United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Addis Ababa) Nairobi — The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is still the agreement with great potential to foster regional economic integration and economic growth, and take Africa to the next level, even in the midst of a crippling coronavirus crisis, panellists on a COVID-19 Recovery Mechanism and AfCFTA webinar agreed Thursday. The panelists agreed the AfCFTA was a crucial move towards removing the continent's heavy reliance on commodity and agricultural exports leading to exponential growth in the manufacturing sector, export diversification and creation of quality jobs if its full potential to be transformational for all Africans is tapped. Regional Integration Division Director at the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr. Stephen Karingi, in his remarks said a lot of empirical work had been done by ECA showing what the AfCFTA means for Africa. "One of the things we have been able to demonstrate empirically is that the AfCFTA has the potential to deepen not only the regional integration of the continent but also to allow us to do more value addition in our production processes," he said. This, added Mr. Karingi, presents an opportunity not only to create economic resilience but also create quality and more valuable jobs compared to jobs that are not based on industry. "We know what the AfCFTA means for this continent. COVID-19 has exposed that had we implemented the AfCFTA earlier, we would be in a better position than we are now," he said, adding the ECA's analytical...

Of all the legacies of colonialism, one of those which has most hampered economic growth and the alleviation of poverty is fragmentation – neighbours with different currencies, regulations enabling trade with Europe but not with other Africans, and a neglect of intra-African transport and infrastructure links to facilitate this trade. In good times, with Europe accounting for around 30% of African trade, there has been little appetite to upset the status quo. In times of economic unease, African nations, like many around the world, have tended to withdraw into themselves rather than pursue broader trading options. Repeating this pattern for a generation, African nations have historically ceded economic power to external actors, remaining price-takers and struggling to develop their own solutions at times of crisis. Change is in the air A confluence of factors is lining up to shift Africa from the old way of doing things and drive the continent towards greater prosperity and resilience. The rise of China as an economic force and major partner (19% of Africa’s trade) has given African leaders experience in opening new trade routes and the benefits this brings. At the same time, regional trading blocs like SADC, EAC, COMESA or ECOWAS have grown in strength as countries became more adept at spotting gaps in their neighbors’ markets and adjusting areas of specialization to meet demand. Building on a decade long trajectory towards greater continental integration and more diverse trading relations, the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (‘AfCFTA’) now has the capacity to...

DAR ES SALAAM, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities said on Saturday the 44th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) will be held from July 1 to 13 with all COVID-19 precautions in place. A statement by the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued in the capital Dodoma said the DITF held annually at the J. K. Nyerere grounds in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam will observe all guidelines issued by health authorities to protect exhibitors and visitors against COVID-19. Themed Industrial Economy for Employment and Sustainable Trade, the 44th DITF will introduce business-to-business virtual meetings to avoid mass gatherings, said the statement. Visitors and exhibitors to the 44th DITF can also access the trade fair through live streaming and virtual exhibition, added the statement. Products to be exhibited at the trade fair include food and beverages, textiles, garments and yarns, manufacturing equipment and building materials. Others are automobiles, electrical articles, chemicals and cosmetics, timber and furniture, engineering products, machinery, information technology and agricultural products. Enditem Source: xinhuanet

The African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) and International Trade Centre (ITC) team up to help businesses make the most of the African Continental Free Trade Area (Cairo/Geneva) − Afreximbank is teaming up with ITC to train small business owners and young entrepreneurs in Africa to trade with other African countries as part of the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The training programme, How to Export within the AfCFTA, is being launched as the new free-trade area comes on stream and amid the economic strain of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The training will give business owners the knowledge and skills they need to engage effectively in cross-border trade under terms of the emerging free-trade area for Africa. Intra-African trade is structurally low at 15% (compared to Europe at nearly 70%, for example), and the AfCFTA will open a market of 1.2 billion people. 'Against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 health and economic crisis, African micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) need support to take full advantage of the continental market,' ITC acting Executive Director Dorothy Tembo said. 'Through this partnership, African businesses will have the opportunity to learn, plan and succeed in growing their business by taking full advantage of the AfCFTA.' Kanayo Awani, Managing Director of Afreximbank's Intra-African Trade Initiative, said that the initiative was necessary because promoting intra-African trade through increased exports of goods and services by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was the cornerstone of the AFCFTA. It signals an optimal strategy to aid businesses...

The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people on the continent could lose their lives to COVID-19. It has the opportunity to implement systems to support its nations through coronavirus, and into the future. These include free trade, regional value chains and infrastructure investment. The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from 1 July 2020. But this has been pushed out until 2021 because of the impact of COVID-19 and the need for leaders to focus on saving lives. Studies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and others state that the free trade area has the potential to increase growth, raise welfare and stimulate industrial development on the continent. But there are concerns. Some countries, particularly smaller and more vulnerable states, could be hurt. For example, they could suffer revenue losses and other negative effects from premature liberalisation. The impact of COVID-19 will only worsen these structural weaknesses. The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people could lose their lives if appropriate measures are not taken. There are several reasons for this level of high risk. These include the fact that 56% of urban dwellings are in overcrowded slums, 71% of Africa’s workforce is informally employed and cannot work from home and 40% of children on the continent are undernourished. Free Trade has the potential to increase growth and...

