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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Thursday, 28 April 2016
Featured trade policy review processes:
Malawi’s TPR is underway at the WTO: download reports by the WTO Secretariat, the Government of Malawi
The APPG-TOP inquiry into the UK’s Africa Free Trade initiative: download nine written submissions
Featured perspectives on African manufacturing policy issues: Deborah Brautigam: 'Chinese manufacturing investment in Nigeria - surprises from our CARI Working Paper', Dirk Willem te Velde: 'Why African manufacturing is doing better than you think' (ODI)
Featured blog: Competition law tightens up across Africa (African Law & Business)
Carlos Lopes: 'Addressing corruption in Africa with the right focus' (UNECA)
It is arguable that the greatest challenge to Africa’s structural transformation agenda is not corruption of the sort that has come to light in corporate and public sector scandals - issues of fraud and bribes can be effectively tackled with improved supervision and more stringent enforcement of governance rules. In general, fundamental economic governance problems are to be found on an entirely different level – the inability of management in both the public and private sectors to act effectively and enhance programme delivery and optimize results. Furthermore, effective regulatory frameworks should strike a balance between fostering private sector development and enhancing social transformation anchored on better service delivery.
Mozambique: Better corporate governance for a better economy (SPEED)
The African Corporate Governance Network finds that lack of legal knowledge and the absence of a strong judicial system are major challenges for the business environment in Mozambique. “Despite the reforms that have been introduced, including the Commercial Code, there is still considerable lack of public knowledge of laws and regulations related to the business environment and corporate governance” ACGN notes in its recent report about corporate governance. One of the key issues identified was political will. The report suggests that Mozambique should focus on implementing a series of recommendations made by the African Peer Review Mechanism which include a national corporate governance regulator, building capacity to implement legislation and ensuring that companies understand more about corporate governance and the benefits of improving their transparency. [The ACGN report] [The author: Carrie Davies]
At the intersection of digital economy and industrial policy in Africa (Africa at LSE)
With the publication of UNECA’s excellent new report on Transformative Industrial Policy for Africa and with the release of some new critical books on ICTs and Economic Growth in Africa, now is a good time to take stock of past scholarship on ICTs and economic development in Africa and think more strategically about how African economies might capture more value from deepening their digital infrastructures. First of all, we need to clearly distinguish between the consumption of ICTs by African consumers and the production of value through ICTs by African businesses. When people cite impressive rates of growth in ICT usage in African countries, that does not necessarily tell us much about where that economic value is being produced and captured, and by whom. [The author: Laura Mann]
Data moving across borders: the future of digital trade policy (E15 Initiative)
The paper begins by outlining the core enablers of the digital economy and the intersection between cross-border data flows and policy measures with non-trade objectives, such as privacy. The main focus is on how digital and digitally enabled businesses operate domestically and across borders. The paper then examines the WTO’s substantial past and present contributions to laying the foundation of digitally enabled trade and investment, including the WTO’s established legal acquis in its agreements as interpreted since 1995. Finally, the authors discuss how the WTO could support digital trade going forward, the TPP’s significance for digital trade, and the challenges for negotiations on a plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement. [The authors: Amy Porges, Alice Enders]
What the SA Reserve Bank thinks of Bitcoin (News24)
BSA releases rankings of global cloud policies (BCN)
The 24 countries ranked in the research account for roughly 80% of global ICT revenues. Each country is ranked depending on its strengths and weaknesses in seven policy areas; data privacy, security, cybercrime, intellectual property right, support for standards, promotion of free-trade and IT readiness and broadband deployment.
