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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Namibian economist, Mihe Gaomab II, has been elected as the AfDB's executive director for the Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe constituency
Underway, in Gaborone: WTO regional trade policy course for English-speaking African countries at the University of Botswana. The course, 26 May - 18 July, targets government officials dealing with trade issues. Participating countries include Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Underway, in Port Moresby: The ACP Summit, on the theme 'Repositioning the ACP Group to address the challenges of sustainable development’
Starting today, in Paris, OECD Week 2016: Strengthen productivity and promote inclusive and sustainable growth
AU decries slow pace of integration in Africa (Xinhua)
AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha told Xinhua in Nairobi that one of the reasons is the fear by some nations that they may lose if Africa becomes a single market. "So researchers need to come up with data to show that Africa will gain once the continental free trade area comes into force," Mwencha said on the sidelines of the AERC's Biannual Research Workshop. "The Africa continent is not prioritizing integration as much, yet this is actually our rescue," Mwencha said. "A fully integrated continent will create a single market of one billion people with an expanding emerging middle class," he noted. Mwencha said that the issue of regional integration not going as fast as it should be has a lot to do with the political economy. "So we need to remove fear so that policy makers understand that if integration is well managed all African states will emerge stronger," he said.
ECOWAS in financial distress as economy worsens in member countries (Financial Watch)
The President of ECOWAS, Marcel De Souza: “We have certain challenges that we are facing. The first is our financial situation that has become quite precarious and the precarious situation is tied to the economic situation in the members’ states and the fact that the price of oil has dropped, particularly affecting Nigeria.” The ECOWAS chief said that the community levy, which represents 90% of commission’s funding, is no longer regularly paid by most member states. He said that Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde and Senegal were major defaulters, but also stressed that the greater challenge lies with Nigeria. “We see that the greatest challenge lies with Nigeria, as the arrears Nigeria is owing amount to $694000 and there was no payment made by the country between 2015 and 2016,” De Souza explained. [Related: ECOWAS speaker urges payment of contributions by members, President Buhari to attend ECOWAS summit in Senegal this Friday]
COMESA: Need to harmonize Great Lakes cross border infrastructure projects
The second coordination meeting for partners implementing infrastructure projects at border post of the Great Lakes Region took place in Lusaka, 17–18 May. The meeting was organized by the COMESA Governance, Peace and Security Unit with key partners funding or implementing the cross-border infrastructure in the Great Lakes Region with a focus on DRC borders and neighbouring countries. COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya opened the meeting with an appeal to the various partners implementing infrastructure projects at border posts in the region to harmonize their activities to avoid duplication.
Many corridors good for East Africa (New Times)
The changes also reflect a change in the strength of East Africa’s economies. While Kenya remains the strongest economy, it is facing competition. It can no longer exercise the pull it used to and cannot expect others to defer to it. They are also growing. That, too, is good for the region. Finally East Africa is coming together again. More infrastructure linkages are good for business and travel. The Northern Corridor will continue to grow as will the Central. Kenya will soon get to work on the Lamu port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor further north. These main arteries will have interconnecting branches, which means we will be more connected and interdependent and therefore more integrated. Regional trade will grow. [Bollore challenged by Geftarail for West Africa railway link (Business Day)]
Two profiled papers from the recent Multi-year Expert Meeting on Trade, Services and Development (18-20 May, UNCTAD):
Petrus Haukifu: 'Namibia's position on trade in services'
Namibia has observer status at the SADC Trade in Services Negotiations because she didn’t sign the SADC Protocol on Trade in Service but is hoping to sign in August 2016 during the SADC Summit. Namibia is observing the negotiation process by attending the Trade Negotiation Forum on Services meetings in order to remain informed of the negotiation process in which the other Member States are engaged. By observing the negotiations it could assist Namibia to build some capacity in preparation for when the country accede to the SADC Protocol on Trade in Services. Namibia has received requests for liberalization from eight SADC Member States in specific sub-sectors as follows:
Joy Kategekwa: 'Ensuring coherence in services policy making, regulatory frameworks and trade negotiations in Africa'
And this is the threshold question that African Union Member States will have to deal with in negotiating the services component of their CFTA negotiations: how to ensure that the Agreement they craft is truly transformational and a best‐fit, rooted in African realities? That it supports Africa’s structural transformation, that it delivers for vulnerable groups, micro, small and medium enterprises, the largely informal sector and that it builds on what African countries have achieved in the GATS and in their RECs. More so, that the legal shape and form of the Agreement, including its content, walks in direction and spirit of the Abuja Treaty ‐ to bring to fruition the African Economic Community. Some of the sticky issues they will have to consider are:
Antonio Pedro, Pedro Martins: ‘Structural transformation and green industrialisation’ (New Times)
Last week, we launched in Kigali three reports, namely the Economic Report on Africa on “Greening Industrialisation”, a think piece on “Transformative Industrial Policy for Africa” and the Rwanda Country Profile. Many have asked us why launch three reports at the same time. You will blur the message, some pundits argued. To the contrary, we believe that the three reports talk to each other and amplify the core message: the imperative of structural transformation to Africa’s development.
Bi-annual meetings to boost Kenya and China partnership (Business Daily)
President Uhuru Kenyatta has welcomed a proposal to have Kenyan and Chinese Government officials hold bi-annual meetings, saying the move would boost partnership between the two countries. The Head of State said the meetings would provide an avenue for the two countries to discuss priority projects and streamline implementation to ensure they are completed on time and within set budgets. The Kenyan delegation is expected in Beijing next week for the first meeting. President Kenyatta was speaking at State House, Nairobi, during a meeting with a high-powered delegation from China led by the China Exim Bank Chair Ms Hu Xiaolian.
