Browsing: COMESA

Data by the bloc reveals that the sector provides livelihoods for about 80 per cent of the region’s workers, and accounts for about 65 per cent of foreign exchange earnings.

The continent, which COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe said last month has the potential to feed its self and export to the rest of the world, has remained a net food importer for the last 15 years.…

The SADC Chairperson who is also the President of the Republic of Mozambique, His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, says the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has made significant progress in strengthening its efforts to integrate its economies and promote peace and security among the member states.

Speaking in the foreword to the SADC 40^th anniversary publication titled, 40 Years of SADC of Enhancing Regional Cooperation and Integration a publication that brings to light the history of SADC and key achievements that the Region has made since 1980, The SADC Chairperson Filipe Nyusi said the bloc also takes the opportunity to hail its founders and thank them for their vision, dedication, courage and values, which the Region has inherited.

The publication that was launched in Maputo, Mozambique, on June 23^rd, 2021 during the Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government was Published by the SADC Secretariat …

The 50 Million African Women Speak (50MAWS) digital platform is a practical initiative to empower millions of women in Africa to start, grow, and scale-up businesses by providing a one-stop-shop for their specific information needs. …

More than half of the African countries have ratified the trade agreement with Nigeria, the biggest economy on the continent, being the latest to ratify.…

Zambia – Tanzania relations

It’s no secret that Zambia’s economic situation has gone from bad to worse over the years. In mid-2018 the country’s debt reached 9.4 billion USD and has become worse as we stand in 2020, in just a period of 2 years (Ofstad & Tjønneland, 2019).

In May 2020, the Tanzania-Zambia borders were closed due to the pandemic, however, the reopening of trade between the two countries seems to be normalized as nations are now gung-ho in pushing cross border trade.

Zambia’s Economic Snapshot

source: tradingeconomics.com

The graph above shows Zambia’s development from the year 1990 to the year 2019. The country’s economy improved from the year 2011 to the year 2018, as one can see the national GDP output increasing as a result of its healthy inflation rate. In 2019 the country’s economy took a dive and started to falter given that it’s inflation rate …

In recent history virtually every continent and economic block has been trying to establish common trade area agreements as well as political unions. Africa is no different –SADC, ECA, COMESA, ECOWAS and SACU are just some of the examples of African countries trying to collaborate to drive the many aspects of social and economic development.

It is a system and an idea that promises to accelerate inclusion and promote regional prosperity among neighbours and the AfCFTA (The African Continental Free Trade Area) is rapidly becoming the embodiment of that reality – 28 African countries operating as a free trade area. As expected from an agreement of this magnitude, few people fully understand its complexity and intricacies.

FurtherAfrica spoke to one of AfCFTA’s strongest advocates. Mark-Anthony Johnson, CEO of JIC Holdings – an investment, trading and acquisition entity focused in Africa and emerging economies with roots back to 1985. Mark’s JIC …

Egypt sees a 3.2 per cent increase in its total exports to the world trade organisations member countries in 2019.

The export increased to $29.8  billion in 2019 compared to the $28.9 billion recorded in 2018. The statistics came in the Annual Bulletin of Intraregional Trade Groups 2019 by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

CAPMAS report covers intraregional trade organisations in which Egypt is a member state. These include the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, COMESA, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Arab Free Trade Area, the Group of 15 and the Developing Eight Islamic Countries Group (D-8).

According to the report, in 2019, Egypt recorded the largest amount of export to the Arab Free Trade Area with $10.1billion compared to $9.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 5.9 per cent. It was followed by Egypt’s export to United Nations Economic …

The COMESA region economy is expected to grow at 0.6 per cent this year from 5.2 per cent in 2019 and 6.0 in 2018 according to a report by COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI)

The slight decrease in 2019 was caused by low commodity prices while the expected slump this year will be caused by the devastating impact of the pandemic resulting in toa deeper economic contraction for the COMESA region.

According to the report, the expected contraction of the regional economy will be driven by the decline in global demand and regional spillovers, the impact of containment measures, the impact of multiple shocks and the external financial constraint.

Economic activities have been disrupted by COVID -19 mitigation measures including quarantines, lockdowns, travel restrictions, border closures among other measures which have also led to mass unemployment and loss of livelihoods, especially in the informal sector the report said.

“Decline in global …

The African Union says it is in discussion with the Republic of Madagascar with a view to obtaining technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of the herbal remedy.…

Africa has seen a sharp rise in mergers and investments over the last decade.  The total deal value of merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in Africa increased by 32%, rising from US$16 billion in H1 2018, to US$21 billion in H1 2019 according to different wheel dealers in Africa.

The appetite for African share has been born out of an economy that is showing one of the fastest growths in the world. Also, the continent has launched various initiatives to lure foreign direct investment into the continent. These initiatives include the Africa Continental Free Trade Area as well as individual country policies. Rwanda and Ethiopia, for example, have been introducing reforms that have made other partners in the region rethink their positions.

According to UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), out of the total $9 billion invested in the region, Ethiopia took the biggest amount while Rwanda showed increased …