News
tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Thursday, 20 October 2016
Tenth African Development Forum postponed to 2017 (UNECA)
COMESA Summit: Heads of State and Government communiqué
On outstanding issues for COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area negotiation: (i) Urged Member States to finalize work on the industrial and infrastructure development pillars, (ii) Called upon Member States to endeavor to achieve flexible tripartite Rules of Origin that promote industrialization and intra-regional trade; (iii) Called upon Member States that have not produced their Tariff Offers and Schedules to do so; (iv) Noted that Tripartite Ministerial Meetings will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on 25–31 October 2016 and urged COMESA Member States to attend and support progress on key outstanding issues so that the Tripartite FTA Agreement is implemented as soon as possible. On capacity building: Endorsed and commended the decision of Council to launch the COMESA Virtual University through which 22 collaborating universities will give a Masters’ Degree in Regional Integration beginning next academic year.
Tripartite FTA signatures rise as Libya signs (COMESA)
Libya has signed the COMESA-EAC-SADC Free Trade Area agreement bringing to 18 countries (out of 26) in the tripartite blocs that have signed. Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed A.H. Syala, signed the agreement during the 19th COMESA Heads of State Summit. The leaders commended the countries that have signed the agreement and urged those that have not signed to do so in order to start the process of ratification to enable the TFTA Agreement to enter into force by1 January 2017. The Agreement requires 14 ratifications to enter into force. So far, no country has ratified it.
African nations block WTO talks on digital trade rules (LiveMint)
Stiff resistance from African nations led by Morocco forced a deferment of the negotiations on rules for electronic commerce/digital trade at the WTO on Tuesday. According to several participants familiar with the developments at the meeting, the African countries accused “powerful countries” of shifting focus away from outstanding Doha issues. Ambassador Alfredo Suescum of Panama, who convened the session as the Friend of the WTO’s General Council’s chair to discuss proposals tabled by the US, the European Union, Canada, and several other countries, was forced to suspend the meeting following protests by several members of the Africa Group such as Uganda, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and South Africa among others. [Food security left out of Oslo WTO meet agenda]
Tanzania’s industrial production, trade policy interface:
Cheap imports on receiving end (Daily News): The government made a guarantee yesterday to protect local industries against cheap and sub-standard imports as the Census of Industrial Production 2013 showed that there were 49,243 industries in the country, most of which are small-scale establishments.
Only 20% of industries sell outside (The Citizen): Only 19.4% of Tanzania’s industries are able to sell their products outside the country, a new report shows, casting doubts about the competitiveness of locally produced goods in the international market. "This trend reflects a lack of competitiveness of the products in the international market," said Mr Khalfani, calling upon the government to have a clear strategy that will assist domestic industries to produce products for exports. According to the report, Tanzania’s products are uncompetitive at the international scene due to a lack of laboratories for raw-materials and product testing whereby it was established that 69.7 per cent of large scale processing factories were operating without laboratories.
The Census of Industrial Production, 2013 (National Bureau of Statistics): The CIP 2013 is the fourth comprehensive industrial census to be conducted in Tanzania Mainland since Independence in 1961. The first, second and the third censuses were undertaken in 1963, 1978 and 1989 respectively. The report summarizes major findings on the characteristics of establishments, employment and employment compensation, gross output, intermediate consumption and value added. The results are categorized by industrial activity, employment size, geographical location and ownership.
Zimbabwe National Competitiveness Report: Cost of doing business a major deterrent (The Herald)
Basically, the NCR explains what the issues are with Zimbabwe and why we are struggling to compete with neighbouring countries. Looking through the report, there were glaring policy issues which Government needs to urgently address as these negatively affect Zimbabwe’s competitiveness and access to much needed investment, both local and foreign. The issues are as follows: If one wants to build a factory for a $100m project in Zimbabwe they will have to pay on average 1,5% of the project cost to get Environmental Management Authority clearance. That translates to $1,5m for one clearance certificate. The same environmental clearance costs $150 000 in neighbouring Zambia, in South Africa, R10 000 and in Mozambique 0,2% of the cost, so $200 000. Why then must Zimbabwe charge 10 times for the same certificate what our neighbours Zambia and Mozambique are charging?
COMESA to assist Zimbabwe firms retool (The Chronicle)
COMESA will soon release funds to help Zimbabwean companies retool and expand manufacturing capacity. In an interview with Zimbabwean journalists, Minister Bimha said the funding would target both existing and emerging industries. “Coming up with a measure like Statutory Instrument 64 is not the solution. It’s only just a component of broader measures that you must employ. We must now look for funding to enable companies to retool and re-equip. I had discussions with the Comesa secretary-general and he has promised that Comesa will be able to assist Zimbabwe retool, particularly as a result of the measures we have put forward."
