The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which implementation phase took effect from January 1, this year, has the potential to build Africa’s capacity to manufacture, change the narrative of the continent’s economy and give Africa a stronger voice and positioning in the global economy. Making this known in Lagos, President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mansur Ahmed, expressed confidence that there would be a tremendous opportunity for growth and development for every one if the countries were willing to to make it a success. Ahmed, who spoke at this year’s ‘MAN Reporter of the Year Award/Presidential Media Luncheon at MAN House, Ikeja, Lagos, commended the Federal Government for its decision to re-open the land borders for ease of trade engagements, particularly under the implementation phase of the AfCFTA. Trading under the long–awaited AfCFTA finally began on January 1, this year, marking a very important milestone for African trade. The free trade agreement creates a single continental market for goods and services, with the aim of increasing intra-African trade by reducing tariffs by 90 per cent and harmonising trading rules at a continental level. The AfCFTA has the potential to increase intra-African trade by 52.3 per cent by 2022, but this, according to Ahmed, could not come without challenges, one of which is the issue dumping. “The dumping issue frankly is a matter of political will. Do our governments and political leaders have the political will to agree on those things that we have to do?,” he asked. The...

JOHANNESBURG – AFRICAN delegates on the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Friday agreed that the continent might speed up the build-up of productive infrastructure via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo mentioned it was essential that Africa harnesses its personal resources and deploy them as creatively as potential if it was to supply an inclusive, sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Akufo-Addo mentioned Africa should return to macroeconomic stability and monetary accountability, and leverage quickly the use of digital applied sciences to reinforce our socio-economic lives. “The multilateral system is under strain, and we must do all that we can to generate the needed resources to achieve sustainable development,” Akufo-Addo mentioned. “We in Africa should make every effort to generate for ourselves the additional funds we need to advance, and hopefully our external partners – private and public – will lend their backing to the priorities we set.” AfCFTA is a key pillar for the area’s financial recovery and the world’s largest trade settlement, spanning a market of 1.3 billion folks and a gross dpmestic product of $3.4 trillion. Akufo-Addo echoed President Cyril Ramaphosa, who advised the digital WEF Davos Dialogues on Tuesday that South Africa had mobilised round $51 bn (R774bn) in new funding commitments during the last three years. Ramaphosa mentioned round one-fifth of the dedicated worth had already been invested in development and important gear for mining, manufacturing, telecoms and agriculture. “These interventions will enable South Africa to better realise...

Obinna Chima The AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited has stressed the need for an improvement in infrastructure as well as product-handling efficiencies at the sea ports across the country. This, it stated, would lower overall costs of input imports and improve competitive advantage of exports. The commodity exchange stated this in its 2021 Annual Commodities Outlook. It also pointed out that lack of access to loans and fertilizers remained largely the biggest challenge to most farmers in 2020. Furthermore, it pointed out that the high interest rate environment in the country, coupled with the risk involved in agro- financing, could impede the capacity of farmers to pay back loans. These, it also stated had also been major impediments to loan access and disbursement over the years. “This explains the low exposure of banks to the agriculture space despite policy makers’ objective to enhance food security in the country,” it added. According to the National Bureau of Statistics data, credit to the Agriculture sector in Q2 2020 accounted for a meagre five per cent. Fertilizer on the other hand remains a core agriculture input which affects negatively or positively crop yield dependent on the usage per hectare. “At about 20kg fertilizer usage per hectare on the average, Nigeria lags Sub-Saharan peers like South Africa and Egypt that use over 100kg/ha and other developed economies that use above 200kg/ha. “This is despite measures to enhance the procurement and distribution of fertilizers to farmers during the farming season. While farmers according to the survey...

