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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Continental Free Trade Area capacity building workshop: meeting updates (AU)
Trade between the United States and AGOA countries continues to decline (Bridges Africa)
Total trade between the United States and countries supported under the African Growth and Opportunity Act showed another decrease in 2015, according to data published by the AGOA.info website. Combined trade, which came to US$50bn in 2015, only reached US$36bn last year. Trade between the United States and AGOA countries has now been declining for four years in a row. The reduction of trade between countries supported by AGOA and the United States during 2016 was caused by a lowering of trade from both sides.
Sweden’s co-operation with the African Development Bank Group 2016–2018 (Government of Sweden)
The strategy will also guide Sweden’s positions in negotiations on the fourteenth replenishment of the African Development Fund (AfDF14), which will be ongoing during most of 2016. The outcome of the negotiations will be important for how the AfDB contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its global goals, which were adopted in September 2015.
West Africa: Checkpoints, bribes block trade flow – report (My Joy)
The study, conducted by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel with support from USAID, found that one of the major obstacles to development of intraregional trade in agricultural and food products in West Africa is the multiplicity of checkpoints. The study titled 'Road Harassment on Agricultural Products in the Sahel and West Africa' was conducted between August and December 2015. On the Ougadougou, Burkina Faso to Accra route, which is about 1,004 kilometres, the study showed that there were as many as 54 barriers, while each trip cost close to about ₵1,000 in illegal payments and bribes to officials mounting the barriers.
West Africa: Trade Hub and Borderless Alliance announce anti-corruption billboard campaign (WATH)
Beginning 29 February, the Borderless Alliance, a Trade Hub partner, will roll out six new strategically placed billboards along one of West Africa’s busiest transport corridor. The billboards, funded by the Trade Hub, will push targeted messaging for driver compliance with traffic regulations, fighting corruption, and preventing road harassment along the Tema-Paga transport corridor.
What Ghana’s latest importation ban could mean for West Africa (Ventures Africa)
Ghana, Nigeria’s largest trading partner in West Africa, has placed a ban on the importation of goods such as crude oil, cement and pharmaceuticals from Nigeria and other countries. Ghanaian authorities are laying claim to unfair trade practices between both countries as the underlying factor for its decision. However, Ghana’s decision to place a ban on goods from Nigeria appears to be a retaliation for its inclusion in Nigeria’s “Import Prohibition list” as part of the measures to restrict foreign exchange and manage the country’s reserves.
Related: Jibrin Ibrahim: 'Nigeria's economic recovery programme - imperative of a real debate' (Premium Times), Nigeria-China trade volume hits $14.94b (The Nation), Nigeria's FG urged to expand sources of forex inflow (ThisDay)
Trade facilitation in Central Africa: Barcelona-based, Global CAD releases a video tomorrow on the challenges and opportunities of trade and transport in Central Africa. To participate in a live twitter chat: #TTCentralAfrica, @GlobalCADTweets
Central Africa: ICTs marked as levers for intra-regional trade (UNECA)
Central Africa is the area of the continent with the lowest intra-community trade volume, though it may rapidly increase it by using Information and Communication Technologies. This was reiterated in presentations during day one of an Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on using Information and Communication Technologies to promote Intra-regional trade in Central Africa, organised in Cameroon’s economic capital by the UNECA.
EAC presidents to have final word on mitumba ban (Business Daily)
Thousands involved in the second hand clothes and shoes trade will know their fate next week as East African leaders meet in Arusha to discuss a ban on used garments. esident Uhuru Kenyatta and leaders of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda will decide on whether to adopt their ministers’ position calling for a ban on importation of used clothes. The move is aimed at promoting local textile and leather industry in the East African region that has been severely affected by the presence of cheap second hand clothes and shoes from western countries.
From the RECs: SADC Protocol on Employment and Labour implementation plan: individual consultancy, IGAD: learning from the impacts of El Nino 2015 on the Greater Horn of Africa Region, EAC: Tanzania country engagement on the East African Community Regional Reference Information System, ECOWAS: regional workshop (14-15 March) on mainstreaming nutrition into NAIPs
Zambia: Weak immigration laws, trade policies costing government revenue - SACBTA (The Post)
Southern Africa Cross Border Traders Association secretary general Jacob Makambwe says Zambia’s weak immigration laws, trade policies and porous borders are encouraging illicit trade, causing government to lose revenue. “In terms of Zambia being open, it is number two on a scale of 1-10, which is way too open to properly manage cross border trade. For example, because of the export ban on maize, you will be shocked that if you go to Kasumbalesa today, you will find four or five trucks full of maize and you will see people from Congo coming to buy the maize on bicycles using the zalewa or bush paths. In a space of two hours, you will find that all the maize is gone without being taxed. That’s how Zambia loses revenue because of its porous borders,” Makambwe said.
