The selection: Monday, 5 December 2016

Starting today, in Abuja: the African Economic Conference 2016 on the theme ‘Ending hunger and enabling food security in Africa’. Twitter updates: #2016AEC

A guide to last week’s UNU-WIDER conference in Pretoria: ’Regional growth and development in Southern Africa: new data, new approaches, and new evidence’

Part I (pdf): The Republic of South Africa faces the imperative of escaping economic stagnation. The broad-level economic ills besetting South Africa are well known but bear brief repetition: real GDP per capita has hardly grown for nine years; productivity growth has been slow and appears to be slowing; the unemployment rate has recently been increasing from already extraordinarily high levels; and inequality remains stubbornly very high. Part II (pdf) considers southern Africa as a whole. It takes stock of the experience of the past two decades and seeks to chart realistic paths forward from a regional growth and development perspectives. It is structured as follows. Section 2 provides background and motivation including a discussion of the philosophy of the research programme undertaken within the framework of this project. Section 3 considers six specific areas where a regional growth and development perspective may have particular promise. These areas are: the spread of regional supermarket chains; the poultry value chain; trucking; mining equipment and related services; energy including bio-energy; and confronting climate change. [Downloads: research outputs and project documentation, tralac’s participation]

Intra-African trade and investment updates:

In Algiers: Business investment forum calls for action to improve intra-Africa trade (New Times)

Delegates at the three-day African Business and Investments Forum held over the weekend in the Algerian capital, Algiers, have once again urged business and political leaders in Africa to remove barriers that limit countries across the continent from trading with each other. Described by organisers as the first of its kind in the country and elegantly called the ‘Algiers Rendezvous’, the meeting attracted about 1000 participants from more than 40 African countries. “It took me about 20 hours to come to Algeria. We need to be better connected in order to work together,” said Amina Mohamed Jibril, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs. “Yogurt is imported at 83% in Africa. What is complicated in making yogurt?” wondered former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr Carlos Lopes, essentially challenging his fellow Africans to explore the economic benefits of manufacturing. He also accused African financial institutions of being “lazy”, saying that they aren’t doing enough to support small businesses while they sit on an $80-billion capital that remains non-invested and sits idle in the banks’ coffers as they fear to invest it on the continent.

Egypt-COMESA: New customs tariffs on luxury goods aim at reducing imports – Egypt ministers (Ahram)

Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy and Minister of Trade and Industry Tareq Kabil said on Sunday that the recent decision to raise tariffs on a number of luxury goods aims to support local industry and reduce imports. Last week, Egypt raised tariffs on 320 different luxury goods, including some fruits, cosmetics, stationary and electronic gadgets, between 40 and 60%. The increase was the second such hike in taxes on imported luxuries this year. The two ministers said in a joint statement that the rise in the rate of imports during recent years had put a huge burden on the nation’s economy, leading to a $49bn deficit in the public budget. This situation required critical decisions to limit imports and support local industry in a way that preserves Egypt’s international trade agreements, according to the statement. The ministers added that imported goods from parties that have free trade agreements with Egypt such as the EU, the COMESA African grouping, the Arab region and Turkey would not by affected by the new decision. [Egyptian government’s decision to exempt poultry from import taxes angers local producers]

@Trade_Kenya: Egypt-Kenya Business Council meeting in Cairo. @Kiptoock & chair Hossam Farid

Nigeria, Morocco agree to promote gas project to foster regional integration (Premium Times)

Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to promote a regional gas pipeline project that would connect Nigeria’s gas resources, those of several West African countries and Morocco. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, said the pipeline project would be designed with the participation of all parties involved to create a competitive regional electricity market with the potential to be connected to the European energy markets. He said Nigeria and Morocco also agreed to develop integrated industrial clusters in the sub-region in sectors such as manufacturing, Agro-business and fertilizers to attract foreign capital and improve export competitiveness. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that at the end of the 3-day official visit of King Mohammed VI to Nigeria, 21 bilateral agreements were signed between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco. [Nigeria, Morocco and new levels of intra–African bilateral relations]

Dangote, Moroccan Group sign MoU on fertiliser production (Vanguard)

Nigeria’s agricultural sector has received a major boost as the Dangote Group and the OCP Group of Morocco signed an agreement to boost fertiliser production and business in the country. The partnership is expected to lead to the creation of an integrated African platform and a global leader in fertiliser production, A statement from the Dangote Group announced this on Sunday in Abuja. It said that the collaboration between the two African conglomerates would help the Dangote mix the mass deposit of phosphate in Morocco with the gas potential in Nigeria to produce fertiliser for the development of the agriculture sub-sector in Africa.

We want more trade with Egypt: Tunisian investment minister (Ahram)

Tunisia hopes for trade growth with Egypt, Tunisian Minister of Investment, Development, and International Cooperation Mohammed Fadel Abdel Kafi told Ahram Online at Tunisia’s 2020 investment conference. Abdel Kafi said in exclusive statements to Ahram Online that the size of economic cooperation was still tenuous, adding that he met Egypt’s minister of international cooperation, Sahar Nasr, in November to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries. In November, Nasr and her Tunisian counterpart discussed means to enhance cooperation between the two sides in the upcoming period, especially in the international, regional and Arab financial institutions, to obtain optimum benefit from both countries’ development partners.

