Speakers at the ‘Pandenomics’ webinar recently hosted by Nedbank Namibia CIB and Simonis Storm, and supported by Nedbank Business Banking and Nedbank Private Wealth, has called for more people to get vaccinated in order to help fuel economic growth after the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The panellist included: Nedbank Group South Africa Senior Economist, Nicky Weimar; Head of Nedbank Namibia Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), Dr Edward Turner, Simonis Storm Economist, Theo Klein; and Simonis Storm Managing Director, Bruce Hansen, who also moderated the discussion. During the discussion, Simonis Storm economist, Theo Klein, presented the economic impact and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation outlined that even though the Namibian economy has been declining for the last six-year, the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the government having to introduce its lockdown policy, amplified the decline. According to the Simonis Storm report, the sectors hit hardest during this period include metal ores, beverages, accommodation, food services, meat processing, basic non-ferrous metals and transport. Growth is however forecasted for these sectors, but only marginally. Economic contractions have also resulted in job loss and retrenchment in these sectors. The presentation outlined that a total of 13,682 Namibians were retrenched between January 2020 and June 2021. Of this number 10,773 retrenchments were due to economic reasons, closure or discontinuation of business, while 2,909 were a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the factors which could lead to short-term economic growth include a higher than average rainfall season, a stronger focus...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Africa has launched a new brief that advocates for seizing the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for the economic empowerment of women in agriculture. The publication is launched today to coincide with the International Day for Rural Women which is celebrated every year on 15 October to honour women and girls living in rural areas. The AfCFTA holds the potential to contribute significantly to eliminating poverty, creating jobs, and improving food security. However, the new publication Seizing the opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area for the economic empowerment of women in agriculture warns that the AfCFTA could exacerbate existing gender disparities and discrimination and worsen the condition of women engaged in trade and agriculture if women’s inclusion is not prioritized. The AfCFTA will change existing trading practices and formalize markets which could preclude women’s access and further relegate them to informal and less lucrative value chains. “Women must not be left behind,” said FAO Senior Gender Officer Clara Park. “It is of pivotal importance that we create ecosystems of support that enable women to access opportunities created through the AfCFTA and reinvigorate our efforts to address existing gender inequalities in access to and control over land, services, technology, markets and knowledge. We need to bring women and their organizations to the decision making table,” she said. Women’s key role in Africa’s food production and trade Around 85 percent of economic activity in Africa...

The impact of the pandemic on global supply chains has prompted governments around the world to look at ways to fix the broken links. In Africa, the launch of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has provided the continent with new opportunities to strengthen its regional supply chain. Virusha Subban, Head of Indirect Tax at Baker McKenzie in South Africa, explains that there were massive breakages in key links in global supply chains during and after the pandemic, with issues including, among many other things, route congestion and blockages, manufacturing shutdowns, a deficit of skilled labour, a global shortage of key logistics components including shipping containers, a lack of space in warehouses, a spike in transportation costs and substantially increased demand for goods around the world, post-lockdown. As a result, countries have been looking at ways to relink broken chains. In February 2021, President Biden addressed this issue by signing an Executive Order on America’s supply chains. He ordered federal agencies to review and identify vulnerabilities in key US supply chains and develop policies to ensure those supply chains would be more resilient to future shocks. Similarly, the European Union Policy Department for External Relations issued a report on Post Covid-19 value chains: options for reshoring production back to Europe in a globalised economy. The report noted that, against the background of both supply shortages due to the pandemic, and the shift in global trading patterns, reshoring of production, the process of bringing production activities home, had become a topical...

