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New report identifies transportation and logistics among the sectors with the higher potential for companies looking to invest in Africa

Monday, 16 January 2023 13:58

At the last annual meeting in May 2022, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched the Forum Friends of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a multistakeholder group made up by representatives of both international and national organisations with the participation of the private sector that aims at mobilising global business to support the implementation of the AfCFTA through public-private collaborations. This week, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023, which started today and will end on 20 January 2023, will include the presentation of a report consolidating the contributions and findings developed within this forum with a description on how global business can accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA. Its objective is to provide a pathway for global businesses and investors to understand the biggest trends, opportunities, and strategies to successfully invest and achieve high returns in Africa, developing local, subregional, and continental value chains and accelerating industrialisation, all of which go hand in hand with the success of the AfCFTA. The WEF report also reviews the various operational tools and strategies that can support the implementation of the Agreement, by identifying high-potential sectors and initiatives to support business and investment in Africa, with the description of some examples of successful businesses, such as Agility, the Africa Finance Corporation, Coca-Cola, DP World, Menzies Aviation, Novartis, OCP Group, the United Bank for Africa, Volkswagen, and Yara. Awaiting the publication of the report, a post published on the WEF website gives some preliminary information on its content.

Hemorrhage of companies from Ethiopia's industrial parks threaten the country aspirations to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa

Sunday, 15 January 2023 04:58

Ethiopian Industrial parks are economic development tools that are mentioned in the recent UNCTAD report on African Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as one of the most successful experiences in Africa in terms of attraction of foreign direct investment and stimulation of economic activity. These sites offer to firms that relocate within them a combination of fiscal incentives, duty reductions and administrative facilitation (e.g. one-stop shops for business registration or for dealing with other administrative formalities) that are typical of SEZs. Some of these parks specialise in garment and textile production and are equipped with standard pre-built factory units that the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) makes available for rent to firms so that they can immediately start operations in a plug-and-play set-up. However, after an initial expansion of textile-specialised industrial parks in the country, it seems now that they are entering into a crisis due to the removal of Ethiopia from the list of the countries beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Somalia on-track for admission to the EAC

Friday, 13 January 2023 07:52

A recent declaration made by the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General reveals that plans to admit Somalia into the East African regional block are entered into an advanced stage. Among the advantages that the Somalia accession to the EAC can bring to the Community, the Secretary General points out the strategic position of the country, noting that with his about 3,200 Km. of coastline, the landlocked and semi-landlocked partner States of the Community (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda), will gain access to other ports in addition to Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam, that currently handle most of their trade, as also discussed in this video.

The “implementation crisis” of continental and regional regulation in Africa

Thursday, 12 January 2023 06:56

An article recently published on The East African deals with a particularly important topic, namely the low degree of ratification and implementation of Treaties, Recommendations and Decisions adopted by the African Union (AU). The article notes that most of regulatory policies, tools and frameworks adopted at continental level, after many years of adoption, still suffer from a poor level of implementation or domestication at national level, basically because of a lack of political will by the AU State members. The consequence is that a number of commitments and goals agreed at continental level get stuck in their operationalization phase. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement - together with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights - seems to be an exception, as it is close to universal ratification. But also in this case, the risk is high that after the initial enthusiasm in adopting such Agreement, governments can delay its operationalization by becoming cautious, due to a lack of buy-in by those that should benefit from such Agreement, or to doubts that it will penalise or sacrifice national interests. This is why events like the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, planned for the end of January in Accra, Ghana, are particularly critical to maintain a high degree of commitment to the AfCFTA by African Heads of States and Governments.

Most of African Customs register positive results on revenue collection in 2022

Wednesday, 11 January 2023 14:43

As a new year starts, it’s time to take stock of results made by Customs in the previous year. Despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 and of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on African nations, most of African Customs seem to have achieved satisfactory results in terms of revenue collection. However, there are some exceptions, like Cameroon, where the National Treasury announced a loss in customs revenue of nearly 20 billion CFA francs (34 million USD) in 2022, mainly ascribed to the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in force, respectively, with the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK). This figure was revealed on January 9, in Yaoundé.

News

New report identifies transportation and logistics among the sectors with the higher potential for companies looking to invest in Africa

Hemorrhage of companies from Ethiopia's industrial parks threaten the country aspirations to become a light manufacturing hub in Africa

Somalia on-track for admission to the EAC

The “implementation crisis” of continental and regional regulation in Africa

Most of African Customs register positive results on revenue collection in 2022

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