  | FAIZEL ISMAIL | The African Continental Free Trade Area was launched two years ago at an African Union (AU) summit in Kigali. It was scheduled to be implemented from July 1, 2020. But this has been pushed out until 2021 because of the impact of COVID-19 and the need for leaders to focus on saving lives. Studies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and others state that the free trade area has the potential to increase growth, raise welfare and stimulate industrial development on the continent. But there are concerns. Some countries, particularly smaller and more vulnerable states, could be hurt. For example, they could suffer revenue losses and other negative effects from premature liberalisation. The impact of COVID-19 will only worsen these structural weaknesses. The Economic Commission for Africa has reported that between 300,000 and 3.3 million people could lose their lives if appropriate measures are not taken. There are several reasons for this level of high risk. These include the fact that 56% of urban dwellings are in overcrowded slums, 71% of Africa’s workforce is informally employed and cannot work from home and 40% of children on the continent are undernourished. Africa is also more vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 because it is highly dependent on imports for its medicinal and pharmaceutical products and on commodity exports. The latter include oil, which has suffered a severe collapse in price. Other contributing factors are high public debt due to higher...

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hit African economies extremely hard. According to the World Bank biannual Africa’s Pulse report, as a result of the pandemic, economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa will decline from 2.4% in 2019 to between -2.1% and -5.1% in 2020, depending on the success of measures taken to mitigate the pandemic’s effects. This means that the region will experience its first recession in 25 years. The decline will be primarily due to large contractions in South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola driven by their reliance on exports of commodities whose prices have crashed as well as other structural issues. This will inevitably affect Africa’s participation in trade and value chains as well as reduce foreign financing flows. Given the limited regional market, trade with the rest of the world is vital for Africa. Before the pandemic, Africa’s trade with the rest of the world has been showing good momentum. According to UNCTAD’s Economic Development In Africa 2019 report, in the period of 2015-2017, total trade from Africa to the rest of the world averaged $760 billion in current prices, and the share of exports from Africa to the rest of the world ranged from 80% to 90% in 2000 –2017 in Africa’s total trade. The only other region with a higher export dependence on the rest of the world is Oceania. However, intra-African trade, defined as the average of intra-African exports and imports, was around 2% during the period 2015–2017, and the intra-African exports were 16.6% of...

Since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the Great Lakes region in mid-March 2020, small scale traders have been unable to cross borders as they have traditionally done either to buy or sell goods. The regional supply of primary agricultural commodities, most of which are traded under the Simplified Trade Regime (STR), especially foodstuffs from surplus to deficit areas has also been disrupted by the long delays at borders as truck drivers wait to be tested for Covid-19 before crossing. To support cross border trade, which is the lifeline of a huge community in the region, the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) engaged stakeholders to come up with innovative means of trading across the borders of the three countries covered by the project. These innovations are meant to ease the movement of goods and avoid food shortages. The project region covers eastern DR Congo bordering western Rwanda and Uganda. Subsequently, a new concept of bulk-buying has been developed whereby goods are procured in large consignments in collaboration with suppliers across the borders. This ensures there is no mass movement of traders crossing the borders. Led by the Cross-Border Traders’ Associations (CBTA),  this concept has helped traders minimize the risk of COVID- 19 spread and allow safe trade. It consists of packaging similar goods from either side of the borders and moving them across the border using joint means of transport. This limits the movement of people to a strict minimum. Only the driver conveys the goods accompanied...

Dar es Salaam — The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) is gearing up for a full reopening of cross-border trading. This comes after experts in the region expressed satisfaction over the precautionary measures countries within the 16-member bloc have taken to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus which causes Covid-19. The move comes after about 50 days when the body adopted its regional guidelines for harmonising and facilitating movement of critical goods and services across the region during the Covid-19 pandemic. The guidelines, adopted after a meeting of the Sadc Council of Ministers on April 6, 2020, aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19 through transport across borders; facilitating the implementation of transport related national Covid-19 measures in cross-border transportation and facilitating flow of essential goods such as fuel, food and medicines. The guidelines also sought to limit unnecessary and mass movement of passengers across borders and harmonising and coordinating transport-related national Covid-19 policies, regulations and response measures. But with some countries - including Tanzania - making some important milestones in their fight against Covid-19, a virtual meeting of experts met yesterday to draw the roadmap for a meeting of Sadc Council of Ministers today (Thursday, May 28) resolved that some things must now change. "This meeting is being held in preparation for a meeting for the Sadc Council of Ministers. Key on the agenda that we will be presenting to the Sadc Council of Ministers is that some of the issues that we knew about Covid-19 must now...

Plans by the government to transport all transit cargo from the Port of Mombasa to Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD) through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) effective June 1, have elicited protest from road transporters. They have termed the move as a deliberate plan by the government to “kill” the economy of Mombasa. Last Friday, the government directed that all transit cargo be moved and cleared at the Naivasha ICD for delivery to Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan. Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) chief executive Dennis Ombok accused the government of overlooking them during decision making on cargo transport matters. The government said in a statement on Friday 22, that some of the cargo will be moved on the old metre-gauge railway directly to Tororo in eastern Uganda or Kampala, while fuel will be transported by pipeline to Kisumu, Kenya and thereafter by water through Lake Victoria to Portbell in Luzira, Kampala or Jinja. Ombok dismissed the government’s claims that transporting cargo by railway is cheaper than using trucks. He made the remarks during a joint briefing convened by Muslim for Human Rights (Muhuri) in collaboration with Okoa Mombasa lobby group. Hidden costs “The government does not want to tell the public the hidden costs of using the SGR to ferry containers. If Uganda says its comfortable with cargo going by road, why is the government forcing this mandatory cargo transportation through SGR?” posed Ombok. Now, the Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers Association (KLDTDA) has threatened to mobilise its members to...