Continental Free Trade Area, commenced [yesterday] in Nairobi. The meeting was organized by the Department of Trade and industry of the African Union Commission in preparation for the 3rd Meeting of the CFTA Negotiating Forum that will take place from 3-7 October 2016. Experts from the AUC, RECs, the AfDB, and the UNECA, will consider Terms of Reference for the Technical Working Groups and draft modalities for the CFTA Negotiations in trade in goods and trade in services. The meeting will also take stock of the on-going exercise to develop a draft negotiating text on the CFTA and discuss how to deliver on the Summit Directives on fast-tracking the establishment of the CFTA. Mr Prudence Sebahizi, Chief Technical Advisor on the CFTA, informed participants that the AUC is working together with the African Trade Policy Centre and the UNECA to organize the African Trade Week (ATW2016) from 26 November to 2 December in Addis Ababa. The objective of the ATW2016 is to provide a comprehensive, integrated and inclusive platform for policy dialogue between various constituencies, including public officials, parliamentarians, private sector and civil society on Africa’s current transformation agenda. [Continental Free Trade Area: legal texts and policy documents (tralac)]
@UNCTADinAfrica: UNCTAD support to develop draft AU Trade Facilitation Strategy appreciated as key for realizing AU BIAT and implementation of WTO TFA.
Rwanda’s export growth facility fund: why are exporters shunning the facility? (New Times)
Last year, government launched the export growth facility fund as part of the strategy to boost exports and narrow down the widening trade deficit gap. The aim according to Francois Kanimba, the Minister in charge of Trade and Industry was to channel more than Rwf1 billion, through the Development Bank of Rwanda , to facilitate exporters especially through SMEs. However, almost a year since the facility was first launched, Benjamin Manzi, BRD’s Head of investments, says the turn up is still low despite the availability of the money. The question should rather be why they are not coming for the money, which has been subsidized, he added. Manzi says they are also offering technical support and facilitating exporters to go and seek markets around the world on top of guaranteeing exporters by almost 70%
Afreximbank closes $300m China Exim-backed loan
The five-year syndicated loan, which closed on 12 September, was only open to investors from China and Taiwan. The facility was two times oversubscribed with 16 investors and banks participating and with Standard Chartered Bank serving as the sole coordinator, book runner, and mandated lead arranger. “This syndicated facility helps position Afreximbank to strengthen its role in the development of trade between Africa and the rest of the world, in particular China and the rest of the Far East,” said Denys Denya, the Bank’s Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services. “The conclusion of this facility demonstrates Afreximbank’s increasing ability to attract much-needed resources into Africa and to fund trade finance related investments that will have a positive impact on Sino-Africa trade.” [The digital revolution in trade finance (BCG)]
Egypt: AFDB to approve the second tranche of loan to support budget before end of 2016 (MENAFM)
Q: AFDB is interested in supporting African trade. Will the bank loan to Egypt support trade with African countries? If yes, what will be the amount of funding? A: For Egypt, the bank has funded the Egyptian Agency for Partnership and Development to help promote greater Egypt-Africa trade and provide training to the commercial attaches posted in selected African countries. The bank as a whole is working to promote a greater volume of trade and provides financing for this with lines of credit to the banking sector as well as to the African Export-Import Bank, which is headquartered in Cairo. Other projects that are related to integrating Egypt with Africa include a grant for the feasibility of creating a navigational line along the Nile from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea, an energy study for Nile Basin countries, a study on facilitating trade between Egypt and Africa, and a partial guarantee for trade finance to commercial banks.
Ethiopia: Tourism Master Plan (UNECA)
In 2011, the UNECA commissioned a study to examine opportunities and challenges of tourism in Eastern Africa. The study concluded, among other things, that a regional framework to address challenges facing tourism in the region was needed. Based on this recommendation, IGAD developed a master plan with technical support from ECA. According to Geoffrey Manyara, an ECA Economic Affairs Officer who helped develop the master plan, member-states were spurred to action by IGAD’s regional framework. “The IGAD master plan recommended that member states with tourism development instruments in place should have them aligned to IGAD’s regional master plan,” said Mr. Manyara. “A number of member-states then approached ECA to help develop their respective master plan. So, we started Ethiopia’s in 2013 and finished in 2015.”