Sub-Saharan Africa will see moderate but positive growth of 2.7% this year, a welcome rebound from the region’s first recession of 25 years in 2020 when the region shrank by an estimated -3.7%. But 2021 is probably going to be just as tough for African economies as it was in 2020. Last year, there was a 6.1% decline in per capita income in the region, the “deepest contraction on record,” says the World Bank in its latest global outlook. There’ll be a further 0.2% decline this year. Like many observers, the bank is worried that despite the commendable early efforts of African governments to lock down their economies from Covid-19 the pandemic has not really let off. Several countries are going through a second wave that is more severe than the first. These persistent outbreaks and the uncertainty they create will inhibit economic growth and ultimately set living standards back by a decade, says the bank, reiterating its early pandemic warnings. One of the many reasons, African economies have struggled has been the unprecedented capital outflows needed to help manage their economic lockdowns even as foreign direct investment all but disappeared. In 2020, FDI to Africa collapsed by 30%-40% and remittances fell by 9% leaving little room to maneuver for African finance ministers. This is likely why despite ongoing concerns about mounting debt levels, government debt in the region jumped another 8 percentage points to around 70% of GDP, says the IMF. The fear now is that rising interest payment...

Africa50, in partnership with US based Foreign Policy magazine, has launched an exciting new podcast series called Africa Forward. Africa Forward tells the largely untold story of how infrastructure is transforming the lives of people in Africa. The four-part series, which begun on Tuesday 26 January 2021, brings major African infrastructure projects to life. It highlights the Benban Solar Park in Egypt, a solar park so massive that it can be seen from outer space and showcases how cross-border projects such as the Senegambia Bridge can support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was officially launched on 1 January 2021. The series also shares inspiring stories on the way Africans are leveraging ICT infrastructure and technology to shape the future, such as 21-year-old Betelhem Dessie in Ethiopia, who taught herself to code at nine, and has now trained more than 20,000 African youth to code. The program features visionary leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and heads of institutions, who will share their views and insights on the continent’s challenges and investment opportunities, and above all, on the way forward. A trailer for the show, which is hosted by journalist Carol Pineau and former CNN anchor and correspondent Isha Sesay, can be found here, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms, as well as the Foreign Policy Playlist’s website: https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/africa-forward/ The first episode, focusing on trade and transport infrastructure is now available and a new episode will be released every week until 16 February 2021. The other three episodes will be broadcast as...

Sixty years since most African States attained independence, the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a fresh spotlight on the folly of the haphazard colonial boundaries. Long traffic jams at border posts across the continent, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, were the poster child of the non-tariff barriers that continue to hamper trade in Africa. These boundaries are the primary reason for the high cost of doing business in Africa and are the cause of low intra-African trade, investment, economic integration, and poverty. Covid-19 has also introduced a new economic paradigm, with digital technology taking the lead to ease the safe flow of goods across borders. If the pandemic persists late into 2021, some of the new digital technologies introduced to facilitate safe cross-border movement could become permanent fixtures across the continent and indeed other parts of the world. The concept of intra-African trade dates before the 15th century. Despite war and competitiveness among African empires, they traded among themselves, sometimes travelling long distances to do so. The Songhai Empire practically controlled the trans-Saharan trade whereby an array of goods and services including gold, slaves, ivory, silk, horses, and sugar were exchanged. As is the case today, trade was a mutual exchange of goods and services and it had two dimensions to it; commercial and societal. With increased trading activities came a well-developed system of trading. The barter trade system was eventually replaced by currencies such as coins used in northern Africa, brass rods used by the Tiv of Nigeria,...

In Summary The Mombasa tea auction was started in 1956 to take care of the interests of the tea sector in Africa. The auction is the largest in the world and it is managed by the East African Tea Traders Association. President Uhuru Kenyatta will commission it in April. The East African Tea Traders Association managing director Edward Mudibo has confirmed that the tea auction has now been running electronically for the last six months. “We went live six months ago with funds from the Danish International Development Agency as the main donor and Trade Mark East Africa (TMA) as the implementers‚” he said. Speaking last week during an interview in Mombasa, Mudibo said they are in the final stages. In February 2015, EATTA members approved the proposal to adopt the electronic auction system. He explained that previously, members were required to physically visit the auction in Mombasa to buy tea, but now that is no longer a requirement. “With automation, members are currently buying tea from the comfort of their offices and homes. This is a big change from the past trend where all members had to be physically present,” he said. The Mombasa tea auction was started in 1956 to take care of the interests of the tea sector in Africa. The auction is the largest in the world and it is managed by the East African Tea Traders Association. Mudibo said the journey to the automation of the tea auction started in July 2011 during the First...

