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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Today's 17th Ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit: updates
Open session proceedings can be followed live
The EABC Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics will be launched today at the summit after which it can be downloaded from the EABC website. Recommendations from yesterday's Business Summit will also be presented to the EA Heads of State Summit.
Graft killing growth in EA, leaders say (The Citizen)
"As Tanzania's envoy abroad in the past, I have seen how many potential investors skipped the country in favour of other countries. They could not withstand corrupt practices among our officials", he told business leaders from the EAC partner states. Dr Mahiga, who is the current chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, urged political leaders in the region to provide the necessary inputs for the private sector which he described as engine of development. He called on the EAC partner states to avoid creating parallels in their transport networks and instead inter-connect the northern, central and southern corridors. The minister assured business leaders that Tanzania was no longer an obstacle to the free flow of business in the region and that to date it has removed all but three inspection centres for goods along the highway to land-locked Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda from Dar es Salaam.
Related: Jackson Kiraka: 'Why EA needs JPM’s forceful presence' (The Citizen), EAC leaders to consider banning used vehicles, clothes (Daily Nation), President Magufuli congratulates Museveni as the two leaders discuss EAC trade (Daily Monitor)
Featured tweets from the #EABusinessSummit:
@ealawsociety: @EA_Bunge seeks to develop new legislation to anchor implementation of Common Market Protocol
@InvestEAfrica: There are 30 different laws that touch on illicit trade in Kenya; Kenya needed to consolidate the diverse laws to better enable enforcement; Much as transit time/cost have gone down - there is concern that cost savings are not being passed on to consumers
Mombasa port traffic up 7.5% in 2015 (Africa Report)
"Although this performance falls short of our target of 1.1 million TEUs for last year, it is a manifestation that the port traffic is growing at a fast rate," Muturi said. Imports totalled 22.68 million tonnes, an increase of 9.2% from the 20.77 million tonnes handled in 2014. Exports also increased by 5% to 3.53 million tonnes from 3.37 million tonnes in 2014. But the volume of goods headed to neighbouring countries decreased by 28.4%, from 731,912 tonnes in 2014 to 523,993 in 2015, a trend Muturi attributed to the introduction of a new cargo-clearing system.
Presentation from the 8th Containers Conference in Port Sudan: Challenges in infrastructures of transit transport corridors within East Africa (by Ms Nozipho Mdawe, Secretary General, Port Management Association of Eastern & Southern Port Management Association of Eastern & Southern Africa)
SGR tunnels on Nairobi-Malaba line to cost taxpayers Sh63bn (Business Daily)
The cost of building underground tunnels in the second phase of the Standard Gauge Railway from Nairobi to Malaba has been put at over Sh63 billion, a sixth of the Sh427 billion cost of Mombasa-Nairobi section. Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia says the section will have more than 20 tunnels that will have to cut through the Rift Valley escarpments, making the design work more expensive because it will have to achieve a certain gradient to connect to the next section.
Launching today, in Addis: Africa-China Dialogue Platform (FOCAC)
According to Oxfam, its new "Africa-China Dialogue Platform" will be launched on Wednesday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, aiming to encourage and facilitate a constructive engagement and dialogue of citizens, policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders on the growing partnership between Africa and China. In line with the launch of the platform, a day-long expert seminar will discuss issues on Africa-China engagement and partnership with a specific focus on foreign direct investment and sustainable agriculture.
EU-SA trade issues: notes from the Agbiz-Tutwa roundtable
EU Ambassador to Croatia, Dr Paul Vandoren, shared his views and experience within the EU context. He noted that South Africa and the European Union are very different, most notably in terms of economic development. However, it would be a shameful waste not to look at the EU for any useful lessons that might be applied in the South African context. More than this it would be short-sighted not to hear out the concern of EU investors holding a staggering €41.8 billion worth of investments in South Africa.
