One of the unsung highlights of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Budget 2021 speech was his announcement that the border posts at South Africa’s six busiest land borders were to be upgraded and expanded. It was also heartening to hear that these one-stop border posts will be developed using a public-private partnership model, as fresh ideas, capital, skills and system innovation are sorely required. It was even more encouraging to learn that Beitbridge, which was built in 1929 and last upgraded in 1995, will be the first to receive an overhaul so as to “eliminate the dreadful scenes we witnessed recently”. Although there is some dispute as to whether the congestion at the Zimbabwe-South Africa border could be blamed directly for several deaths during the recent peak crossing period in December/January, the blockages were nevertheless deeply dehumanising and economically debilitating. Holiday travellers in taxis and private vehicles lacked food, water and basic ablution facilities as some of them waited days, rather than hours, to cross. The gridlock also came at a high cost to those freight companies that hoped to use the crossing to shorten their trips to the Zimbabwe market. From a pure economic perspective, however, the sooner more streamlined infrastructure and systems are introduced to facilitate freight movement at all these land borders, the better. Absent such an overhaul, it will not be possible for South African firms to fully begin tapping the trade opportunities opening up to them as a result of the implementation earlier this year of...

The distinctive campaign named ‘30 days of women in business’ will run on radio and social media channels over the next one month, and aims to promote the platform in Member States where COMESA is implementing the 50 Million African Women Speak Project The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has launched a regional campaign to popularise a platform for women in a business known as 50 Million African Women Speak (50MAWSP). The platform is an information and networking hub for women which provides a one-stop-shop for them to start, grow and scale up their businesses and to access financial and non-financial services. The distinctive campaign named ‘30 days of women in business’ will run on radio and social media channels over the next one month, and aims to promote the platform in Comoros, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—the Member States where COMESA is implementing the 50 Million African Women Speak Project. The campaign invites women in the region to log onto the platform at www.womenconnect.org or to download the 50MAWSP app from the Google or Apple stores. To participate, women will be required to register on the platform and to then submit short stories about their most admired businesswomen giving the reasons why, and what they would tell them if they had a chance to meet them in person. The most compelling of these submissions will be published on the platform and those who submitted them...

Just days after taking office, President Biden signaled to African leaders that they should expect renewed engagement from the United States. In remarks at the 2021 African Union Summit – his first speech to an international forum as President Biden highlighted a shared vision for a better future that includes “growing trade and investment that advances the prosperity” of the United States and African nations, and emphasized that the U.S. was ready to be a “partner in solidarity, support and mutual respect.” While President Biden’s remarks were a positive sign, Africa was missing from his first cornerstone speech on America’s Place in the World. That may not be a surprise – the new administration is certainly not lacking global challenges to tackle. Still, early engagement with Africa's political and business leadership is critical and should be included in the administration’s vision for how we invest in economic development, create new markets for U.S. products, and address shared challenges. An action-plan centered on pro-growth trade, investment, and regulatory policies is an important first step. Here’s why: THE U.S. CHAMBER RECENTLY SHARED A SLATE OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS ON AFRICA. Two-way trade between the United States and Africa exceeded $45 billion in 2020, with the global pandemic causing a decline in an otherwise vibrant commercial partnership. But the opportunities for partnership go well beyond the trade numbers. Cooperation with African countries, which will be home to over 2.5 billion people by 2050, is critical as the United States...

Digital platforms in Africa should scale up to take advantage of the continent’s surging demand for creative content, said Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu. Anohu was speaking at a virtual “fireside chat” on Tuesday with Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah and Dean Garfield, Netflix’s Vice President of Public Policy. The Africa Soft Power Project organized the event, titled The New Face of African Collaboration. Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher & MD of IC Publications, moderated. The dialogue was held against the backdrop of the recent coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). 2021 is also the African Union’s year of arts, culture and heritage. Discussions focused on the role of infrastructure and connectivity in advancing Africa’s creative industries, including film, textiles and design. Oramah said that Afreximbank set up a $500 million fund in January 2020 to support Africa’s creative industries. The continent faces a challenge to effectively monetize its creative output. Once it does so, he said, innovation would follow. The Africa Investment Forum, Anohu said, was working to promote content deals as well as digital infrastructure projects to advance creative industries, including support to smaller players. “At AIF 2019, we had a very interesting entrepreneur scheme which saw those that were not as big get the kind of funding they needed to get beyond getting a feasibility study done,” she said. Support for intellectual property rights and equipping investors with the data they need to tackle negative perceptions about investing in Africa are...

Speaking at the International Petroleum (IP) Week on February 25, 2021, I commended Nigeria for its efforts in driving gas monetization, but we have to be clear that our industry and hardworking people remain frustrated by the delays and inability to pass and sign the Petroleum Industry Bill. There needs to be that fierce sense of urgency of now especially in the era of the energy transition. The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) needs to be passed as it allows energy companies to turn their attention to producing energy that drives our economies. It will allow politicians to focus on other pressing matters like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) and security issues. Africa is well-placed to become a key global supplier of LNG. Mozambique, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, and Tanzania are potential players. But we have to be honest, Africa is falling behind. While capital investment in other regions has increased, it has decreased vastly in Africa. Competition for capital investment in the global LNG industry is fierce and for countries that want their resources to be monetized locally and internationally, a number of factors need to be considered and must be done so quickly. Rising (and sometimes reckless) government expenditure, burdensome regulations, and the lack of infrastructure to move Africa’s energy to grow markets are all undermining investor confidence in many African countries. This is negatively affecting exploration projects and even our ability to attract the capital needed to create jobs, implement the AfCTA and push for Africa...

