The selection: Thursday, 19 November

China's investment in Africa falls 40% in H1: MOC (China Daily)

China's investment in Africa collapsed in the first half of this year, but may remain robust in the long run, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday. China's direct investment in Africa stood at $1.19bn in the first six months, falling over 40% year on year, said MOC spokesperson Shen Danyang.

Western Cape strengthens relations with China (GCIS)

South Africa, Namibia adamant SACU formula must be reviewed (Swazi Observer)

With South Africa and now Namibia pressing for a review of the Southern African Customs Union, effects on members like Swaziland will be catastrophic. Swaziland relies on SACU to finance its annual national budget. At a recent SACU meeting attended by Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini, Namibia President Hage Geingob called on a review of the SACU revenue sharing model. He said there must also be a review of the intellectual property, industrial development, and its industrial policy while strengthening the capacity of the SACU Secretariat.

SADC ministers to discuss regional industrialization (StarAfrica)

Botswana will this week host the 27th meeting of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Trade in Gaborone to discuss the Implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap. According to the permanent secretary in the ministry Peggy Serame, the meeting would also discuss the implementation of the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan which prioritises industrialization; as well as the implementation and consolidation of the SADC Free Trade Area; and monitoring, reporting and evaluation system for the Protocol on Trade and SADC Trade in Services Negotiations framework.

Zim/SA trade deficit falls 39% (The Chronicle)

Zimbabwe's trade deficit with South Africa narrowed 39% in the first nine months of 2015 to $417m compared with $681m recorded in the same period last year, according to Zimstat. Economic analysts say the decrease is a positive reflection of the country’s responsiveness to a raft of fiscal measures being implemented by the government to cushion the local industry. Imports from the neighbouring country totalled $1.6bn while exports settled at $1.2bn.

Zim lifts visas on SADC visitors (The Chronicle)

The government has introduced a new visa regime that will initially see nationals from a majority of SADC member States getting into the country without a visa. These include Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. Nationals from 58 countries outside SADC will now apply for visa at the port of entry on payment of the requisite fees. According to the new visa regime, nationals of 120 countries will still be required to obtain visas prior to travelling.

Cross-border collaboration key in ending malaria in southern Africa (Thompson Reuters Foundation)

Malawi Economic Monitor: adjusting in turbulent times (World Bank)

In the second edition of the Malawi Economic Monitor report, the Bank said Malawi’s growth prospects have deteriorated in the last few months resulting in a reversal of earlier projections of continued recovery in 2015 after a strong performance in 2014. While the impact of the January floods on economic growth was fairly limited, the impact of the late arrival and early cessation of rains on the agriculture sector has been significant, resulting in a 30.2% drop in maize output. In addition while the tobacco crop proved to be more resilient in the face of weather shocks, global price declines saw tobacco earnings drop by 6.7% at the close of the season.

“Malawi is facing twin pressures arising from vulnerability to climate shocks, made worse by fiscal management challenges,” said Richard Record, lead author of the report and Malawi’s Senior Country Economist. Weak fiscal discipline is the most significant contributor to Malawi’s macroeconomic instability, with Government running a large fiscal deficit and borrowing heavily on the domestic market to close the gap. By the end of the 2014/15 fiscal year, Government’s annual domestic borrowing was four times the amount approved in the budget estimates. [Download]

Ethiopia: AfDB publishes Development Effectiveness Review

Our work in Ethiopia over the past few years has given us a strong foundation on which to build in the coming years. We will continue to work closely with the Government in support of its Growth and Transformation Plan. Our priority continues to be helping Ethiopia to close its infrastructure gap and pursue regional integration. We will also continue to support agriculture, basic services and the business environment. We will also work with the Ethiopian Government and other development partners to ensure that our support is well aligned and coordinated, that our projects are implemented efficiently and that our development impact is maximised.

Mozambique: the rapid devaluation of the Metical - what’s happening? (SPEED)

The Mozambican currency, the Metical, lost 50% of its value from 30Mt / 1USD in January to 45Mt /1USD as of October 1st. Normally, when the metical devalues, The Government of Mozambique intervenes to restore the currency to equilibrium through the monetary policy. The tight monetary policy implemented by the central bank, has two fundamental objectives:

Uganda: Shilling makes major gain as demand for dollar drops (Daily Monitor)

Rwanda a conflict-free mineral country – govt (New Times)

Rwanda must be considered as a conflict-free mineral country, the Minister of State in charge of Mining, Evode Imena, told the US House of Representatives. “Despite all that has been accomplished, our efforts to improve are hampered by the fact that Rwanda was lumped together with nine other countries under Section 1502 of Dodd-Frank. Putting them in one group and applying a ‘one-size-fits-all’ regulation is not only an impediment to efficient implementation of the regulations, but also fails to recognise the efforts made and challenges faced by individual countries,” Imena added.

