The selection: Friday, 2 December 2016

Germany’s G20 Presidency began yesterday: the Africa focus. A Tony Elumelu commentary: Germany’s new ‘Marshall Plan’ must treat Africa as an equal partner. For updates: the official G20 website went online this morning.

Looking ahead: International Forum for National Trade Facilitation Committees (23-27 January 2017, Geneva). The meeting is open to members of the National Trade Facilitation Committees from all African countries that have been nominated to attend the meeting. Donors, international agencies and regional organisations are also invited to attend.

ATW2016 highlights:

ECA urges Africa to push ahead with Continental Free Trade Area: The Africa Trade Forum ended in Addis Ababa on Wednesday with Economic Commission for Africa’s Coordinator, David Luke, of the African Trade Policy Centre urging participants to act on conclusions reached in discussions as the continent seeks to meet its October 2017 deadline for the implementation of the CFTA. Mr Luke, in various interventions and presentations over the week, including one on the CFTA and Structural Transformation, made a case for the need for Africa to move with speed to deal with outstanding issues standing in the way of the CFTA. Earlier Mr Luke officially opened a Research and Capacity Building side meeting at the Africa Trade Week on behalf of Deputy Executive Secretary Giovannie Biha. He said ATW2016, through its many sessions and networking opportunities, was providing a comprehensive, integrated and inclusive platform for policy dialogue between various trade constituencies on the aspirations of African people as articulated in Agenda 2063. Mr Luke said the success of Agenda 2063 going forward will depend to a major extent on whether rigorous research and analysis become critical elements of the decision-making process at national and regional levels, adding the workshop was therefore an essential step forward.

Nigeria makes strong case at CFTA negotiations in Ethiopia (Leadership): Nigeria’s negotiating team was led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, who pushing for a CFTA that would support and promote structural reforms in Nigeria and across the continent rather than undermine it. Nigeria urged the 54-member AU block to pay attention to the technical work that was required for the adoption of the CFTA by the AU Summit rather than focus solely on the expected date of adoption which is December 2017. Given its experience on other agreements, the Nigerian team also pointed out the necessity for negotiators to consult with domestic authorities and stakeholders. As a consequence, the Nigerian trade team argued for “flexibility” that allows it to safeguard the economy from a flood of imports even as it remains an open economy.

Fast-tracking the CFTA: Regional Economic Communities as building blocks (AU): Since one of the aims of the CFTA is to resolve the challenges of multiple trade regimes and overlapping memberships and expedite the continental integration processes, a political decision is required for the CFTA negotiations to be prioritised over all other intra-African trade negotiations including the TFTA. Such a decision would be justified not only in view of rationalising the capacity but also financial resources. Moreover, the 2012 AU Summit Decision was very clear that Tripartite and regional FTAs should be consolidated into the CFTA. It is therefore mandatory to prioritize the CFTA over all other all intra-African trade negotiations, with view of establishing a single economic space and common trade rules. In order to achieve a pan-African FTA, all pre-existing FTAs will be superseded by the CFTA once in place.

As the CFTA negotiations have started, the integration process of the different RECs has reached different levels of advancement. Therefore, there is a possibility for the CFTA to be established before the RECs have established their CUs. In this context, should the negotiation of the tariff offers be made on an individual basis, there is a risk that the reconciliation of the individual tariff structures and the tariff structures of the proposed CUs be divergent. It is to be noted that the Abuja Treaty provides that in no case, a preferential trade arrangement concluded with non-African parties will grant better terms to the latter than those granted to the African countries. For this purposes, transparency is to be observed when those arrangements with non-African States are concluded (Cf. Art. 37 Abuja Treaty). The terms provided for under the Economic Partnership Agreements should thus serve as benchmarks for intra-African liberalisation, together with REC FTAs. [The analyst: Prudence Sebahizi, Chief Technical advisor on the CFTA and Head of CFTA Negotiations Support Unit]

Competition policy in Africa and the CFTA: report of a CUTS side event during ATW: The session was moderated by Dr Joy Kategekwa (Head, UNCTAD Regional Office for Africa). Panellists included Mr Pradeep Mehta (Secretary General of CUTS International), Prof Gerhard Erasmus (founder and Associate, TRALAC) and Mr Rashid Kibowa (Director of Trade, East African Community). Meeting summary:

Featured ATW tweets: @Trade_Kenya: The African Ministers of Trade (AMOT) meeting is discussing among others - CFTA negotiations, EPAs, BREXIT implications and Africa’s future trade arrangements with the US. @heiniesuo: CFTA and gender at #ATW216 - need more evidence on gender impacts on the ground to inform negotiations. Civil society and academia have a role.

