Quick wins and high gains for increasing economic integration in the Horn of Africa

Friday, 25 April 2025 07:02

At the 24th Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI) Ministerial Meeting, held on the sidelines of the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, the HoAI Ministers of Finance discussed a package of projects divided into two groups (quick wins and high gains), aimed at promoting trade and economic integration in the Horn of Africa, a region adversely affected by political instability, climate change and internal conflicts, and characterized by a high level of trade informality. The paper describing these projects was prepared based on consultations with both public and private stakeholders in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan, as well as with the Developing Partners supporting the HoAI. As next steps, the Finance Ministers agreed to deepen discussions and conclude, jointly with the Trade Ministers of the region, a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of an innovative Simplified Trade Regime (STR) “plus” with additional benefits compared to those provided by the existing ones, and a Joint Ministerial Declaration on the establishment of a Regional Trade Facilitation Committee, as an advisory body to the Ministers which will coordinate the design and supervision of regional trade facilitation programmes covering all the HoAI countries. During the event, the Chairmanship of the HoAI rotated to the Minister of Finance of Somalia, who will lead the HoAI for the next year. The HoAI Regional Trade Faciltiation Roadmap has been extended for further 3 years.

How realistic would it be to move from a national “Made in” to a continental “Made in”?

Thursday, 24 April 2025 10:03

One of the recommendations contained in the Seychelles AfCFTA Implementation strategy is to promote a “Made in Seychelles” brand to increase visibility of Seychelles products in other AfCFTA member States, by leveraging diplomatic missions, consulates and the diaspora. In line with this strategy, Seychelles has recently introduced a regulation called “Seychelles Made Act” to promote locally produced goods, strengthen the country's manufacturing sector and raise the domestic and international profile of goods that are produced in Seychelles. This new legislation aims to increase the reputation and improve the positioning of Seychelles’ products domestically and on other markets, in an attempt to make them more attractive to consumers.

Special Economic Zones: a tool for economic transformation in Africa?

Sunday, 20 April 2025 05:24

Special Economic Zones (SEZs), as a policy tool in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), are one of the most debated topics this year. Currently, more than 230 SEZs established across the continent offer local and foreign investors the opportunity to take advantage of state-of-the-art infrastructure, links to major logistics hubs, and generous tax incentives, to conduct their manufacturing activities under particularly competitive conditions. Yet, opinions regarding their ability to drive African development are mixed. This is due to the fact that not always these zones have produced positive results in terms of attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) and know-how, creation of jobs and improvement of trade balances of African nations through increased exports.

AfCFTA implementation strategies must be available to businesses!

Wednesday, 23 April 2025 15:15

AfCFTA implementation strategies are policy documents that define strategies for expediting the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement and identify risks and opportunities arising from such implementation. They are based on a decision adopted on 15 May 2018 by the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, which urged the African Union member States to prepare such documents “to identify the key trade opportunities, current constraints and steps required to take full advantage of the African market", including modalities for increasing trade performance, map country priority sectors, and identify opportunities for regional and global value chain integration. In practice, they are policy documents that set out a roadmap, with an associated implementation plan, to address the main constraints, challenges and gaps needed to seize the opportunities offered by the AfCFTA in the various African nations and exploit the full potential of the agreement. In addition to national states, such strategies have been adopted also by some Regional Economic Communities (RECs), like IGAD, EAC and ECOWAS, while the SADC one is under development.

Seychelles AfCFTA implementation strategy online

Friday, 18 April 2025 07:39

The Seychelles AfCFTA implementation strategy is finally online. AfCFTA implementation strategies are policy documents that define strategies for expediting the implementation of the AfCFTA Agreement and identify risks and opportunities arising from such implementation. They are based on a decision adopted on 15 May 2018 by the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, which urged the African Union member States to prepare national strategies and implementation plans “to identify the key trade opportunities, current constraints and steps required to take full advantage of the African market", including modalities for increasing trade performance, map country priority sectors, and identify opportunities for regional and global value chain integration. Such strategies have been adopted by several African States and RECs (IGAD, EAC and ECOWAS, while the SADC strategy is under development), and they identify the priority actions that must be undertaken in the short to medium term in order to advance the AfCFTA. Desiderio Consultants was involved in its elaboration on behalf of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, that supported the Seychelles Ministry of Finance, National Planning and Trade in its development.

Quick wins and high gains for increasing economic integration in the Horn of Africa

How realistic would it be to move from a national “Made in” to a continental “Made in”?

Special Economic Zones: a tool for economic transformation in Africa?

AfCFTA implementation strategies must be available to businesses!

Seychelles AfCFTA implementation strategy online

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