Zambia-South Africa: Lungu dates South Africa (Times of Zambia)

President Edgar Lungu is this week expected in South Africa for a three-day State visit at the invitation of his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma. The President would be accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba, Energy Minister David Mabumba, Tourism and Arts Minister Charles Banda and Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Kayula Siame, among other Government officials. "President Lungu and President Zuma will also address a gathering of Zambian and South African captains of industry, business entities and executives organised under the auspices of the Zambia-South Africa Business Forum," Mr Mwamba said.

Sixth SA-China Bi-National Commission: communique (The Presidency)

The Commission received and deliberated on reports of the Sectoral Committees on foreign relations, trade and investment, science and technology, mining, energy and education. They also reviewed the progress made with regard to the South Africa-China relations over the past three years and identified the way forward for the continuously expanding bilateral relations. The BNC witnessed the signing of the following Agreements: (i) MoU between the Department of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Commerce regarding Co-Operation on Special Economic Zones and Industrial Parks; (ii) Framework Agreement between the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China and the Department of Trade and Industry of Republic of South Africa for Developing Cooperation on Production Capacity.

Profiled, recently published African trade statistics:

Nigeria: foreign trade statistics, 3rd quarter 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics): Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed the country imported goods mostly from China (with an import value of ₦478.7bn or 19.8% of total imports). This was followed by Belgium (₦331.3bn or 13.7%), Netherlands (₦299.7bn or 12.4%), the US (₦165.5bn or 6.9%) and India (₦121.3bn or 5.0% of total imports). Imports by economic region revealed that the country consumed goods largely from Europe, with import value of ₦1,158.4bn or 48.0%. The country also imported goods largely from Asia, with import goods valued at ₦843.27bn or 34.9%. Goods valued at ₦294.5bn, or 12.2% of total import trade, was imported from America. Import trade within the continent of Africa totalled ₦87.9bn or 3.6%, while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to ₦8.5 billion (see Table 4).

Mauritius trade deficit widens as exports drops (Statistics Mauritius): Mauritius’ trade deficit widened by 15.9% in the third quarter from the same period last year, as exports from the Indian Ocean island nation tumbled, the statistics office said on Tuesday. The deficit, at 21.17 billion Mauritius rupees ($590 million), was 11.7% higher than the second quarter, Statistics Mauritius said in a statement. The value of exports fell 12.6% to 20.71 billion rupees after exports of machinery and transport equipment tumbled by 47.1%. Imports dropped 0.2% to 41.88 billion rupees. [Detailed Trade Data by HS/Country Year 2005-2016]

South Africa: October merchandise trade statistics (SARS): Data from the SA Revenue Services showed that the trade balance switched to a R4.41bn deficit in October from a revised R6.9bn surplus in September. SARS said exports fell 11.1% on a month-on-month basis, while imports were up 0.4%. Profiled regional highlights: The Africa trade balance surplus was R20 086 million – a 4.0% increase in comparison to the R19 322 million surplus recorded in September 2016. BLNS trade recorded a trade balance surplus of R9.51bn in October, a result of exports of R12.49bn and imports of R2.98bn.

Intra-SACU trade data analysis (tralac): The objective for this paper is to examine intra-SACU trade with a special emphasis on the position of Botswana in this trade and the role of re-exports. The latter has become possible with the publication by the International Trade Centre of this re-export data, although we hasten to add that there is not a comprehensive coverage of the SACU in this data. Botswana’s data is available for 2015, but re-export data is only available for 2014. Namibian trade data is available for 2015 as mirror data, but re-exports are only available for 2013, while overall data for Swaziland is also available for 2015 in mirror data but re-exports are only until 2007. South Africa, the partner of most interest, does not have reported re-export data, and this is a significant omission from SACU’s trade data. Finally, Lesotho does not have re-export data either. Thus, we found that there was limited data to work with if we wanted to examine re-exports. [The analysts: Maria Nthebolan, Carla O Tema, Ron Sandrey]

Madagascar economic update (World Bank): Non-mining exports performed well in 2016. Exports recorded between January and October 2016 are estimated at $1,687 million, a 17% increase compared with the same period last year. However, the fall in nickel prices since 2015 and declining production volumes has adversely affected exports. In the first ten months of 2016 Madagascar exported $410 million worth of mining products, a decline of 10% compared to the same period the year before. The value of non-mining exports increased by 22.3% in 2016, largely driven by higher revenues from vanilla and cloves. Exports from free zone companies also increased from $434 million in 2015 to $546m in 2016, mainly resulting from textiles and shrimps exports to the Euro zone area. Under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act the value of Madagascar’s exports is estimated to have tripled in 2016. [The analysts: Natasha Sharma, Faniry Razafimanantsoa]

Profiled trade policy postings:

Rwanda: Govt waives tax on leather, textile raw materials (New Times): The decision announced at the weekend was taken in collaboration with local leather and textile manufacturers in the face of government’s policy to ban second-hand leather and footwear products. The decision became effective Friday, 2 December 2016. Innocent Safari, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs, explained at the weekend that the exemption applies to both import duties and Value Added Tax (VAT). The tax exemption applies to local investors recognised by MINEACOM; with no limitations on the quantity of leather and textile raw materials to be imported as the country seeks to satisfy the local market demands and export fine products abroad.

Tanzania: Private sector to shape EPA deal (Daily News): Tanzania’s Industry, Trade and Investments Minister Charles Mwijage told members of the private sector at the CEO Roundtable gala dinner in Dar es Salaam on Saturday that the government would take on board their views in reaching a position on the protracted negotiations of the trade deal with the EU.

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