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Series of AfDB reports reveal strong potential for agriculture development in Africa

Thursday, 01 August 2024 11:44

The African Development Bank (AfDB) published a series of country focus report which analyse challenges, drivers and opportunities for economic growth in some selected African countries, with recommendations on how to strengthen regional integration and trade, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and their membership in the various Regional Economic Communities (RECs) active in the continent. The AfDB reports do not provide only policy recommendations to governments, but they also give guidance to potential investors with up-to-date and accurate data to inform their investment decisions. Countries analyzed are: Comoros, Tchad, Senegal, Niger, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Gabon, Congo, Cameroun, Burundi, Benin, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, The Gambia, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, Seychelles, Sao Tomé and Principe, Rwanda, Namibia, Mozambique, Mauritius, Malawi, Liberia, Lesotho, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Cabo Verde, Botswana and Angola.

The multiplier effect of trade digitalization on growth of exports within the African Continental Free Trade Area

Wednesday, 31 July 2024 08:57

Digital trade is particularly trendy in Africa in this moment. After the recent analysis carried out from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on the impact of the Protocol on Digital Trade of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Bilaterals' criticism of such Protocol, a new discussion paper from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) examines the effect of trade digitalization on Kenyan exports on trade with the other AfCFTA State parties, giving some policy recommentdations that are valid also for other African countries. Completed in 2023, the paper has just been published on the KIPPRA website. It examines the effects of information access, ICT infrastructure, digital payments, and cyber security on flows of exports to other African States. The study finds (not surprisingly), that access to information can have a multiplier effect on the growth of exports within the AfCFTA context.

Tariff barriers decreasing in Africa, but the cost of non-tariff barriers remains the highest in the world

Monday, 29 July 2024 11:29

The UNCTAD publication ‘Key statistics and trends in Trade Policy’, is a must-read report that all trade officials and experts with an interest in Africa (or in other developing countries), should carefully analyze to understand the dynamics of trade policies in the continent, in comparison with other regions of the world. Published annually, it gives a snapshot of the trade-related issues of particular importance to Africa and other developing countries/regions in terms of their participation in the international trading system. The latest edition of the report, available on the UNCTAD website, shows that despite the slight decline of African (and more generally, of developing countries) tariffs in the last decade, the tariff restrictiveness remains still high in Africa, with tariffs peaks that hit some key sectors of the African economy such as agriculture, apparel, textiles, and leather products.

New edition of the WTO tariff profiles still shows substantial duty rate differences among African countries

Sunday, 28 July 2024 06:59

The World Tariff Profiles is an annual publication that the World Trade Organization (WTO) prepares in collaboration with ITC and UNCTAD to describe the tariff and non-tariff measures imposed by more than 170 countries and customs territories in the world. Data referred to Most-Favored Nation (MFN) average tariffs in Africa shows a lack of homogeneity in such tariffs, since they vary widely among nations. MFN tariffs are the tariff rates that a country applies to imports from all its trading partners which are not part of a preferential trade agreement (such as a free trade area or customs union). In practice, MFN rates are the highest (most restrictive) tariffs that a country can charge on imports. The country with the most favorable customs duty rates in Africa (less than 1 percent average) remains Mauritius, followed by Seychelles (2.6 percent), in line with the previous editions of the WTO tariff profiles. Conversely, African States that have the highest MFN tariff duties in the continent are two North African countries: Tunisia and Algeria. However, the new edition of the WTO tariff profiles does not show the MFN tariffs currently applied by Sudan - a non-WTO member - which was indicated in the previous edition of the report (2023) as the country with the highest average customs MFN duties (21.6 percent) in Africa, followed by Tunisia, and Algeria (another non-WTO member). Also, Ethiopia was indicated in the 2023 edition as having an average MFN duty tariff of 17 percent, while the new edition does not show any data in reference to this country.

The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Trade Area finally entered into force

Thursday, 25 July 2024 08:44

Today, 25th July 2024, is an historical date for Africa. It is the date of entry into force of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement. The TFTA is an inter-regional co-operation and integration arrangement amongst countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which aims at combining the three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) into an enlarged Free Trade Area.

News

Series of AfDB reports reveal strong potential for agriculture development in Africa

The multiplier effect of trade digitalization on growth of exports within the African Continental Free Trade Area

Tariff barriers decreasing in Africa, but the cost of non-tariff barriers remains the highest in the world

New edition of the WTO tariff profiles still shows substantial duty rate differences among African countries

The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Trade Area finally entered into force

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