The selection: Tuesday, 29 November 2016

Diarise: World Economic Forum on Africa (3-5 May 2017, Durban)

Key statements from the opening session at Africa Trade Week 2016:

UNCTAD’s Mukhisa Kituyi: “To me the Abuja Declaration was important. It was a starting point towards where we are but even if there had not been an Abuja and a Lagos Plan of Action, the reasons for creating a Pan African free trade are important even from today’s challenges so we have enough reasons from today apart from our inherited responsibility from Abuja”

ATPC’s David Luke: “These include Africa’s trade relations with Asia, Europe, the United States and emerging markets; how trade can support gender equality and empowerment; perspectives from the regional economic communities and the CFTA negotiations and related flanking measures”

African Union Commissioner Fatima Haram Acyl: Africa needs to bring the cost of doing business down,[which] would significantly boost trade performance with trade facilitation, which looks at procedures and controls governing the movement of goods across borders, enabling Africa to do that.

African Civil Society statement on the Continental Free Trade Agenda

From 26-27 November, civil society organisations from Africa met under the umbrella of the Africa Trade Network in Addis Ababa, in advance of the Africa Trade Week and the seminar of the CFTA to discuss the challenges of Africa’s economic transformation and integration and role of the CFTA. We have come to the following conclusions and make the following demands: [Download the French version, pdf]

SA at Africa Trade Week: Minister Rob Davies will also attend the African Union’s Ministers of Trade meeting where ministers will consider the progress of the CFTA negotiations. On the side-lines of the Africa Trade Week 2016 meeting, Minister Davies will meet the Ministers of Trade of Kenya, Egypt, and Nigeria to discuss the enhancement of cooperation and advancing regional economic integration in Africa.

Tanzania: Major blow for government as mega-factory shuts down (IPPmedia)

The fifth phase government’s industrialisation drive has been dealt a heavy blow by the unexpected closure of the country’s currently biggest cement plant run by Dangote Industries (Tanzania) Limited due to rising production costs and a ‘technical glitch’at the $500 million (1.1 trillion/-) factory. The abrupt suspension of the relatively new plant’s operations is reported to have caught the government by surprise, at the same time reigniting a row over the quality of the country’s coal reserves amid reports that the factory managers were preferring to import coal from South Africa instead of using local supplies. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals recently announced a ban on coal imports from South Africa, insisting that the Dangote cement plant must use coal mined in Tanzania because it meets quality requirements. But now the factory management has responded by shutting down operations indefinitely.

Foreign firms hit by tax demands rethink Tanzanian expansion (Reuters)

Some of Tanzania’s biggest foreign investors say they could scale back their operations or expansion plans because of tougher demands placed on companies, including higher tax bills, as part of the president’s drive to overhaul the economy. At least six companies are rethinking their business and investment plans, according to Reuters interviews with senior executives at a dozen of the biggest foreign firms operating in Tanzania, or their local arms, in sectors including mining, telecoms and shipping. Three said they could scale back operations in the East African nation, two said they planned to expand in other countries on the continent instead, while one said it was in the process of withdrawing from Tanzania altogether.

Mauritius hosts regional workshop on Post Clearance Audit (GoM)

A five-day workshop on Post Clearance Audit, which is an effective measure for trade facilitation as well as compliance verification, kicked off yesterday at the Mauritius Revenue Authority Regional Training Centre, Mer Rouge. Some 30 delegates from 19 countries of the East and Southern Africa region are participating in this workshop with the aim to assist the Customs administrations to implement or reinforce PCA.

ASEA conference: Africa’s exchanges urged to be innovative and integrate to attract more investment (New Times)

Rwanda’s equity market capitalisation to GDP ratio stood at 32.93% in 2015 compared to 48% in Kenya. In monetary value, the country’s stock exchange has kept a steady performance in the last five years, registering a market capitalisation of almost $4.2bn of 2015. The Rwanda Stock Exchange market capitalisation was at Rwf2.751 trillion at the close of yesterday’s trading session compared to Rwf2.820 trillion on 4 January 2016. Five years since the bourse was launched in Rwanda, there are seven companies and 13 government and corporate bonds listed on the exchange and eight trading members as well as two licensed custodians. However, Dr James Ndahiro, the RSE chairman, said there is still need to deal with challenges facing the industry, including the lack of innovative products.

Building a regional solution to bridge Eastern and Southern Africa’s science and technology gap (World Bank)

Last month, we launched the project’s second phase, ACE II, in Nairobi – a far-reaching initiative that seeks to strengthen 24 competitively selected centres in Eastern and Southern Africa to deliver top quality and relevant post-graduate education in regional development priority sectors that need it the most. The ACE II’s expected impact will be unprecedented once achieved. In five years, its selected 24 centers are expected to enroll more than 3,500 graduate students in their specialized areas, with at least 700 students pursuing PhDs, and more than 1,000 would be women. The project also aims to have more than 300 research collaborations with the private sector and academic institutions, and generate about $30 million in external revenue to make the centers sustainable.

