Trade initiatives must keep up with the evolving needs of developing and least developed countries (LDCs) in order to adapt to climate change as part of a global economic strategy, participants heard at the Aid for Trade Global Review on 28 July. Open trade and lowering barriers to environmental goods and services must play a critical role in providing affordable access to advanced technologies needed to transition to a low-carbon economy, speakers said. At a plenary session on the second day of the Aid for Trade event, speakers focused on how this initiative can help develop critical trade infrastructure while supporting resilient, climate friendly and inclusive trade outcomes. The session benefited from the expertise and practical insights of experts and financing partners engaged in green transition activities. In his opening remarks, WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang told participants that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. The World Bank estimates that natural disasters already cost low- and middle-income countries USD 390 billion per year regarding damage related to water, transport and power infrastructure. “In that context, adapting to climate change by reducing climate-related risks and vulnerability is a key economic strategy. International trade can contribute to climate change adaptation efforts by enhancing economic resilience to extreme weather events through diversified supply chains, timely provision of essential goods and services, improved food security, and greater access to climate-related adaptation technologies,” he said. DDG Zhang stressed that the transition to a low-carbon economy entails a substantive transformation...

Digitalization brings new opportunities in trade and creates the potential to underpin resilience in times of crisis The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes and yield trade gains on the continent of US$20 billion a year Single Window can cross-check credentials for consistency and traceability, reducing errors and fraud The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes and yield trade gains on the continent of US$20 billion a year. Digitalization brings new opportunities in trade and creates the potential to underpin resilience in times of crisis. The digital transformation of customs and borders in Africa could improve efficiencies in processes and yield trade gains on the continent of US$20 billion a year. With digital trade in place, pre-existing bottlenecks in infrastructure can be tackled, efficiencies can be leveraged, and Innovative solutions can be harnessed. However, countries in Africa vary greatly in their readiness for digital trade. In African countries where economic resilience must be fostered, jobs must be created and entrepreneurship must be facilitated, digital trade must be in full swing. How digital automation is easing the flow of trade Thanks to technological advances, importing and exporting goods and services in Nigeria has become easier thanks to the rise of online international trade administration portals. These online portals automate the experience for many stakeholders including customs officials, businesses importing finished goods and raw materials for manufacturing, and those exporting their goods across the globe. Blockchain technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI),...

Kenya’s government has been urged to address challenges manufacturers face amid the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) The government is yet to put in place mechanisms to ensure the country takes full advantage of the benefits of AfCFTA to manufacturers Dwindling country competitiveness and lack of product competitiveness  The government of Kenya has been urged to address challenges manufacturers face amid the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Acting CEO Tobias Alando noted that whereas the trade agreement provides the best opportunity to realise the regional, national and business goals, Kenya is yet to put in place mechanisms to ensure the country takes full advantage of the benefits of AfCFTA to manufacturers.  Challenges facing manufacturers in Kenya  Alando noted that the export market in Africa is expected to increase with the full implementation of AfCFTA. However, if unaddressed, challenges manufacturers face, as far as the implementation of AfCFTA goes, include dwindling country competitiveness and lack of product competitiveness.  Other challenges include supply chain constraints, an unconducive business environment, and institutional and infrastructural constraints that could hinder local manufacturers from reaping the benefits of AfCFTA. He spoke during the launch of the KAM Study Findings on the Implications of AfCFTA on Kenyan Products. Alando gave recommendations to enable Kenyan manufacturers to thrive under the trade agreement. “At the firm level, Kenya’s business community needs to develop export strategies for various trade agreements, including EAC, COMESA and AfCFTA. The country should also implement business development programmes to penetrate...

Summary The EABC Business Barometer is an index that captures the sentiment of the business stakeholders about how they see the business environment within the EAC. Businesses in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda reported reduced cost of doing business during the pandemic. Business captains in the region are optimistic that business in the East African Community bloc will increase by 11 per cent in 2022 and 2023. The East Africa Business Community Barometer on Business and Investment links the slight optimism to perception of business owners on the effectiveness of measures introduced by governments in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Several states imposed key discretionary actions and policies in 2020 and 2021 to limit the human and economic impact of the pandemic. In Kenya, for instance, a package of tax measures was adopted, including full income tax relief for persons earning below Sh24,000  per month and reduction of the top pay-as you earn rate from 30 to 25 per cent, There was also a reduction of the base corporate income tax rate from 30 to 25 per cent, reduction of the turnover tax rate on small businesses from three to one per cent, and a reduction of the standard VAT rate from 16 to 14 per cent. These conditions, according to business owners, plus other loan flexibility policies, contributed a large extent of the growth. The EABC Business Barometer is an index that captures the sentiment of the business stakeholders about how they see the business environment within the EAC. It shows the...

Discover IOTA Use Cases with the IOTA Lighthouse Projects Dashboard This blog post gives an overview of IOTA’s role in different use cases and explains how its unique features contribute to several lighthouse projects. The solutions developed in these projects are suitable for any industry that requires transparency, immutability and secure data transfers. Our new project dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of the projects along with the IOTA wiki of the tools developed, free for anyone to use and replicate to continue building on IOTA. Gone are the days when IOTA’s catalog of projects could be summarized in a brief overview. Today, the Foundation is a crucial player in several public and private sector projects. Whether multi-year EU-funded collaborative research and development endeavors between a dozen organizations or projects carried out with a single partner, IOTA’s unique characteristics and frameworks make it an indispensable technology for different kinds of projects. The versatility of IOTA makes it suitable for any field, as demonstrated by the sheer diversity of use cases among its projects, including audit trails for supply chain processes, monitoring, and different kinds of marketplaces. These lighthouse projects are torchbearers for the adoption of a technology that offers integrity and verifiability of data and value exchange. To provide a comprehensive overview of IOTA’s lighthouse projects and demonstrate how its features are utilized, the Foundation has launched a new project dashboard. The dashboard includes a summary and key information about each project, such as consortium partners, timeline, and use cases, as...