Summary A meeting held at the AfCFTA headquarters in Accra found that without these provisions no trade can take place. East Africa’s private sector was represented in Accra by the East African Business Council’s (EABC) Chief Executive John Bosco Kalisa. Rules of Origin determine which products can be subject to tariffs and duties. The implementation phase of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which went live on January 1, is still bogged down by technicalities as key provisions of the agreement are yet to be concluded. The technical provisions that are proving to be a hurdle to trade are the rules of origin, the tariff offer and Customs Union. A meeting held at the AfCFTA headquarters in Accra, Ghana on September 18-19, to review the agreement nine months after its inception, found that without these provisions no trade can take place, at least not as easily as envisaged. East Africa’s private sector was represented in Accra by the East African Business Council’s (EABC) Chief Executive John Bosco Kalisa who emphasised the importance of establishing the Rules of Origin in the continent’s FTA. “So far no trading has taken place because we are still ironing out issues. Before anyone starts trading, there are a number of key components such as tariffs and Rules of Origin — the criteria needed to determine the national source of a product — which have to be agreed on. The rules of origin are basically the ‘passport for goods’ and if these rules are not...

The value of Intra-COMESA total exports declined by 11 percent from Ksh.1.2 trillion (US$.10.9 billion) in 2019 to Ksh.1 trillion (US$.9.7 billion) in 2020 due to adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic and pre-existing factors such as supply-side challenges and prevalence of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). The low intra-regional trade resulted from existing gaps in information availability on trading opportunities, regulatory requirements in markets and factors that inform business decisions on production of goods and trade. This was revealed during an update that was presented at the ongoing 37th Meeting of the COMESA Trade and Customs Committee, October 13 – 15, 2021. Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Assistant Secretary General in charge of programmes, Dr Kipyego Cheluget observed that regional trade could flourish if Member States embraced the COMESA trade and customs facilitation instruments and policies. “If well implemented these could significantly increase intra-COMESA trade, reduce time and cost, increase regional competitiveness, create jobs and positively impact on living standards of our people,” he said. He also said that the implementation of regional commitments and full participation of all Member States in COMESA FTA required greater efforts and improvement. In 2020, COMESA developed COVID-19 guidelines and an online platform for exchange of information on movement of essential goods and services. The aim was to ensure safe trade continued across the region. The utilization of the platform is, however, still low and member states have been urged to mobilize national business bodies to ensure its full utilization not only to address...

This article dwells on “Effects of Berbera Corridor on Trade and Security in the Horn of Africa: the Case of Somaliland and Ethiopia”. Here, the Berbera corridor is presented as a strategic development effort to boost trade and economic integration between Ethiopia and Somaliland, and by extension, the Horn of Africa. Emphasis is made on the direction that trade links promote economic development and give citizens of the region to ponder about sustainable development and livelihood, and how these elements are likely to contribute to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP). The article emphasizes the adage that “when a road passes, development follows”. The Berbera trade link has been discussed as a major contributor to the region’s political, economic, and social stability, and a timely remedy to poor land transport interconnectedness in the Horn of Africa. The article contributes to existing knowledge in that it captures the Berbera Corridor as an important contributor to the growth and development of Somaliland, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa. The Corridor has also been analyzed as attracting investment opportunities and generating economic activities that keep citizens focused on prioritizing peace and sustainable development options. Ayan Rashid Ibrahim Ayan Rashid Ibrahim is a researcher, lecturer, and head of the academic department of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Hargeisa. Ms. Ayan engages in teaching, research, and other intellectual activities. She holds an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Hargeisa, and two Bachelor’s...

Vaccine inequity leaves people in developing countries vulnerable to new virus strains and slows down economic progress. Trade facilitation measures are a fast, cost-effective way to enable the smooth flow of vaccine supplies across borders to aid recovery. We outline how trade facilitation can address these key challenges and highlight the success of a project in Mozambique. As vaccine inequity hinders economic recovery in less-developed countries and threatens to reverse progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), trade facilitation measures offer a fast, cost-effective solution. From digitizing trade documents to cutting red tape and making border processes more efficient, they ensure vaccines travel more easily to those who need them most. While boosting COVID-19 vaccine production – especially in the countries with low immunization rates – resolving licensing disputes and eradicating trade barriers such as export restrictions are also vital for equitable vaccine access, they require significant time and investment. In contrast, implementing trade facilitation measures – as laid out in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement – can reap results within months rather than years, and ensure that when vaccine supplies do ramp up, they flow quickly to where they are needed most. Facilitating trade in COVID-19 vaccines also brings long-term benefits for countries’ broader health systems and economies, reducing the future cost of importing anything from perishable foods to pharmaceutical inputs. Why vaccine inequity matters According to the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity, a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford, just 2.14% of people...

