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tralac’s Daily News Selection
The selection: Friday, 24 June 2016
Meeting of trade ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries: speech by Joakim Reiter, documentation (UNCTAD)
Add to this the fact that LLDCs are often highly dependent on commodity exports. In fact, primary commodity exports account for more than 50% of total exports in all but five of 32 LLDCs. And many of these exports are high-volume and low-value. This magnifies the problem of trade costs. As a result, high trade costs and low economic diversification trap LLDCs in a vicious cycle. In this cycle, the bulk of FDI flowing into these countries continues to flow to extractive resources. This handicap also directly undermines the full exploitation of the opportunities offered by both trade and investment. It tends to make it harder for LLDCs to diversify and to transform their production and trade patterns, for example by integrating into regional and global value chains. So, what are the remedies to this? How can we better ensure that trade can be a powerful engine of growth and development for LLDCs? [Documentation includes statements by African LDCs]
Oceans economy and trade: presentations/documentation on sustainable fisheries, transport and tourism (UNCTAD)
National Trade Facilitation Committees: WTO members share experiences (WTO)
Has the Tripartite Free Trade Area been overtaken by events? (tralac)
In short, there is, as yet, no TFTA. It is still subject to negotiations in key substantive areas. At this stage 17 of the 26 negotiating member states have signed the incomplete agreement; ratification will have to wait till everything has been concluded. Present indications are that the parties (or at least some of the main players) are bogged down in difficult technical and political issues involving the extent of their tariff offers and the content of the concomitant rules of origin. These are essential elements in the design of a trade in goods agreement, if they are not finalized then there cannot be new FTA. In the meantime very important new trade-related developments are taking place elsewhere on the continent and there is a possibility that the FTA could be overtaken by events. The TFTA teaches us several lessons. [The analyst: Gerhard Erasmus]
Trade facilitation, transport and transit in West Africa (UNCTAD)
The main output of the workshop, 11-12 May, was a roadmap on selected priority of work areas with related actions to be undertaken, for which the follow up will be ensured jointly by UNCTAD and H.E. Eloi Laourou, Ambassador of Benin, coordinator of the LDC group at WTO. UNCTAD has recently completed the updating of EIF-funded Diagnostic Trade Integration Study of two transit countries in West Africa (the Gambia and Senegal) and of two landlocked countries (Mali and Niger). It is currently providing technical assistance to Benin in the elaboration of its National Trade Development Policy and supporting Burkina Faso in the drafting of its Medium Term Plan. In the DTIS of these countries, the cross-border character of transit trade and trade facilitation are highlighted as major challenges to international trade, requiring cooperation in the implementation of the DTIS action matrices. Follow-up issues:
Zimbabwe: Govt rules out Randification (The Herald)
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa has ruled out the use of the South African rand as the sole official trading unit, saying Government did not intend to adopt a single currency, but would maintain the multi-currency regime. Minister Chinamasa said the rand was already in the multi-currency basket, hence it had to be used like any other units. He was presenting a ministerial statement on the state of the economy and the pending introduction of bond notes. "Further, there have been calls for the adoption of South African rand as the transacting currency by many people. The rand remains part and parcel of the multi-currency system and economic players are free to switch to any currency as a way of managing their operations. We do not intend to adopt a single currency, but we will continue to bolster the strength of the multi-currency system,” said Minister Chinamasa. [Related: Importers slate govt over licence gaffe (Zimbabwe Independent), A tralac discussion on the import regulations]
South Africa: Imported chicken is slaughtering the local industry, says poultry association (City Press)
With poultry imports currently at their highest level in South Africa’s history, the flood of cheap foreign chicken now accounts for 9.6% of the Southern African Customs Union’s trade deficit, weakening the rand and decimating the local poultry industry, especially small and emerging farmers, the association said. “The fact is that there is no need to import poultry at all. Poultry does not have to be a part of the trade deficit," said Kevin Lovell, chief executive of the South African Poultry Association. In 2015, poultry imports amounted to a massive R4.6bn in an industry that was among the most unprotected in the world, with applied tariff protection equating to barely a few percent a year, Lovell added.