How the Rwanda Development Board's economic reforms revolutionized Rwanda's business environment (New Times)
The latest business reforms under the stewardship of Rwanda Development Board are a landmark in improving the investment environment and the country’s competitiveness and positioning. Rwanda ranks the second in Africa in the World Bank doing business index 2016. Statistics show that RDB registered 144 businesses, worth $1,078 billion, in 2015. The new reforms concern business registration, acquisition of construction permits, property registration, and cross-border trade, among others.
Introduction to the South African Revenue Service and National Treasury firm-level panel (UNU-WIDER)
The South African Revenue Service and National Treasury Firm-Level Panel is an unbalanced panel data set created by merging several sources of administrative tax data received during 2015. The four data sources that constitute the panel are: (i) company income tax from registered firms who submit tax forms; (ii) employee data from employee income tax certificates submitted by employers; (iii) value-added tax data from registered firms; and (iv) customs records from traders. These data sets constitute a significant and unique source for the study of firm-level behaviour in post-apartheid South Africa. [The authors: Duncan Pieterse, C. Friedrich Kreuser, Elizabeth Gavin]
Public interest considerations in merger control: note by South Africa (OECD)
Importantly, the balancing exercise carried out by the South African competition authorities shows that the consideration of public interest is critical in competition analysis. In addition, the identified public interest effects are based on clearly demonstrable economic evidence which quantifies the likely harm or benefit to the public interest. In essence, as mergers have long lasting effects in the market structure and distribution of wealth, particularly in markets with high barriers to entry, it is inevitable that their assessment ought to traverse beyond the orthodox competition considerations to have regard to their social impact especially in the current environment of rising globally inequality. [Background note, Workshop details]
Mauritius will submit three projects for consideration by the Comité de Suivi for the Programme: renewable energy; setting up of innovation and technology parks; and development of smart agriculture, on a triangular basis with Mauritius/Reunion Island/Seychelles and Mauritius/Reunion Island/ Madagascar. The Programme de coopération Interreg V Océan Indien 2014-2020 focuses on cooperation between the outermost regions of Réunion and Mayotte, and 12 other countries in the southern Indian Ocean (Union of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Australia), as well as the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Angola receives investment proposals of $30bn in seven months (MacauHub)
Investment proposals received by the Technical Private Investment Unit (UTIP), a body set up seven months ago, so far total $30bn, the director general of UTIP announced recently. Norberto Garcia recalled that the approved investments over seven months amounted to $7.5bn in projects for the agriculture, fisheries and industrial sectors.
Harnessing FDI for job creation and industrialisation in Africa: IGC Growth Brief
Kenya: State permits direct tea export (Daily Nation)
In an unprecedented move, local companies and farmers’ organisations have been given the go-ahead to directly export tea to international markets. The government’s decision is aimed at cutting off unscrupulous middlemen who have continued to eat into the farmers’ profits. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett said what tea producers currently endure at the Mombasa port is “exploitative and abusive”.
Kenya: Botswana's Choppies seals year-long quest for Ukwala takeover (Business Daily)
Botswana supermarket chain Choppies Enterprises has finally succeeded in its year-long quest to enter Kenya’s retail space through acquisition of Ukwala Supermarkets stores. The retailer Monday announced its takeover of eight Ukwala outlets across the country. Three of the stores are in Nairobi, four in Kisumu and one in Bungoma. Choppies first announced the intention to enter Kenya in May last year.
Africa’s Regional Nutrition Strategy (2016–2025): AU maps out implementation plan (AU)
The 8th session of the AU Task Force on Food and Nutrition Development has taken place at the Commission’s Headquarters in Addis Ababa. A Representative of the RECs also called for strengthening of data and monitoring mechanisms and effective reporting on our activities, to ensure accountability of all the decisions and declarations taken to improve food and nutrition situation of Africans. During the two-day deliberation, participants called for generating more evidence and knowledge management; advocacy and awareness raising campaigns and increased resources for Agriculture, food and nutrition actions.
IGAD: Preparing for the post El Nino impacts in the Greater Horn of Africa
The IGAD Climate Prediction & Application Centre this morning launched the 43rd Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum in Naivasha. The main objectives of GHACOF 43 are to develop consensus regional climate outlook for the June to September 2016 rainfall season, and to formulate and mitigation strategies to the implications of forecasted seasonal rainfall and temperature on the key socio-economic sectors in the GHA region. [Related: At UNEA-2 in Nairobi, governments agree to 25 landmark resolutions (UNEP), Effects of food price shocks on child malnutrition: the Mozambican experience 2008/2009 (UNU-WIDER)]
Business leaders call for WTO to address pressing business issues (WTO)
In addition to the current negotiating agenda, they urged the WTO to look at a wide range of issues such as electronic commerce, rules to better facilitate services and investment flows, support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, action to provide trade finance, and many others. The Trade Dialogues event brought together over 60 business leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in conducting trade operations and to discuss how the WTO can help in dealing with them. [Download: Summary of elements raised by Business Leaders] [Related: WTO/World Bank Forum discusses how to ensure the poor gain from trade, WTO issues 2016 Annual Report]
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