At a time when the world has been shaken and businesses have been worst hit, it is now clear that future-proof establishments must adopt innovative practices to stay resilient.  Speaking during the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum is driven by TradeMark Africa, Bidco Africa’s Group Director – Chris Diaz emphasized the need for collective responsibility bringing together the public and private sector players to realize the alignment and seamless operations of trade through digital technologies. “The East African region is an entrepreneurial hub and with the private sector’s contribution of more than 60% of the GDP, the economic growth potential steered by SMEs and MSMEs is massive in job creation. Adopting digitalization is at the centre stage to realizing this great vision of our motherland,” said Mr Diaz.  Bidco Africa’s Group Director – Chris Diaz Mr Diaz who is also a Director at the East African Business Council (EABC) lauded the WTO Director-General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for her leadership and championing joint Stakeholder Engagement of players across the Eastern Africa region which has seen up to 3% economic growth, in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) spirit. With the adoption in place and the resilience in trade, we will realize the free flow of goods and services, growth of trade and eventually globalization of markets. Together with the Trade Counsellor for Kenya European Union, KRA’s Deputy Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, the Chair at All-Party Parliamentary Group and the Trade Mark CEO, the forum emphasized the need to embrace...

Dr. Olusola Oloba, the Agriculture Sector Coordinator at the Secretariat of the National Action Committee of AfCFTA, Abuja, in this interview with EHIME ALEX, explains why AfCFTA may take longer time to realise its objective Could you bring us to speed with what African Continental Free Trade Area has been doing since it commenced work in January? The African Continental Free Trade Area is a trade body that aims to create a single market for goods and services in Africa, while the AfCFTA agreement is one of the major trade components that explain economic integration and talk about free trade. We also have the Customs Union. This happens when state parties begin to look at common external tariffs. Precisely, AfCFTA came into play in May 2019 after about 22 states ratified the agreement. But Nigeria signed the agreement in July 2019, making her the 53rd out of the 55 countries in Africa. What the agreement aims, majorly, is to create a single market for goods and services in Africa, as well as liberalise the market. When people are free to move across borders, goods and services are also free to move. It also contributes to the movement of capital and persons. What do I mean by this? The second phase of the agreement intends to look at what we call “cross-border investment” – the possibility of countries investing in other countries within the continent; for instance, a business tycoon from South Africa coming to invest in Nigeria. There are phases, actually....

A mantra that will be often heard in the corridors of power, whether in the developed or developing world, is that ‘the future belongs to the nations of the global south’. While this might seem like hyperbole, the potential of the Global South to become the driver of the world economy is absolutely real because the numbers reveal that to be true. Africa has 50% of the world's unused arable land (food demand is expected to increase on our continent by over 200% by 2030 and globally by over 50% by 2050). In addition, with improved logistics, the harnessing of better agricultural practices, and strong government and multilateral support, the future for agriculture and agri-business on the continent is bright. Among the many factors that will turn the obvious potential of Africa’s agriculture into reality is the strength of the continent’s commodity markets. Commodity markets have been dominated by the traditional global powerhouses (The United States of America, Japan, Australia, Germany, and Canada). However, what we are now seeing is that some of the largest commodity exchanges are now operating in emerging markets like India, Brazil, and China. While CME Group Inc (founded in 1848 at the Chicago Board of Trade) dominates the commodity exchange industry with over 20 million individual contracts transacted daily in recent years, others such as the ICE (International Exchange) and TOCOM (Tokyo Commodity Exchange) transact millions of commodity transactions daily worth tens of billions of dollars. The ability of these exchanges to connect producers to...