SA-US trade deal reaches beyond AGOA (IOL)
The key areas to improve utilisation of AGOA as a way of enhancing the Africa-US trade and investment relations include, among others: (1) increased US investments to assist with creating productive capacity in the continent; (2) increased US investment in infrastructure; (3) capacity building to meet the US standards; and (4) the expansion of the product coverage under AGOA to include products of export interest to African countries. In order to improve the trade and investment environment between South Africa and US, the two countries have the Tifa platform to discuss issues of interest, such as those relating to policy issues and market access. The next Tifa meeting is expected to be hosted in South Africa later this year. [The author, Mzwandile Masina, is SA's Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry]
Trouble in SA’s farming sector as drought bites (IOL)
In the preliminary estimates of real gross domestic product released by Stats SA yesterday, the contribution of the farming sector to the economy shrank by 8.4% in 2015. This is the largest annual fall in agriculture production since 1995. In the report, the country’s economy grew by 1.3% in 2015, down from 1.5% in 2014 and 2.2% in 2013. [Download the Stats SA report] [Western Cape agricultural sector update]
Mozambique: poultry value chain analysis EOI (AfDB)
The general goal of this study is to provide a detailed analysis of the poultry value chain (VC) in Zambeze and Niassa provinces in Mozambique. The overall objective is to analyse the constraints and propose measures to increase production and create more and better jobs in the poultry sector. The VC analysis must provide and interpret current quantitative and qualitative information on the overall structure and competitive position of the VC, in order to assess the strategic challenges and opportunities for job creation and competitiveness upgrading among firms. [Reposting: Development of the animal feed to poultry value chain across Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe]
Mozambique: China to lead development of $6bn gas pipeline (Zitamar)
A $6bn, 2,600km pipeline to take gas from the Rovuma Basin to South Africa is set to be developed by a consortium including a group of unnamed Mozambican private investors in partnership with South African energy firm Sacoil and led by China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPP), according to an announcement made yesterday. CPP will carry out the requisite pre-investment studies, Sacoil said, and finance them up to the bankable feasibility stage. CPP will also be responsible for procuring debt financing equal to 70% of the total project cost, or $4.2bn, from Chinese financial institutions.
Zimbabwe: Govt puts import controls on medicines (The Herald)
In an effort to boost the local pharmaceutical industry, Government has put import controls on 23 pharmaceutical medicines. The industry, which employs over 1000 people is made up of about nine companies but operations have been constrained by the current economic conditions and the influx of imported drugs some of which are smuggled into the country. The sector has also been struggling to breakthrough in regional markets as some of the countries have stringent licensing conditions, which subsequently make the products uncompetitive.
Tanzania: Government calls for conducive environment for local businesses (IPPMedia)
Prof Mkenda said the government has now started taking measures to reduce unnecessary procedures being taken by various people especially those seeking services from government departments. “We have started with the Business Registration and Licencing Agency (BRELA) where most of the activities there are conducted under one window,” he said. He said the government was looking at how institutions like TBS, TFDA or TIRDO could provide services to customers without interruptions. “We want our people to be served under one umbrella organisation that would reduce unnecessary delays and costs,” he said. [Tanzania: Boosting youth employment prospects (IDRC)]
Kenya: Low demand knocks Kenya's business confidence (Daily Nation)
The Business Sentiment Indicator, a measure of the level of confidence businesses have in the economy, prepared by Standard Chartered Bank fell to 57 in February, the lowest since August 2015. It was 63.9 in January. Export orders fell 14.4% in February to 51, the lowest since November last year. While future expectations also fell, majority of those polled indicated that firms expect future export orders to improve from the current levels.
Japan to set up an Embassy in Mauritius (Government of Mauritius)
Ambassador Ryuhei Hosoya, expressed the interest of Japan to become both an active and strategic partner of cooperation for Mauritius in various fields especially with regard to the Blue economy and other potential areas as outlined in the Vision 2030. According to him, the strategic position of Mauritius as a gateway to Africa will not only boost trade and investment between Japan and Mauritius but also on the international front and in the region as a whole. He further underlined that Japanese firms are already operating in Mauritius and that more investments should be encouraged between the two countries.
Is the illegal trade in Congolese minerals financing terror? (ISS)
The Institute for Security Studies is currently conducting a research project that tracks illicit financial flows related to resource extraction in the DRC. Our studies have found that where multinationals were once the major players, terror groups are now increasingly joining the criminal networks that extort minerals from the eastern part of the country. This underscores the need for urgent and drastic measures to improve natural resource governance, both in the DRC and the broader region.
Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies, 2015
Uganda: Social accountability is vital for building trust in post-election Uganda (The Independent)
Development projects that pay greater attention to social accountability can improve citizen-state relations and trust in Uganda and other fragile countries, according to new research by peacebuilding organisation, International Alert. The report, titled Making social accountability work: Promoting peaceful development in Uganda, evaluates two large-scale development projects undertaken in Uganda and has been published following the recent elections in the country that have been undermined by widespread unrest and allegations of corruption. The report states that development projects which build in transparency and accountability components can nurture more constructive government-community relations - vital for closing historical divides between citizens and state that fuelled the civil war in Uganda, and helping people feel they can influence change. [Download]
2016 Forum on Fragility, Conflict and Violence: updates
Mr Eliasson noted that political rivalries, international interference – known as proxy wars – economic volatility and inequalities, weak governance, human rights violations and a growth in violent extremism, feed conflict. “Between 2007 and 2014, civil wars almost tripled. Wars have recently grown in intensity and scale, becoming more deadly, more protracted, more complex and less amenable to settlement. There is a glaring disrespect and disregard of international humanitarian law,” he stated. [Remarks by World Bank Group President] [Development for Peace: new blog site (World Bank)] [African Legal Support Facility receives $22m from the AfDB]
Rapid urbanization and climate change puts strain on Durban’s environment: new report (World Bank)
G20 Data Gaps Initiative II: meeting the policy challenge (IMF)
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