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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Monday, 30 May 2016
Tanzania and the TFTA: National Trade Facilitation Committee workshop on planning the effective implementation of the TFA within the EAC (6-8 June, UNCTAD)
Germany to support CFTA preparations, negotiations (AU)
A new element of the cooperation between the AU and Germany is on the Continental Free Trade Area. Germany made an initial pledge of EUR 5 million in support of the ongoing CFTA preparations and negotiations. In addition, the AU Commission and Germany agreed to continue to cooperate in the areas of Peace and Security, Good Governance, the Pan African University, and Geothermal Energy, pledging a total amount of EUR 21 Million. Beyond the financial pledges, the AU will be a key partner in three other key initiatives receiving German support: the Land Policy Initiative, the African Risk Capacity, African-German Youth Initiative.
Degol Hailu, Chinpihoi Kipgen: 'What does it take to meet Africa’s trade integration target?' (UNDP)
However, meeting the Agenda 2063 target requires policy space for countries to implement industrial policies and build their manufacturing capacity, while liberalising tariffs gradually. These measures will ensure intra-regional trade will not be controlled by few countries with relatively advanced manufacturing capacity.
After a week of talks, Africa awaits action from AfDB (New Times)
Launch of the Partnership on Illicit Finance National Action Plans (AfDB)
Rwanda to scrap visas for Africans by 2018 (The East African)
“The plan is to have no visa requirements for African nationals by 2018, and to be among the few countries on the continent that will have abolished visas for African travellers by that time,” said Yves Butera, the spokesperson for the Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration. “We want to make our visa regime more accommodative for Africans; but it will depend on the outcome of studies being conducted to see how feasible it is to implement this important protocol.” [Kigali Global Shapers push for a visa-free Africa]
Tanzania: Govt plans to launch e-immigration services (IPPMedia)
The government is expected to finalise plans in 2016/17 for the launch of state-of-the-art e-immigration services in the country that will allow Tanzanians and non-citizens to access certain services electronically without having to personally appear before immigration offices. The centralised e-immigration initiative is part of wider measures aimed at modernising the country's border management and control, according to immigration officials, according to the home affairs ministry. Experts say the implementation of an exit-entry management information system project at Tanzania's border points was delayed over the past years due to the lack of a proper information and communication technology infrastructure in the country. However, the launch of the launch of the national ICT broadband backbone fibre optic system means that Tanzania now finally has the infrastructure in place to roll out a centralised e-immigration services system.
Open borders should lead to open skies (editorial commentary, The East African)
China is already working to conclude a continental financing plan for African airports in due course but the appeal to investors may be undermined by low volumes at most facilities. At risk would be the eight million jobs the sector supports in Africa as well in its contribution to economies, which stood at $81bn in 2014. The main reason why closed airspace and visa restrictions do not yield results is that they are so vulnerable to retaliation by other countries. While Rwanda is working to remove visa requirements for African nationals, for instance, it has said that this will be only for countries that extend the gesture to its own nationals. Implied here is that Rwanda has thrown down the gauntlet for other African countries to push the integration agenda forward, this time through deeds rather than words.
Namibia: Only African holders of diplomatic or official passports exempted from visas (New Era)
The Namibian Cabinet last week resolved to abolish all visa requirements into the country for all African holders of diplomatic or official passports, the presidency announced. This is contrary to an erroneous initial article by New Era on Friday in which an impression was created that all Africans coming to Namibia would not be subjected to visa requirements.
Nairobi dominates COMESA cross-border bank transfers (Business Daily)
Kenya accounts for three-quarters of all funds moving through the platform dubbed Regional Payment and Settlement System, according to fresh data from Comesa. The Comesa payments system handled transfers totalling $11.5m (Sh1.2bn) and €0.84m in the period between October 2015 and February 2016 – with payments originating from Kenya amounting to $9.3m (Sh930m) and €119,789.02 in the period under review. Uganda trailed Kenya to transact $2.1m (Sh210m) and €0.7m on the regional inter-bank window; while Mauritius moved €26,857.53 (Sh4m) in the reporting period above. Kenya plugged into the Comesa platform in 2014 and the system has so far interconnected banks in eight member countries including DR Congo, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia.
Tanzania: World Bank warns govt on costly tax breaks (IPPMedia)
The World Bank's country director for Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi and Somalia, Bella Bird, has advised President John Magufuli's government to stop being "too generous" with tax exemptions and backed its ongoing tax evasion crackdown measures. The World Bank country chief said there was a need for reforms to some laws regulating tax exemptions, pointing out that when given out freely such exemptions cut off genuine revenue collection streams for the government itself. She noted that while it was common practice for some governments to offer tax breaks to attract investment in certain industries, a careful approach was needed in the management of such incentives.
Uganda: Financial services top list of tax contributors (The East African)
Uganda’s financial services sector was the biggest contributor to corporation taxes in 2015, according to the Uganda Revenue Authority. The telecommunications and fuel supply sectors recorded the most losses. The financial services sector, which includes the banking, insurance, asset management, microfinance and money lending businesses, yielded overall profits of Ush213.21bn ($62m) by December 2015, generating Ush98.47bn ($28.8m) in taxes.