Germany to support three new UNIDO projects: including Africa’s pharmaceutical industry project (UNIDO)

The first project on “Devising practical approaches for mobilizing investment capital and transfer of technology for Africa’s pharmaceutical industry” capitalizes on UNIDO’s previous work in Africa’s pharma industry, and seeks to further mobilize public and private partners through the newly incepted ITPO Bonn, which was formalized last week by Gerd Müller, Federal Minister of BMZ and Director General LI Yong on the occasion of the Organization’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. “This is a very important initiative”, said Li. “Together with the heads of State and Government of the African Union as well as with our development partners, including Bill Gates, we agreed that a lot of attention needs to be paid to this specific sector as it pertains both to the health of people and the manufacturing of generic drugs. We are thankful to Germany for its continued support”.

Two commentaries on the Doing Business 2016 report:

José Antonio Ocampo, Edmund Fitzgerald: Doing Business should stop promoting tax competition (Project Syndicate): The World Bank Group has just released Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All, the latest version of its flagship report. According to the Bank, the annual report is one of the world’s most influential policy publications, as it encourages countries to reduce the regulatory burden on the private sector. But there is a serious flaw in the report’s formula: the way it treats corporate taxation. A race to the bottom in corporate taxation will only hurt poor people and poor countries. If Doing Business is to live up to its own slogan, “equal opportunity for all,” it should abandon the tax indicator altogether.

Cecile Fruman: Why gender equality in doing business makes good economic sense (World Bank): For the first time since it was launched in 2002, the World Bank Group’s annual Doing Business report this year added a gender dimension to its measures, including to the annual ranking on each country’s ease of doing business. Looking at gender differences when it comes to starting a business, registering property or enforcing contracts, Doing Business shows that 23 countries impose more procedures for women than men to start a business. Sixteen countries limit women’s ability to own, use and transfer property. And in 17 economies, the civil courts do not value a woman’s testimony the same way as a man’s. This pattern might give the impression that such legal differences are really only an issue in a selected group of countries. But Doing Business’ sister publication – Women, Business and the Law (pdf) – tells us otherwise.

6th Africa Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction: statement of the East African Community

What are our future plans? The East African Community commits to implement its Disaster Risk Reduction Law as soon as it is assented to and in line with the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. In this regard, the EAC priorities will be the following: [SADC Ministers adopt Regional Disaster Preparedness and Response Strategy]

Rwanda: Why hotels and supermarkets continue to import fresh food (New Times)

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs, Rwanda designed the Domestic Market Recapture Strategy 2015 (pdf) geared at helping the country reduce the growing trade deficit, by promoting production and consumption of locally-made products. The ministry also identified priority sectors that can quickly contribute to Rwanda’s domestic market recapturing, including floriculture and horticulture production. The ministry says the domestic market recapturing strategy study could enable the country to save almost $450m per year or 17.8% reduction on the current import bill. Agro-processing, light manufacturing and the construction materials are the key priority sectors identified by government in its push to reduce the country’s widening import bill. Under the Domestic Market Recapture Strategy 2015, implemented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs, it is hoped Rwanda can save up to $450m annually. [Rwanda: Enhanced communication key to increased tax compliance – survey]

Supply chain risk in sub-Saharan Africa tops the chart (Bizcommunity)

Supply chain risk in Sub-Saharan Africa remains the highest in the world and continued to increase during the third quarter of the year as South Africa and Nigeria’s economies struggled. Supply chain risk in sub-Saharan Africa worsened from 5.544 to 5.558 during the third quarter of 2016, as measured by the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Risk Index (pdf), powered by Dun & Bradstreet. The Index tracks the impact of economic and political developments on the stability of global supply chains.

Magufuli, Lungu agree to jointly kick-start TAZARA recovery (IPPMedia)

President John Magufuli and the visiting Zambian leader Edgar Lungu yesterday pledged to take decisive action to revive the perennially cash-strapped Tanzania-Zambia Railways Authority (TAZARA) and a joint crude oil pipeline project owned by the two neighbouring countries. President Magufuli expressed dismay at a drastic decline of cargo volumes carried by TAZARA from around 5 million tonnes a year at its peak in 1976 to just 128,000 tonnes a year presently. He said the performance of the Tanzania-Zambia oil pipeline project (TAZAMA) has also dropped from handling 1.1 million tonnes of crude oil per year to just 600,000 tonnes. Magufuli said he has agreed with his Zambian counterpart to review and amend the TAZARA Act of 1995 so as to scale-up the company’s efficiency.

Malawi: Nacala Rail and Port Value Addition Project GPN (pdf, AfDB)

The main goal of the technical assistance project is to improve on the efficiency and competitiveness of local businesses in the Nacala Corridor to enable them to take advantage of the newly constructed transport infrastructure, and to achieve accelerated economic and social growth in Malawi. The specific objectives are as follows:

Today’s Quick Links:

Seeing opportunity in textile imports, Kenya plans cotton revival

To stop relying on Western hand-me-downs, African countries are importing Chinese textile companies

Kenya: New plan to take export zones to all 47 counties

Mozambique: IMF to initiate discussions on a new programme

Outgoing AUC commissioner for infrastructure and energy, Elham Ibrahim: ‘PIDA was my major milestone’

Benin opens 8th edition of Chinese products’ trade fair for West Africa

---