Zimbabwe is set to import 400 000 metric tonnes (MT) of Maize from Zambia and Malawi to be delivered this June to alleviate a food crisis in the country. This will cost the country at least US$120 million before haulage and other costs are considered. Total grain imports will likely total 700 000MT in 2022. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), an estimated 6 million people (roughly 40% of the population) need food aid in the country with an increasing number of urban dwellers now food insecure. The government has forecast maize production for the 2021/22 season to be 1.56 million MT, down from the previous season's multi-year record of 2.72 million MT. Zimbabwe requires 2.2 million MT annually for industrial, human and livestock consumption. The government has encouraged private business players to import grain to plug the deficit, while subsidized farmers are obligated by law to supply the government. Grain Net Importer Harare has been a net importer of cereals since 2006 with maize production averaging less than 1.3 million MT per year in the last 10 years. Wheat production has averaged 110 000MT for the past 10 years against a national demand of 450 000MT per year. Yield per hectare for maize (the staple crop) remains very low with average national yield less than 0.7 tons per hectare (Lower than the African average of 1.8 tons/ha). The yield is also lower than Southern African peers who are largely affected by the same climatic conditions, with Namibia, Malawi...

Intra-African trade, at the behest of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), will make every state in Nigeria economically viable and resilient, Michael Faniran, Strategy, Planning and Coordination Lead, National Action Committee on AfCFTA has said. Faniran, who was speaking at the AfCFTA/POFON Oil Palm Stakeholders Meeting which held recently in Benin via Zoom said AfCFTA would capture 10% of Africa’s imports from the world to double Nigeria’s export revenue by 2035. Faniran listed a number of strategic goals of the institution as including growing export capacity of every state to $1.2 billion, focusing on specific products/service chains, growing high productivity workforce to earn premium wages in Nigeria and Africa, engendering friendly business environment to attract investment and boost competitiveness and growing local demands to boost local content, capacity and utilization, preserving local market share and laying foundation for experts. Read original article

Six British nationals based in Kenya are among 1,134 recipients of Queen Elizabeth’s birthday honours for their contributions to public life, including TradeMark Africa chief executive Frank Matsaert. The awards were given ahead of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations as she marks 70 years on the throne in a four-day fete in the UK, which began on Thursday. The honours went to UK nationals worldwide for their contribution to “sustained public service, the environment and sustainability, and youth engagement.” Mr Matsaert is the founding CEO of the trade aid agency that has been helping in the integration of the East African Community (EAC) by supporting cross-border trade since 2010. The Nairobi-based TradeMark Africa has been involved in the development of one-stop border posts in EAC, the Mombasa port, and the upgrade of customs systems for revenue authorities in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda. “I am deeply honoured by the Queen and UK Government for this recognition of TradeMark Africa’s work in supporting trade and economic development in Eastern Africa over the last twelve years. It has been a privilege and an honour to found and lead such a dynamic and impactful organisation,” said Mr Matsaert. Mr Matsaert was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his “services to trade and economic development in East Africa.” Reverend Clive Beckenham and his wife Mary, founders of Nairobi-based children’s New Life Home Trust, got an MBE for “services to abandoned and vulnerable children with HIV in Kenya.” The...

Most major airports have community systems for information exchange between clients and the national customs and other authorities. These systems are a form of a Single Window for Trade. An airport community system also called a cargo community system, is a neutral and open electronic platform enabling intelligent and secure information exchange between public and private stakeholders to improve the competitive position of airport communities. A cargo community system handles electronic communications in airports between private transport operators — airlines, agents, freight forwarders, transit sheds and transporters, the private hinterland (pre-and on-carriage, usually by road), importers and exporters, the airport authorities, customs and other government agencies. The airfreight product mix at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has had negligible improvement with dependency on agro-perishables as the main driver. With the emergence of e-commerce as a driver in the growth of the airfreight product in more developed economies, this is yet to be largely exploited locally despite the existing potential driven by the exponential growth of the youth demographic and ever-increasing mobile telephony penetration. The unavailability of easily accessible data from a singular source of truth is at the core of this quagmire. In addition to confusion and frustration, information overload can also negatively impact the decision-making that is required to influence purchase criteria. Of course, there have been various developments in the automation of airfreight processing activities in the economy. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) are among the State...

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (IPS) - Ambassador Maria de Jesus dos Reis Ferreira was appointed in February 2018 as the Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN, the first woman to hold the position. Among other issues, she has focused on peace and security in Africa and has echoed her country’s strong support for universal vaccination of the global population. In this interview with Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor, Ambassador Ferreira discusses women’s empowerment, free trade and what the continent can expect from the UN conference on climate (COP 27) that will be held in Egypt later this year. Excerpts from the interview: Q: What has been your journey to this role as the Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN? My journey has been a long one, I can take hours talking about it. I started in the army and years later I shifted to diplomacy, which has been quite an interesting and challenging journey. I have worked as a diplomat since 1980. Before my current role, I worked as an Ambassador in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia with residence in Vienna, where I was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations. I am the first woman to serve in this post since Angola became a UN Member State 46 years ago. Q: Congratulations! What are your top three achievements so far? Talking about achievements, with regards to peace and security, it is important to note that as part of Angola´s leadership of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR)...