The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia (CMI)
Zambia has a long history of disputed changes of the mining tax regime with damaging effects on the working relations between the Government and the mining sector. A shared assumption has been that profit-related taxes such as the corporate income tax should be a main component of the mining tax regime. In the 2014/15 Budget, the Government abolished the CIT and instead increased the royalty rates substantially. A few months later the new tax regime was reversed, the CIT was reintroduced and royalty rates reduced. In this Brief we examine these dramatic changes in mining taxation. We argue that a more constructive public-private dialogue is essential to ensure a sustainable tax framework and taxpayers’ trust in the tax system. [The authors: Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Caleb Fundanga, Lise Rakner]
Zimbabwe: Govt orders 9 diamond firms to cease operations (NewsDay)
Mozambique: diagnostic study on trade integration in national development policies (SPEED)
The 2004 DTIS for Mozambique was expected to help build national consensus on the importance of trade to the country’s development objectives, including sustainable growth that benefits the poor. A significant step in building consensus was the National Validation Workshop, held in Maputo in September 2004 to discuss the conclusions and recommendations presented in the report. In 2015 the DTIS was updated and the revised version is included below: [Various downloads available]
Ghanaian businesses to get 10-year visa to SA (Pulse)
Ghanaian businesses could get a 10 years visa grant to South Africa to do their business as part of plans to deepen bilateral trade between Accra and Pretoria , the South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Lulama Xingwana, has said. She made the comments during Ghana-South Africa Business Chamber forum on Thursday. She also asked the Ghana government to intervene in the impasse between illegal miners and AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) so as to save lives and investments in Obuasi.
South Africa: Scrap metal proposals should be withdrawn (IOL)
South African scrap metal merchants and freight operators were calling for the government to withdraw the proposed amendments to the preference price policy guidelines aimed at curbing scrap exports, saying it was “punitive” and threatened 400 000 jobs in the informal sector. The proposed PPS revisions were published by the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa in the Government Gazette in December and focused on aligning scrap exports with the Second-hand Goods Act and the government’s empowerment aspirations, while enforcing stricter controls. The amendments also proposed that scrap metal be exported via Port Elizabeth, which Itac had designated to being the sole port of export, and which would be reflected on each Itac export permit as a condition. Scrap is mostly exported from Durban.
Inaugural Abidjan Union meeting of insurance bodies urges closer cooperation to boost investments(AfDB)
Over 30 participants from 18 institutions that provide guarantees and insurance in Africa gathered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from February 15 to 16, 2016 for the Abidjan Union, the first pan-African meeting of export credit and investments insurers in Africa. Organised by the Private Sector and Treasury Departments of the African Development Bank, with the sponsorship of the Initiative for Risk Mitigation in Africa funded by the Government of Italy, the meeting aimed to facilitate the creation of an information exchange network for providers of export credit and investment insurance in Africa. The second Abidjan Union meeting is planned for 2017.
FAO puts fast-growing fish trade on the ‘sustainability’ menu (UN)
Top fishery officials are gathering in Morocco this week to discuss sustainable trade practices in a $144bn industry that provides developing countries with more export revenue than meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined. Lower-income nations’ exports of fish and fishery products reached $78bn in 2014, more than triple the value of global rice exports, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. One major topic for consideration is how to better trace products throughout the supply chain. Ministers are poised to agree on FAO’s proposed technical guidelines for catch documentation schemes, a set of documents testifying to the legal origin of the catch.
ECOSOC debate: UN development system must work flexibly across all sectors (UN)
Offering a national perspective, Claver Gatete, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, recalled that his country had been among the first eight to pilot the United Nations “delivering as one” approach. Today, its partnership with the Organization had “come a long way”. Joint planning — across agencies and with the Government — had made the most progress. The United Nations Development Assistance Programme was fully aligned with Rwanda’s economic development and poverty reduction strategy. However, he said, such coherence was lacking at the regional and global level.
How can the G20 support the multilateral trading system?: China’s contribution (E15 Initiative)
Therefore, in order to strengthen the practicality and comprehensiveness of the multilateral trading system, the G20 could make a further clarification to support it. Based on the above analysis, we think China could raise the following policy proposals at the 2016 G20 summit to promote the multilateral trading system: [The authors, Xinquan Tu, Naijiang Wang, are attached to Beijing's UIBE)
Can the world adjust to China's "New Normal"? (PIIE)
One thing is increasingly certain: China can no longer argue that it is a passive recipient of the policy choices made by others. The impact of Chinese policies is now felt globally. Historically, these policies have been for the greater good. How the government reacts to its new role and responsibilities will determine the direction of its future trajectory on the international economic policy stage. [Extract from WEF's Global Agenda Council on Geo-Economics report]
Building a competitive city through innovation and global knowledge: the case of Sino-Singapore Suzhou industrial park (World Bank)
One of the great special economic zone success stories in China is the Suzhou Industrial Park, a modern industrial township developed in the early 1990s through a Sino-Singapore partnership. It is successful not just in the economic sense, but also in terms of urban and social development in an eco-friendly way. One key lesson is that in a weak market environment, a facilitating and reform-oriented host government, coupled with foreign expertise and knowledge as well as a "whole value chain" approach can go a long way in developing urban-industry well-integrated special economic zones. This paper is intended to examine the success factors and key lessons of the Sino-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, which can be useful for other developing countries. [The author: Zhihua Zeng]
Swaziland hosts first national transport dialogue (The Observer)
Tanzania: Procurement law reform report ready (The Citizen)
Ghana chairs Union of African Shippers Council (Business Ghana)
Zambia: ‘Poultry sector has huge prospects’ (Daily Mail)
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