So that African countries can continue the path of economic transformation, the role of the mining sector needs to be enhanced. Besides pure mining activities, there is vast potential to create spatial and economic spillover effects, using the businesses and services opportunities that operate around mining activities. While large business activities have been quite successful in connecting to mining value chains, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often lack the capacities or technology to tap the full potential out of such activities. To fill in this gap, is there a role for a business-to-business platform that ...
There is still room for improvement to facilitate the trade integration between Malawi and Zambia. We recently took a trip hoping for smooth passage, but it took us two hours to cross the border at Mchinji, even though we had the Permanent Secretary for Trade on board - as well as officers from customs. Besides the normal formalities on both the Malawi and Zambian side of the border, the main delay was linked to an insurance necessary for the Malawian bus to drive on Zambian roads. This is the kind of non-tariff barrier that business ...
+++ ECDPM Challenges blog series. Post number three +++ Will 2014 be a year of implementation? If 2014 is to be a year in which we see genuine moves towards economic transformation it will likely rely less on the international agenda than domestic politics and how these interact with global economic processes. Economic transformation will only take place when governments and the private sector can align interests to make partnerships work. Otherwise, we are unlikely to see much progress in 2014. We have a busy agenda ahead of us…. On-going discussions on the post-2015 agenda will offer opportunities ...
Guest blog by Christian Kingombe The citizens of the African continent have been introduced to one grand vision of development after the other – from OAU to AU since the well-known debate between Kwame Nkrumah and Nnamdi Azikiwe. However, there is a tendency by some of the African Development Bank’s regional member countries to retreat from fulfilling regional treaty commitments, which, in some cases, would entail losing a degree of sovereignty. What is the biggest stumbling block to achieving the African Integration Vision? But after more than 50 years of solemn regional integration declarations these ...
What are the drivers and politics behind regional integration efforts in Southern Africa? What are the implications for governments, regional actors and development partners? What does it mean for South Africa and the EU in particular? These were the points under discussion at a joint ECDPM and SAIIA workshop, held in Pretoria on the 2 and 3rd July as part of the Political Economy of Regional Integration in Southern Africa (PERISA) project, financed the EU-SA Dialogue Facility. The workshop and the accompanying research aimed to go beyond the rhetoric of regional policy statements and technocratic ...
The opening remarks made at the World Trade Organisation 4th Global Aid for Trade (AfT) Review this week all suggested a degree of consensus. According to nearly all, AfT has largely been a success, notwithstanding the recognised difficulties in carrying out evaluations. Speeches from Pascal Lamy (WTO), Angel Gurria (OECD) and representatives from a range of multilateral organisations (UNDP, AfDB, WB, IMF, ADB, IDB) all agreed on the need for AfT to address trade facilitation, trade finance, infrastructures, standards, value chains, upgrading, involving the private sector, inclusiveness, among others, with mentions of the need for ...
African Unity, regional integration and ‘Boosting Inter-African Trade’ have been on the African policy agenda for decades in some form or another. The AU anniversary summit in Addis Ababa last month reiterated some big aspirations for African integration with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam proclaiming that “during the next 50 years, Africa must be fully integrated. We hope all member states of the AU will implement their people’s recommendations expeditiously”. But if the last 50 years are anything to go by, aspirations are nothing when faced with the complications of reality. More fragmented than integrated That ...
Instead of firms having to prove they are good with FairTrade labels, Robin Roth, a speaker at the People Centred Business event at the European Parliament this week instead proposed a different starting point: companies should have to prove they are not bad, with all products carrying labels declaring ‘contains toxic pesticides’, ‘made with child labour’, ‘consumes scarce water supplies’ and so on, and companies only allowed to remove the labels if they can prove otherwise. While the speaker himself said this was “frivolous”, it aimed at highlighting the “in-transparency” of current global markets, with ...
Praise has been won by West Africa for elaborating a regional agricultural policy, the ECOWAP, that could go a long way in promoting food security in the region. However, how this vision ties in with the region’s trade policy is anything but simple - says Quentin de Roquefeuil The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the one of the few regions in Africa to have an elaborated regional policy for agriculture and food security, the ECOWAP (ECOWAS Agricultural Policy). Implementation has been slow, but it is on track, with thematic working groups fleshing out ...
The OECD hosted the 2013 Policy Dialogue on Aid for Trade last week to discuss “how to continue delivering aid for trade results in a changing international environment for trade and development”. While this in part retread old ground, discussions nonetheless suggested that a change in thinking is taking place, particularly in terms of working with the private sector and helping developing country companies enter into global value chains. As my colleague Dan Lui discussed in a previous blog, the Aid for Trade agenda has faced a constant stream of questions, among others about definition ...