US keeps China, India on intellectual property shame list (Reuters)
The annual list, released by the US Trade Representative's Office, carries no threat of sanctions, but aims to shame governments into cracking down on piracy and counterfeiting and updating their copyright laws. The trade agency said that the value added of U.S.-held intellectual property was approximately $5 trillion in 2010, contributing 34% to US GDP that year and supporting 40 million jobs in IP-intensive industries. It said China has undertaken some intellectual property law reforms, but the highest level of scrutiny was still warranted due to trade secret theft, rampant piracy and counterfeiting of online and physical goods, as well as newer requirements that condition market access on use of intellectual property IP developed in or transferred to China. Overall, the agency has 11 countries on the "Priority Watch List". There are 23 other countries on the "Watch List" that highlights other IP problems. [Download: USTR's Special 301 Report], [KEI response]
Nigeria’s real GDP declines to $493bn (Nigeria Today)
Nigeria's real GDP declined significantly from $573bn in 2014 to $483bn in 2015, representing more than 14% drop in one year. This was as import/export trading activities slowed down with export dropping by 32% from $82.6bn in 2014 to $50.7bn in 2015 and import dropping by 21% from $61.6bn in 2014 to $48.4bn in 2015. Besides GDP decline, purchasing power parity, however rose from $1.03 trillion in 2014 to $1.11 trillion in 2015. Speaking at the Nigerian Logistics and Supply Chain: Industry Report 2016 in Lagos, Lead Consultant, ECOWAS Commission for Industry and Private Sector Development, Prof. Ken Ife, said that logistics sector is estimated at well over N200 billion and is growing at annual rate of 10%. [NLS brochure]
South Sudan updates: South Sudan in EAC: what are Uganda's trade prospects? (Daily Monitor), Why Juba? (World Bank), Riek Machar’s arrival in Juba should ‘open a new chapter (UN)
REC updates: New EAC boss warns of serious cost-cutting (Daily Monitor), Reviving Central Africa’s consensual transport master plan (UNECA)
Tanzania: Rice import permits suspended (Daily News)
The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has ordered security organs to tighten security in border points and along coastal areas to curb smuggling and illegal importation of rice. Winding up debate on his office‘s budget estimates, Mr Majaliwa told the National Assembly hat the government has suspended all permits for importation of rice in the country because of the current increase in local production. According to him, in the 2014/15 financial year, local rice production stood at 1,936,909 tonnes against the target of 926,096 tonnes. Therefore, he said, there was an excess of 1,010, 813 tonnes which is equivalent to 47.8%. On the other hand, following shortage of sugar in the country, Mr Majaliwa has said the government will import sugar to tackle the scarcity. [Singapore to use Dar port as gateway to East Africa]
Prices for poverty analysis in Africa (World Bank)
This paper reviews the academic literature and similar analytic work about prices for poverty measurement in Africa with a focus on temporal price adjustment to measure trends in poverty. While this paper is concerned with poverty measurement in Africa, much of the reviewed literature comes from other parts of the world. Section 2 reviews sources of price data available for poverty analysis in Africa, while section 3 describes commonly used price indexes and related approaches to price-adjust poverty lines over time. Section 4 concludes with a set of recommendations for research and policy. [The author: Isis Gaddis]
The GATT's starting point: tariff levels circa 1947 (World Bank)
How high were import tariffs when GATT participants began negotiations to reduce them in 1947? Establishing this starting point is key to determining how successful the GATT has been in bringing down trade barriers. If the average tariff level was about 40 percent, as commonly reported, the implied early tariff reductions were substantial, but this number has never been verified. This paper examines the evidence on tariff levels in the late 1940s and early 1950s and finds that the average tariff level going into the first Geneva Round of 1947 was about 22 percent. It also find that tariffs fell by relatively more in the late 1940s and early 1950s for a core group of GATT participants (the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia) than they did for many other important countries, including the set of other (non-core) GATT participants. [The authors: Chad P Bown, Douglas A Irwin]
Mozambique's new industrial property code (ENS Africa)
Dubai Chamber finalises preparations for trade mission to South Africa, Mozambique (Zawya)
South Africa: Downgrade fight - business and state make headway (Business Day)
South Africa’s Pick n Pay to enter Nigeria, weeks after Truworths threw in the towel (M&G Africa)
Rajeev Kher: 'A trade policy agenda for India' (Business Standard)
No schedule yet to restart negotiations on India-EU free trade pact: EU official (Livemint)
UNSC resolution on peacebuilding architecture (UN)
José Antonio Ocampo: 'Global macroeconomic cooperation and the exchange rate system' (UNU-WIDER)
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