DRC slashes visa fee for Dar, Kampala by 50% (Daily News)
The DRC government has announced a 50% reduction in the costs of visa fees for Tanzanians and Ugandans, from $100 to $50, with effect from 1 November. DRC’s Director General of Immigration, Mr François Beya Kasonga, says the move is part of visa harmonisation process for Central Corridor Member Countries, in which Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are involved. Already Burundi, DRC and Rwanda enjoy Visa free movement among themselves under the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) arrangement.
Ethiopia: World Bank Group statement
The recent tragic events in the Amhara and Oromia regions that led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Ethiopia are of great concern to the World Bank Group. Such events have dire economic and developmental consequences. We are currently in the process of developing a new Country Partnership Framework for Ethiopia. The CPF is informed by an extensive series of consultations with Ethiopians in order to reflect their aspirations in our engagement and harmonize the CPF priorities with the most urgent development needs of the country.
How do cities in Ethiopia create jobs? (World Bank)
This paper reviews city-based industrialization across Ethiopia to understand (a) its importance in driving net job creation, and (b) the factors that determine the success of high-growth industries and cities. The focus of the analysis is on firms, industries, and cities in Ethiopia that create and sustain jobs. The analysis finds that much of new job creation is found in emerging cities, although capital intensity in production is also increasing. As in other countries, 97 percent of new jobs are created by large firms, and it is incumbents and not new entrants that contribute to initial and sustained increases in employment. Agglomeration economies, better business environment, and access to better infrastructure are factors that matter, albeit differently, depending on firms’ size, life-cycle, and rate of growth.
ICT use, innovation, and productivity: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank)
This paper examines empirically the links between adoption of information and communications technology, defined as usage by firms, innovation, and productivity using firm-level data for a sample of six Sub-Saharan African countries: the DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.
UNGA Second Comittee: debate on least developed and landlocked developing states (UN)
Buffeted by a global economic slowdown, the impacts of climate change and falling commodity prices, least developed and landlocked developing States needed sustained international support, Member States said today as the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) discussed groups of countries in special situations. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, then introduced three reports: (i) Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011—2020, (ii) Charter of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, (iii) Implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024.
Soaring costs force more Chinese firms to look overseas (SCMP)
Chinese firms are increasingly eyeing opportunities outside of the country, with Africa becoming a favoured destination rather than locations in Asia, as business costs at home surge and the yuan depreciates. Ministry of Commerce figures, released on Tuesday, show China’s non-financial outbound direct investment (or ODI) surged 53.7% in the first nine month on year to 882.78bn yuan. Last month alone, ODI rose 56.9% year-on-year to 16.16bn. According to greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets, a service from the Financial Times, China-sourced capital expenditure into Africa experienced a dramatic 515% increase in 2016 from 2015 figures, with five months of data to record and publish remaining, to $14bn.
Arancha González: ‘How does gender affect the participation of SMEs in international trade?’ (ITC)
Women’s economic empowerment must be an integral part of trade policy not only because it generates employment but because women reinvest up to 90% of their earnings in their families and communities, and are a powerful tool linking trade to development. Therefore, including gender perspectives in our analysis of trade policy and related agreements is an essential element of an integrated development policy framework. There exist several policy instruments that provide specific entry points to mainstream gender dimensions in international trade policy. Allow me to talk about a few:
Today’s Quick Links:
Botswana: Upsurge in parastatals crowds out private sector (Mmegi)
Trans Kalahari Corridor transformation underway (Mmegi)
Zimbabwe: Cross-border traders work on loans for members (NewsDay)
Benefits of SGR must trickle down (editorial comment, Business Daily)
Rwanda, Morocco sign 19 pacts as Kagame hosts King Muhammed VI (New Times)
Morocco king seeks support for AU bid in East Africa (Business Daily)
UN, AU partnership to foster job opportunities for youth in rural Benin, Cameroon, Malawi, and Niger
Habitat III: statement by multilateral development banks
tralac’s Daily News archive
Catch up on tralac’s daily news selections by following this link ».
SUBSCRIBE
To receive the link to tralac’s Daily News Selection via email, click here to subscribe.
This post has been sourced on behalf of tralac and disseminated to enhance trade policy knowledge and debate. It is distributed to over 350 recipients across Africa and internationally, serving in the AU, RECS, national government trade departments and research and development agencies. Your feedback is most welcome. Any suggestions that our recipients might have of items for inclusion are most welcome.