Selected ATW news postings: CFTA and foreign investments regulation: Bilateral Investment Treaties do not necessarily translate into increased investment - Rob Davies, SA’s trade minister: African countries should align AGOA and their developmental integration agenda, Lord Paul Boateng: Britain won’t turn its back on Africa following Brexit

How can Africa kill the red tape and improve trade? (WEF)

As the Global Enabling Trade Report 2016 points out, improving the efficiency of process and reducing the red tape around cross-border trade remains an easy win for international trade. While progress on multilateral trade talks looks dim and overall infrastructure investment lags, focusing on regulatory efficiency can help governments enable trade quickly, doing more with less. A number of countries across Africa have made important strides on the efficiency front. Botswana leads the region on the Enabling Trade Index’s border administration pillar, seen below. Its compliance with import procedures requires only eight hours on average, on a par with major global traders such as South Korea and the United States. On the cost side, Kenya has managed to radically cut the price of import compliance, from an average of $550 to $115 per container. These types of efficiency drivers – reducing time and cost for red tape – are critical when it comes to enabling trade, especially for small and medium-size companies, which often face the most significant hurdles. [The analyst: Ilmari Soininen]

One Stop Border Posts: EAC develops training curriculum to facilitate their operationalization

The main objective of the consultative workshop (in Dar es Salaam) is to create a platform of interaction at the technical level between relevant stakeholders with a view to develop a training curriculum on OSBPs to enhance and accelerate their smooth operationalization. The workshop will also look at how best to allow the different agencies to play their roles at the OSBPs and work together. Mr Wambugu informed participants that with JICA support, the EAC developed the OSBP Law to support and anchor the operationalisation of the OSBPs. That law has since been assented to and the development of regulations and operational manuals is in the final stages. The EAC OSBP Law, which commenced operations on 1 October 2016, largely informed the development of the continental OSBP Sourcebook launched by the CEO of NEPAD on the side-lines of the 6th TICAD Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in August, 2016.

ECOWAS customs officials review draft community customs code

To this end, a three-day regional validation meeting at the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, began on 28 November 2016 to accelerate and simplify customs procedures in the region, among others. Welcoming delegates to the workshop, the ECOWAS Commissionner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement, Mr Laouali Chaibou, described the review and validation meeting as another positive step in the building of a customs union in accordance with the objectives of the Treaty establishing the ECOWAS. The Assistant Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service Dr. Patience Iferi harped on the need for a harmonized customs operations in the region stressing that Trade Facilitation had become an issue to be talked about in years to come while the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in Bali, Indonesia in 2012 has changed the dynamics of management of international trade.

Implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement in SADC: promise and pitfalls (tralac)

This Trade Brief provides an overview of the TFA process and the obligations that will be implemented by SADC countries when the TFA becomes operational. It goes on to consider the relationship between the TFA and other trade facilitation processes already underway in the region, identifying the major hurdles to improving trade facilitation and thus to full implementation of the TFA. [The analyst: David Christianson]

Ministers from Central Africa determined to build quality infrastructure (UNIDO)

Ministers from seven countries in Central Africa (Cameroon,CAR, Chad, DRC, Gabon, Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe) today voiced their determination to implement a regional strategy of norms standardization and quality policy, and create a regional quality award. This is part of a Quality Infrastructure Programme for Central Africa (PIQAC) funded by the EU and implemented by UNIDO, in close collaboration with the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States and the Economic Community of Central African States. [ECCAS leaders discuss security, trade]

EAC automotive industries update: calls for fast-tracking of modalities study (EAC)

The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sector, Christophe Bazivamo, has called for fast-tracking of the study on automotive industry in EAC region and have in place the final study report with policy recommendations possibly before the expected submission in April 2017. “This exercise and the overall study is therefore crucial as it is intended to inform the EAC and potential private sector investors on policy options and modalities that should be adopted to drive automotive industry to the next level”.

Rwanda launches online system to monitor compliance with EAC laws (New Times)

The Rwanda Law Reform Commission has launched an online tool that will help the country’s legal fraternity and other stakeholders in monitoring how Rwandan laws comply with legal obligations to which Rwanda is party within the EAC. Dubbed “the East African Community Legislative Compliance Tool (EAC-LCT)”, the application was inaugurated Thursday evening in Kigali.

From the WCO: Updated Trade Facilitation Guidance now available, Ethiopia: Reforms of the Revenues and Customs Authority under the WCO Mercator Programme

Malabo Declaration: AU biennial reporting mechanism launched in Nairobi (New Vision)

The mechanism, which will involve biennial reporting from the member countries was launched on Tuesday by the AU Commission’s Department for Agriculture and Rural Economy together with the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency. Speaking at the launch, Augustin Wambo (CAADP Head at the NPCA) pointed out a set of 44 indicators, categorized in 22 performance categories under seven themes for reporting on the Malabo Declaration. The country reporting process is set to go deeper from January 2017 and produce a report for the January 2018 AU Summit.

Plan to align UK aid with trade policy could sideline poor countries (The Guardian)

The reviews published by DfID offered a twofold evaluation, the first focusing on funding for multilateral organisations such as the World Bank as well as smaller organisations, while the second examined bilateral aid to individual countries (pdf). The review of multilateral agencies (pdf), which account for more than 40% of DfID’s funding over the past five years, said the system as a whole was “falling short” of its potential, because agencies and the “wider UN family” are not working together. The review said the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation was in need of “dramatic improvement”, while the Commonwealth Secretariat also required “urgent organisational reform”.

Nairobi Civil Society Forum outcomes

We assert that the starting points of the HLM2 should be the four development effectiveness principles (democratic ownership, focus on results, inclusive partnerships, and transparency and accountability); the aid and development effectiveness commitments made in Rome, Paris, Accra, Busan, and Mexico; and the documented progress to date of all actors in implementing these principles and commitments. We emphasise that CSOs are key partners in inclusive and effective development co-operation.

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