Dodd-Frank five years later: what have we learned from conflict minerals reporting? (US House of Representatives)

Uganda: Minister urges South Sudan to pay traders’ debts (Daily Monitor)

The government of South Sudan is yet to clear arrears with Ugandan traders amounting to Shs123b and this continues to anger Ugandan traders. The debt goes as far back as two years and the traders see no end in sight. Mr Shem Bageine, the State Minister for East African Affairs, told Daily Monitor in an interview that for South Sudan to be considered for entry into the East African Community, it should first clear the debts.

Kenya: Shippers face two-week deadline for new import cargo inspection rule (Business Daily)

All cargo imported into the country will undergo mandatory inspection at the point of origin starting December 1 as the government moves to enforce a scheme aimed at curbing tax evasion and entry of sub-standard goods.

Uganda: IMF completes fifth PSI review for Uganda

Annual core inflation reached 6.3% in October and is expected to rise somewhat before converging to the medium-target of 5% due to monetary tightening. The external current account deficit widened in FY2014/15 and is expected to expand further as a result of high infrastructure-related imports, stagnant exports, and weak tourism receipts stemming from the difficulties in neighboring countries. Nonetheless, international reserves remain at comfortable levels. Supported by public investment, real GDP growth reached 5 percent in FY2014/15 and is expected to remain at that level in FY2015/16—below initial projections reflecting tight credit conditions and a smaller-than-expected fiscal stimulus.

Buhari: Nigeria cannot sustain N1tn spending on food imports (ThisDay)

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Birnin Kebbi, the capital of Kebbi State, decried the huge sums spent by the country importing food items that could be produced locally, stating that the N1 trillion importation bill was no longer sustainable. The president, who spoke at the launch of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and the commencement of dry season farming, said that the falling oil prices had left Nigeria with no option than to diversify. The president recalled that agriculture was the mainstay of the nation’s economy but was abandoned following the discovery of oil.

Nigeria's GDP expands by 2.84%, oil output rises to 2.17mb/d (ThisDay), Moody’s: Nigeria's oil output may fall by 2017 (ThisDay), ‘Nigeria’s problem with ECOWAS, EU deal self-inflicted’ (The Nation)

West Africa Gateway: latest weekly newsletter

Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration: access the background papers

Transnational Corporations: latest edition (UNCTAD)

Articles include: Reform of investor-State dispute settlement - in search of a roadmap; International investment policy-making in transition - challenges and opportunities of treaty renewal; Towards a new generation of international investment policies - UNCTAD’s fresh approach to multilateral investment policy-making.

Reframing trade and development: building markets through legal and regulatory reform (The E15Initiative)

A stronger focus on development-led legal and regulatory reform, as presented in this think piece, could enhance regional and multilateral trade policies and build new pathways for using trade as a tool for both poverty reduction and entrepreneurship. At the market level, it could open up new economic opportunities for enterprises of all sizes across a wide range of sectors. At the institutional level, shifting the trade and development focus to development-led legal and regulatory reform would reinforce the efforts of many countries and regional blocks to negotiate and implement free-trade agreements and WTO commitments, generating new momentum in key areas of market regulation and strengthening the system to reflect the needs of all countries and stakeholders. [The author: Katrin Kuhlmann]

Namibia: Infrastructure funding gap stands at N$150bn (The Namibian)

Indian firm targets Lake Victoria oil transport deal (Business Daily)

Kenya: South Africa firm buys 45% stake in Buffalo Mall (Business Daily)

East Africa: TradeMark allocates Sh1bn in plans to cut business costs (Business Daily)

Rwanda, Belgian private sector bodies sign partnership deal (New Times)

Morocco: report on the implementation of the Investment Policy Review (UNCTAD)

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This post has been sourced on behalf of tralac and disseminated to enhance trade policy knowledge and debate. It is distributed to over 300 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. Richard Humphries (Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Twitter: @richardhumphri1)