Uganda: Poverty Assessment Report 2016 (World Bank)
What drove Uganda’s poverty reduction? Agriculture. Households in agriculture account for 79% of the decline from 2006 to 2013. While diversifying income with activities not related to agriculture was increasingly important for Ugandan households, poverty reduction was just as fast for those households solely in agriculture as for those with diversified non-agricultural income sources. Agricultural incomes grew because the government got some key fundamentals right such as the pacification of the North, enhancements in infrastructure, liberal export markets and better market information for farmers and traders (thanks to an improved ICT sector). Luck was also on Uganda’s side: good weather benefited many households and positive price trends in international and regional markets aided real crop income increases. Our estimates show that 2/3 of the growth in agricultural income between 2006 and 2012 can be explained by good weather and favourable prices.
COMESA: Member States need to champion specific regional programmes
There is need for individual member States in COMESA to take lead in specific regional integration programmes in which they are active and have a competitive edge in order to improve on implementation. The President of Djibouti H.E. Ismail Omar Guelleh and the Secretary General of COMESA Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, made this proposal when they met in Djibouti City. They observed that Djibouti’s potential areas were in programmes relating to shipping, ports and cargo handling. The country’s port was well situated to serve the region and numerous investments were being made to expand its potential. Linked to the port is the development of roads as well as efforts to improve the air routes into Africa. Djibouti could also take the lead on clean climate and drought resistance share experiences.
Zimbabwe: Poultry output down on cash shortages (NewsDay)
The poultry industry in Zimbabwe tumbled by 8% in the first half of 2016 after producing 37,2 million broiler day-old-chicks compared to the prior year, an industry official has said. In an industry update, Zimbabwe Poultry Association chairperson Solomon Zawe said the sector was facing challenges such as shortage of cash, delays in salary payments for civil servants who form the largest block of formally employed workers in the country and competition from low priced beef coming onto the market due to drought-induced destocking. As such, the industry was facing a gloomy future, he said. [Zimbabwe: Competition law final draft set for Attorney-General (NewsDay)]
South African, global migration, immigration policy updates:
Policy Dialogue with civil society on the Green Paper on International Migration: address by Minister Malusi Gigaba (Home Affairs): The majority of asylum seekers come from SADC countries and most of them are economic migrants. The Green Paper proposes various measures to deal with economic migration from SADC, important for its own sake, with the additional benefit of aiding asylum seeker management. The refugee status is not a permanent status, and so it is inappropriate to link eligibility for permanent residence and citizenship to years spent in the country as a refugee. The policy proposes that refugees can apply for permanent residence, but on the grounds of skills, business activity, financial independence, or marriage to a South African citizen. [Draft First Amendment Bill of Immigrations Regulations (pdf)]
UN General Assembly’s first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants: an overview, lengthy summary of statements, New York Declaration (pdf), UNSG report: In safety and dignity - addressing large movements of refugees and migrants (pdf), UN Private Sector Forum discusses migration issues
OECD: International Migration Outlook 2016, Governments must address anti-immigration backlash
ECOWAS Chairman urges alignment of Member States’ health policies with regional, international plans
IORA regional workshop on Intersection of Culture in the Indian Ocean Region (10-11 October, Jakarta)
Tanzania becomes 1st globally achieving full mobile money interoperability
Kenya says Somalia has ignored pact to resolve maritime dispute
Fraser Institute’s World Economic Freedom 2016: Mauritius first in Africa
Russia: How services contribute to competitiveness
PIIE study gauges potential impact of US Presidential Candidates’ proposed trade policies
India tells EU it’s ready for early harvest scheme of trade, investment pact
Non-Aligned Movement: communiqué
Forever Young? What Africa can learn from Southern Africa’s demographic transition
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