In Summary Stakeholders say the market is projected to spring-up cross-border trade between Kenya and other East African Community member states. The government and development partners will fund the construction of the market Traders across East Africa are set to benefit from the construction of a Sh1.4 billion modern market at the Busia border. The facility, to be built on 40 acres in Marachi on the Kenya-Uganda border, will accommodate 2,000 traders. The 40 acres is part of a 90-acre piece of land committed to the project. The remaining 50 acres will host a school, a police post and other social amenities. The government and development partners will fund the construction of the market. Last year, the National Treasury and TradeMark Africa signed an agreement worth Sh1.4 billion to facilitate the construction and completion of the project. It is not clear when the construction will start. East Africa Community and Regional Development PS Kevit Desai said on Wednesday the market would be a one-stop shop where traders will be buying a variety of products and get other services. “This investment breaks a great milestone in our efforts to create a cross-border market to serve the purpose of the informal sector and all those who would like to trade sufficiently across borders,” he said. The PS spoke during a ceremony to erect beacons on the land the facility will be built. Once complete, the modern market will constitute a business hub, a retail section and part of it will house wholesale...

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has brought profound social, political, economic, and environmental challenges to the world. The virus may have emerged from wildlife reservoirs linked to environmental disruption, was transmitted to humans via the wildlife trade, and its spread was facilitated by economic globalization. The pandemic arrived at a time when wildfires, high temperatures, floods, and storms amplified human suffering. These challenges call for a powerful response to COVID-19 that addresses social and economic development, climate change, and biodiversity together, offering an opportunity to bring transformational change to the structure and functioning of the global economy. This biodefense can include a “One Health” approach in all relevant sectors; a greener approach to agriculture that minimizes greenhouse gas emissions and leads to healthier diets; sustainable forms of energy; more effective international environmental agreements; post-COVID development that is equitable and sustainable; and nature-compatible international trade. Restoring and enhancing protected areas as part of devoting 50% of the planet’s land to environmentally sound management that conserves biodiversity would also support adaptation to climate change and limit human contact with zoonotic pathogens. The essential links between human health and well-being, biodiversity, and climate change could inspire a new generation of innovators to provide green solutions to enable humans to live in a healthy balance with nature leading to a long-term resilient future. Introduction In the mid-fourteenth century the bubonic plague was carried by the flea-borne bacterium Yersinia pestis on great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) that were flourishing in the grasslands of Central Asia during a high productivity rainy...

Visiting Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia the Foreign Secretary signed new agreements on healthcare and climate change, saw how UK aid is helping those most in need and pressed for humanitarian access to help those affected by the Tigray crisis. On a three-country tour of East Africa, one year on from the UK’s Africa Investment Summit, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met with political leaders, NGO’s and civil society in Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia for important talks on tackling shared challenges including COVID-19, security and climate change. Starting in Kenya on Wednesday (20 January) the Foreign Secretary and President Uhuru Kenyatta met to discuss further opportunities to boost the UK-Kenya trade partnership – worth £1.4 billion annually - following the signing of one of the UK’s first trade agreements in Africa in December. The Foreign Secretary had meetings with senior politicians including Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo and announced £48 million of new UK climate initiatives for Kenya as we build momentum ahead of COP26 in Glasgow in November. On a visit to KEMRI Laboratory in Nairobi the Foreign Secretary heard how Kenyan and British scientists have been working together to develop the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Here he signed a new health partnership with Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe, to help maximise knowledge sharing between medical professionals in both the UK and Kenya. Alongside Defence Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, the Foreign Secretary met soldiers at the UK-backed Counter-IED centre at the Humanitarian Peace Support School in Embakasi, and heard how joint Kenya-UK efforts are...