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UNCTAD Digital Economy Report 2024 sees strong potential for data centre development in Africa... but at some conditions

The 2024 edition of the UNCTAD Digital Economy Report (Shaping an environmentally sustainable and inclusive digital future), notes that developing countries that are investing in digitalization are reaping relatively few benefits, as the costs in which they incur for deploying digital technologies are still higher than the benefits they receive from their utilization. In fact, the report notes, if on one hand these countries are becoming avid importers of technology, on the other hand the digital services they export are still limited. Moreover, exports of electronic waste still are mainly directed to these countries, which obviously has an environmental impact. Digital technologies, notes the report, are also energy and water intensive, whose costs are generally high in developing countries. Energy is needed for running them, while water is used for cooling purposes. Data centers, for instance, particularly hyperscale ones, generate a substantial amount of heat, and effective cooling is needed to ensure uninterrupted operation. Electronic waste (e-waste) instead, refers to all types of electrical and electronic equipment and its parts that have been discarded by the owner as waste without the intention of reuse. Africa is a main destination of such type of waste, as shown in the map below, while Western and Southern Africa are the only African regions that export e-waste outside the continent.

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The Africa Club receives official endorsement by the AU Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors

The Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) announced on 1th August 2024 that it received the official endorsement by the African Union (AU) Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors during their 7th Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning, and Integration held in Tunis, Tunisia from 3 to 7 July. The STC recognized such structure as crucial for strengthening the continental financial framework and advancing the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The Alliance for African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI), also called "The Africa Club", i.e., a network among all the African-owned and African-controlled financial institutions that provide financing and support to trade and investments in African States.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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