A blueprint for better jobs in Kenya (World Bank Blogs)
We recently completed a Jobs Diagnostic in Kenya to look at ways that the country can create better jobs, especially for young Kenyans. The report we have produced from this diagnostic ‘Kenya – Jobs for Youth’ (pdf) shows that the lack of good jobs is slowing down poverty reduction and is an increasingly important concern for the young population. Good jobs are fundamental to development. For Kenya’s economy to create better jobs, there needs to be a thriving private sector. Here are some of our findings:
Kenya/Ethiopia: joint communiqué, Kenya/Ethiopia Business Forum: speech by President Kenyatta
Tweet by @IndustryKE: Total trade between Kenya and Ethiopia increased from Ksh2.2 bn in 2004 to about Ksh7.4 bn in 2014, Deal with Ethiopia expected to ease trade (Daily Nation)
Why Ethiopia is on track to become Africa's industrial powerhouse (analysis by Jostein Hauge, Muhammad Irfan, The Conversation)
New East Africa highway connecting Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan (World Highways)
How NGO’s dossier scuttled joint Kenya, Uganda pipeline plan (Business Daily)
President Museveni's strategic guidelines and directives for the term 2016-2021 (full text, Uganda Media Centre)
Key barriers to Kenya’s SMEs growth – study (CapitalFM)
Access to finance, linkage with big businesses and limited effective corporate governance are the major barriers to Kenya’s SMEs growth. This is according to a new study commissioned by Invest In Africa (IIA) and Strathmore Business School. The findings of the study also highlight inability to scale up as another major barrier that has seen 70% failure rate of SME’s within the first three years of existence. [The Kenyan textile and fashion industry: the role of fashion designers and small tailors in the fiber to fashion value chain (pdf)]
AfDB develops strategy for Africa’s agricultural transformation: 'Feed Africa' (AfDB)
The Feed Africa Strategy makes a strong case for reversing the situation of a continent that spends $35.4bn on food imports annually despite being home to 65% of the world’s undeveloped arable land. The total investment for the realization of the transformation agenda over 10 years is estimated at $315-400bn with annual returns of $85bn, when fully funded. The Bank will itself invest $24bn and leverage additional investments through equity, quasi equity, debt and risk instruments to catalyze investments at scale from the private sector and with co-financing from traditional donors and new players. The identified financing gap estimated at $23bn can be met using innovative de-risking tools and blended financing from combined sovereign, pension and private equity funds, according to Chiji Ojukwu, Director of the Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-industry Department, who presented the Strategy at the Board. The idea is to drive transformation through 15 priority commodity value chains in given agro-ecological zones specifically to achieve self-sufficiency in key commodities such as: [Regional Great Lakes Integrated Agriculture Development Project: IDA credit approved (World Bank), 'Feeding Africa: towards agro-allied industrialization for inclusive growth': African Economic Conference 2016 call for papers]
19th SADC Civic Aviation Committee meeting: update (Daily News)
Tanzania's Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Prof Makame Mbarawa, has called for unity and political will among SADC member states in the implementation of the Civil Aviation Upper Airspace Management Centre (CAUAMC) project. The four-day discussions are based on operationalisation of the Interim SADC Aviation Safety Organisation (SASO) and the review of Annex III of the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications and Meteorology that establishes the SADC permanent Mission Headquarters in Montreal Canada is one of the featuring agenda for deliberations. [Mozambican airline suspends flights between Maputo and Luanda]
EAC Ministerial communique: sustainable financing for health and HIV & AIDS coverage
We, the Ministers responsible for Finance and Ministers responsible for Health on this 23rd day of June 2016 hereby commit ourselves to the following: 1. adopt an EAC Framework of Action on Sustainable Financing with recommended strategic actions, encompassing the three policy options among others, namely;
ECOWAS Commission reiterates commitment to women’s participation in governance
The experts’ meeting which among others was called to review the Draft of the ECOWAS Gender and Elections Strategic Framework, is funded by the Danish International Development Agency and facilitated by Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections. While commending the comprehensive focus of the draft EGESF, the experts provided valuable information about the contextual realities in Member states, and made key suggestions towards improving the coherence of the document and the formulation of the action plan.
New, from the African Union: ECOSOCC General Assembly: report of 13-15 April Lusaka meeting (pdf), SDGs Transition Report 2016 in Africa: concept note for experts meeting, 28-29 June (pdf)
TAZARA wins deal to transport Malawi fuel (Daily News)
The Malawian government has contracted Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority to transport 48 million litres of petroleum products from Dar es Salaam port in the next 12 months, starting from next month. TAZARA is also in discussion with the Zambian government and another private firm to begin transporting at least 14 million litres of fuel per month from the port of Dar es Salaam to Zambia and the DRC within the month of July 2016, he said. [National Transport Sector Master Plan study, connection of the railway from Benguela to Zambia: EOI (pdf, AfDB)]
Tanzania: Minister issues warning to conniving TBS officials (IPPMedia)
Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Charles Mwijage sounded the warning here yesterday when wrapping up the 22nd general assembly of the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) ‘Made in Africa Expo,’ held in Arusha. He said starting July 1, no substandard goods will be allowed to get into the Tanzanian market. “Any TBS official who will be found allowing substandard goods into Tanzania will be fired,” the minister said. The minister said: “It’s time for Tanzania to start getting quality goods and even local manufacturers should strive to ensure what they produce meet international standards.”
African Consumer Sentiment 2016: the promise of new markets (BCG)
The BCG’s Center for Customer Insight polled 11127 consumers across 11 African countries: Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. For multinationals hoping to capitalize on the continent’s growing consumer market, the report offers insights on where to invest marketing resources for the greatest impact.
World must act faster to harness potential of the digital economy (OECD)
Governments must act faster to help people and firms to make greater use of the Internet and remove regulatory barriers to digital innovation or else risk missing out on the potentially huge economic and social benefits of the digital economy, the OECD told ministers and high-level officials from almost 40 countries attending the 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Cancun.
UN Global Compact Leaders Summit: global drive for responsible business actions on SDGs
Can Singapore's trade with the continent expand further? (Channel News)
Nyusi appoints Ragendra de Sousa Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade (Club of Mozambique)
Mozambique and South Africa reintroduce visa suspension rules (Club of Mozambique)
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