ICC-OHADA partner to boost arbitration practices in Africa (ICC)
The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has announced plans to partner with the Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) to face the increasing number of trade disputes in Africa arising as a natural consequence of increased investment and trade on the continent.
Donor fatigue leads to fall in East African Business Council's funding (The East African)
The East African Business Council is struggling to initiate and sustain its projects because of donors pulling out and some reducing their funding. The council's 2015 report, released at EABC's annual meeting in Nairobi, revealed a 40% decrease in operating revenues, from $1,372,024 in 2014 to $820,498 in 2015. Grants decreased by 67%, from $894,526 to $295,124 over the same period, due to discontinuation of funding from the African Capacity Building Foundation and reduction of funding from TradeMark East Africa.
Zambia - South Africa Business Council launched (Lusaka Times)
Netherlands African Business Council launches a new communication centre
ECOWAS/UEMOA: technical assistance to the Implementation of the 10th EDF Transport Facilitation Project II
The general objective of the programme is to contribute to the growth of intra an extra community trade and exchanges through the installation of a transport facilitation system. The implementation period will be 28 months. The specific objectives are: the operationalisation of the Joint Border Post of Noepe (Ghana/Togo) and Seme (Nigeria/Benin); the establishment of the Road Information System to strengthen the management and planning of improved road infrastructures in regional corridors; and a more efficient transport system in the regional corridors. Especially by reducing abnormal practices and having more efficient border control systems and a more modern road transportation sector. [ECOWAS moves for continuous support from Nigeria]
Nigeria updates: President Buhari’s Democracy Day message: full text, One year after: Buhari shifts ground on key economic issues, Jibrin Ibrahim: 'These 17 years of democracy'
China Exim sets terms for financing Uganda’s SGR (The East African)
Kampala has now been forced to revise the completion date for the construction of the SGR from the Northern Corridor’s target of March 2018, to sometime around 2020, The EastAfrican has learnt. While the Ugandan government attributes the potential delay to China’s desire to take on a bigger portion of the financing responsibility in the wake of the agreement that the lender will run operations for 10 years in order to recoup its investment, sources say Beijing is concerned about Uganda’s ability to meet its repayment obligations. Minister of Works and Transport John Byabagambi confirmed in an interview in Kampala that there will be delays, setting the new expected date of completion of only the Malaba-Kampala section to 2020.
Kenya: Chinese railway builders deny locals 40% contracts (Business Daily)
“From Mombasa to Nairobi, there have been complaints that the contractor did not meet the obligation of taking up materials from local suppliers and even the 28% has been won through a big push,” Mr Macharia said. He added that the second phase of the project would make it a contractual obligation that 40% of the supplies be sourced from local businesses. The minister spoke when he met the National Assembly’s Transport Committee chaired by Starehe MP Maina Kamanda to update them on SGR’s progress.
Rasna Warah: 'Perhaps we need to rethink these mega projects and their benefits' (Daily Nation)
The question we must ask now is whether the Chinese hoodwinked us into undertaking the SGR project knowing full well that it was not viable. A couple of years ago, public policy consultant Kiriro wa Ngugi and economist David Ndii warned Kenyans that the SGR was a scam that would likely negatively impact coming generations for decades. At an Ufungamano multi-sectoral forum, Ngugi demonstrated why the reasons used to justify the SGR do not make sense. One of the justifications — that a high-speed railway will move more cargo in a shorter period of time — does not take into consideration the fact that high-speed railways are better suited for passenger services, not cargo. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s economic advisers have clearly not spelt out these challenges to him, nor have they given him a true assessment of the real cost of the mega infrastructure projects that his government has undertaken, and which show no signs of paying serious financial dividends in the near future.
Istanbul POA: declaration (UN)
A number of initiatives were announced, including the appointment of a “governing council” for the Technology Bank for LDCs, which will support access to and the better utilization of science, technology and innovation. The meeting adopted a Political Declaration, in which participants highlighted how LDCs have experienced some recent progress in areas including reduced child and maternal mortality rates, gender parity in education and parliaments, as well as access to the internet and mobile networks. There are 48 LDCs in the world, which comprise more than 880 million people (about 12 per cent of world population), but account for less than 2% of world GDP and about 1% of global trade in goods.
Extract: We will work towards reducing the average transaction cost of migrant remittances by 2030 to less than 3% of the amount transferred. We are particularly concerned with the cost of remittances in certain low-volume and high cost corridors. We will work to ensure that no remittance corridor requires charges higher than 5% by 2030, mindful of the need to maintain adequate service coverage, especially for those most in need. [Download the declaration, pdf]
Women’s economic empowerment takes centre stage at UNCTAD expert meeting
A policy framework for two types of e-trade (World Bank Blogs)
Amid all the excitement and energy – within the G20, B20, WTO, World Bank Group, and elsewhere - how can policymakers and international organizations respond? What trade-related policies and regulations are most relevant for the digital economy – and where are the financing and capacity gaps most relevant?
India’s five-cornered trade strategy (Gateway House)
Strike one for trade agreements in Northeast Asia (editorial comment, East Asia Forum)
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