Newly appointed UK Trade Envoy to Zambia, Laurence Robertson MP, yesterday completed a successful and productive first visit to Zambia. Conducted virtually, the visit included meetings with the Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, the Ministries of Finance and Mines and a range of UK and Zambian businesses. The theme of the visit was to build stronger UK-Zambia trading partnerships, increase investment between the two countries and support Zambia in taking advantage of regional and global trading opportunities. Appointed by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in December 2020, the Trade Envoy has responsibility for enhancing and building on Zambia and Britain’s investment and trading relationship. UK-Zambia bilateral trade currently stands at over £150m, alongside significant UK investment into Zambia, with aspirations to increase this substantially in coming years through increased British business participation in Zambia’s economic recovery programme. A particular focus of the visit was the mining industry and how UK partnerships can build more sustainability and increase wider economic benefits for Zambia. Recent increases in global climate commitments have helped support resurgence in copper prices as well as demand for other metals such as cobalt and nickel which are critical to support clean energy development. As part of the visit, the Trade Envoy was briefed by members of the UK Parliament All Party Parliamentary Group on Critical Minerals in terms of the role of copper and other metals and the opportunities to support Zambia make more of its mineral resources. In the mining industry, the Trade Envoy met...

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) on Thursday, February 25 launched an Ecommerce Booster Program targeting at least 2000 Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). The program will be realized through funding from the European Union and UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office. TradeMark Africa, a leading aid for trade regional body in East Africa will support the program, while the technical support for this program is being provided by Amari Consulting Ltd. Types of businesses targeted Businesses with little or no digital presence are being targeted for training and on-boarding to e-commerce platforms to ensure MSMEs can increase and diversify their revenue streams during this period of COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause disruptions in the global and regional value chains, it has become clear that e-commerce is an important tool and solution for businesses and consumers. E-commerce can support small businesses in reducing their costs and effectively reaching their customers; it is an economic driver for both domestic growth and international trade thus making economies more competitive. Challenges to be solved The COVID-19 pandemic has occasioned a spike in business-to-consumer (B2C) online sales and an increase in Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce. The increase in B2C sales is particularly evident in online sales of medical supplies, household essentials and food products. As a result, attention has been drawn to several challenges hindering the full potential of e-commerce across countries. These include price gouging, product safety concerns, deceptive practices, weak delivery logistics, cyber security concerns, exceptionally low consumer digital trust,...

Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary Mushuma Mulenga says there is need to expedite plans to improve infrastructure at Jimbe Border Post in Ikeleng’i District of the North Western province. Mr. Mulenga added that government’s plan is to put up a one stop border post facility in order to enhance trade between Angola and Zambia. He further said he will work closely with his counterpart at the Ministry of Infrastructure so that Mwinilunga Ikelengi Jimbe road is worked on to ensure that trade and economic activities at the border post are enhanced. The Permanent Secretary was speaking to NAIS after touring Jimbe Border Post and the Angolan side in Ikelengi District. And Ikelengi District Commissioner Abiud Kawang’u says improving the road and other infrastructure in the district will improve trade between Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. Read original article

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes office as World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General today, on 1 March. As the first female and first African in this position, she joins other Africans at the top of powerful multilateral organisations – Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus at the World Health Organization, Dr Amina Mohammed at the United Nations and Makhtar Diop at the International Finance Corporation. There’s a sense that this is Africa’s time at the WTO, and there are great expectations that Okonjo-Iweala will champion the continent’s interests. However, pushing this agenda at the WTO will require strong leadership from African countries rather than an African Director-General. The WTO is a member state-driven organisation that has regulated global trade since 1995. Its job is a tricky one. It must foster multilateral cooperation without hindering healthy competition. The body attempts to set down rules to guide trading among its 164 members and resolve disputes fairly. Forty-four of these members are African. Another nine African countries hold observer status and some are negotiating accession to the body. However there’s a perception that African countries have gained little from the WTO. The organisation’s agenda has historically been dominated by the world’s economic superpowers, more recently including China. China’s accession to the WTO in 2001 is believed to have contributed to its export-led growth. The same cannot be said for Africa. According to Afrexim Bank president Benedict Oramah, Africa’s share of global trade has declined from 4.4% in 1970 to 2.5% today. Asia’s share has risen from 7.7% to 20% over the same period. African exports are dominated...

Last month, one of the world’s largest trade accords, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) covering more than a billion people and with a GDP of greater than $3-trillion, went live. Experts predict that removing tariffs alone could boost trade between African countries by 15% ($50-billion) to 25% ($75-billion) by 2040. As governments, corporations and SMEs grapple with implementation to capitalise on the expected increase in interregional trade, it is important to ensure the benefits of expanded trade between nations on the continent positively impact more Africans. The answer may lie in a digital payment revolution sweeping across the continent. Financial inclusion is essential for democratisation of access to opportunity among Africans seeking to benefit from the AfCFTA. A Senegalese microentrepreneur working in the leather industry needs to have a way of accepting payments from local or regional off-takers of her products, in order to participate in the new opportunities that the trade pact brings. Approximately 350-million Africans do not have access to a financial services account and according to Mastercard, 95% of transactions on the continent are still done in cash. This reduces the scope for cross-border payments and trade. Thankfully, Things Are Changing Quickly. The Covid-19 Pandemic Accelerated The Adoption Of Digital Financial Services As Consumers Embraced E-Commerce And Contactless Payments, and governments and NGOs across the continent leveraged digital wallets to make palliative funds transfers to their most vulnerable citizens. Ghana’s central bank eased know-your-customer (KYC) regulations in March 2020 for an initial period of three...