Notizie

Multimodal sector in Ethiopia struggles to open up

Mercoledì 26 Luglio 2023 07:50

There are no translations available.

In 2021, the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport issued the much contested Multimodal Transport Operators Commercial Licensing and Competency Certification Directive no. 802/2021 (MTO Directive) to open up the multimodal business sector, currently reserved to the state-owned Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE). The directive allows the provision of multimodal transport services (i.e. the offer of combined maritime-road-air-rail transport services under a single contract), only to those operators that are granted with a license issued by the Ethiopian Maritime Authority (EMA).

WTO annual report reminds trade finance gap as a main constraint to the African trade expansion

Venerdì 21 Luglio 2023 05:48

There are no translations available.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has made available its latest Annual Report, the periodic publication describing the organization's activities over the past year. Apart from revealing plans for the revitalization, by 2024, of the Appellate Body (which is currently paralyzed due to the fact that all its seven members have not yet been appointed, as we discussed in this post), the report once again highlights the problem of Africa's trade finance gap as a major constraint to African export development. In an era of enduring discussions about the potential of the AfCFTA and how this agreement can accelerate intra-African trade, it is important to keep this constraint in mind.

Ultime

Last WTO Dispute Settlement case book confirms that African countries’ participation to the Organization’s dispute resolution mechanism is almost zero

Mercoledì 19 Luglio 2023 06:52

There are no translations available.

The WTO Dispute Settlement (One-Page Case Summaries), is a biennial publication with a summary of all cases where the panels and the WTO Appellate Body decided disputes between the WTO members since the creation of this body up to the end of 2022. The publication summarizes the core facts and substantive findings contained in WTO panel reports and those of the Appellate Body - a body, the latter, now paralyzed because of "veto power" exerted since 2019 by the United States on the appointment of its members. The 2023 edition of the WTO publication shows that the main users of this dispute resolution mechanisms remain the developed economies: mainly the United States, the European Union and Canada. Cases involving African countries are just a bunch.

UNCTAD report reveals that Africa borrows more from private creditors that from multilateral and bilateral ones

Martedì 18 Luglio 2023 05:46

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A new report from UNCTAD calculates that public debt worldwide has increased more than fivefold in the past two decades, outpacing global GDP. The many crises that have occurred in recent years, such as COVID-19, the cost-of-living crisis and climate change have contributed to this growth. Obviously, borrowing means paying interests: money that could otherwise fund public expenditure, is sectors such as health and education, or other important investments needed for development. The UNCTAD report shows that in developing countries, such higher rates are much higher, compared to developed countries. Not surprisingly, Africa is the region in the world where interest on debt is highest.

OECD publishes fifth edition of Africa’s Development Dynamics report

Martedì 11 Luglio 2023 06:30

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Africa’s Development Dynamics 2023, Investing in Sustainable Development is a report that is jointly prepared by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the OECD Development Centre analysing the investment climate in Africa and how African regions can accelerate sustainable investment in strategic sectors so to accelerate the economic development of the continent. In the latest years, due to a general climate of uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 outbreak first and the war in Ukraine after, global investment has shifted focus away from Africa more than any other world region. Among the solutions that can reverse this trend, two are particularly interesting.