Until the Biden Administration, US-Africa trade relations had remained remarkably consistent. Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), in place since October 2000 through five separate US administrations, has been the ‘centrepiece’ of this consistency.…

A recent report has revealed that the ban on second-hand clothing, also known as mitumba, might not enhance Kenya’s textile industry as previously anticipated. The report commissioned by the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya (MCAS) on the Second-Hand Clothing Industry in the East Africa Community has cautioned against protectionism towards importing second-hand clothing.…

• The economy is now projected to grow by 4.6% during 2022, a downward revision from the original 5.5% projection
• Reserve money stock has increased to ZW$33.6 billion as of June 30, 2022.
• Merchandise exports and imports increased by 33% and 15% to US$3 516.5 million and US$3 746.8 million. Exports are expected to reach US$7.3 billion
• The country is doing well in terms of budget transparency and is now ranked third in Africa, after South Africa and Benin.

Zimbabwe’s Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube, presented the 2022 supplementary budget on Thursday amid skyrocketing inflation that has since eroded this year’s national budget.

This is the first time that Minister Ncube has presented a supplementary budget since he was appointed Finance Minister by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2018.

The economy is now projected to grow by 4.6% during 2022, a downward revision from the original 5.5% projection, and follows …

Among Zimbabweans, there is a clear preference for the use of the United States dollar over the local currency. This is to the extent that there are some government services which cannot be accessed without United States dollars.

There are also some basic household commodities and goods that one will need to pay for using hard currency and will not be able to purchase if they have the local currency. Following on the issue of the currency crisis is the fact that exporters are already heavily burdened with operating costs in United States dollars.

Regardless of whether it is an exporter or partial exporter, 40 per cent of all export proceeds generated by Zimbabwean-based exporters must be surrendered to the central bank. This is how the central bank has been funding its auction system to allocate foreign exchange to importers.

To be fair, the surrender requirements are not uniformly or …

The distinctive Zimbabwe Granite is a much sought-after dimension stone in the world. The resource is considerable and there is potential for investment by both local and foreign companies.

Reports indicate that the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark was built with black granite from Zimbabwe. It’s just one of many examples of how the prized stone is used around the world.

Currently, 75% of the country’s black granite is produced in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province. Companies such as Southern Granite, Dingmao Mining, Quarrying Enterprises, Zimbabwe International Quarries, and Natural Stone Exports are in the business of Granite Value Addition.…

• The AfCFTA agreement will boost East Africa’s manufactured exports to the rest of Africa
• Textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100% under the agreement
• Experts have recommended the rolling out of private sector sensitization campaigns on the AfCFTA

East African Community (EAC) partner states have been urged to finalize and submit tariff offers under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to enable the bloc to tap into the 1.3 billion continental markets with a Gross Domestic Product of USD 3 trillion.

In a statement, the East African Business Council Vice Chairman Denis said the AfCFTA is set to boost East Africa’s manufactured exports to the rest of Africa.

In particular, textiles & clothing exports will increase by 100%, heavy manufacturing by 63%, light manufacturing by 61%, processed food by 54% while livestock & meat products by 39%.

Karera said that the political will to duly implement the …

A new report has found that toxic chemicals in plastic waste exports from wealthy countries are contaminating food in developing and transition countries around the world, including Africa.

The study by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) found that most of the plastic waste exported from wealthy countries to countries with developing economies or economies in transition is landfilled, burned, or dumped into waterways.

According to the report, all plastics virtually contain hazardous chemical additives.

The report states that these disposal methods result in highly toxic emissions that remain in the environment for decades and build up in the food chain.

Dubbed ‘Plastic Waste Poisoning Food and Threatening Communities in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America’, the study demonstrates how these plastic waste handling methods end up poisoning local populations.

For this study, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in fourteen countries which in many cases receive plastic waste from …

Tanzania—East Africa’s host of the most strategic port (Dar es Salaam Port), anticipates garnering more cargo in the next four years, as the Tanzanian Port Authority (TPA) projects the volume of cargo to rise by almost 43 per cent, according to information from The Citizen.

The Dar es Salaam port handles about 95 per cent of the country international trade, serving other landlocked countries, Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, according to information from the TPA website.

In the maritime sector, Tanzania has a rather wider potential for expanding its reach in this pool. Tanzania’s coastline stretches of approximately 1425 km across East Africa portrays how the country could transform its economy and vitalize movement of good over the East African region.

The government of Tanzania has been on a mission to transform the sector physically and financially. For instance, in July 2017 President John Magufuli …

The central bank of Tanzania (BoT) published its January 2021 monthly economic review report, breaking down several performance aspects of various sectors including exports, imports, as well as the national debt.

Inflation

On this section of the economy, the central bank report showed the year-on-year headline inflation remained moderate at 3.2 per cent in December 2020, compared to 3 per cent in the earlier month.

The report argued that the changes occurred due to price-driven onto food and non-food items. On the overall basis, the inflation rate was within the regional benchmarks as well as below the country medium-term target of 5.0 per cent.

“On month-to-month headline inflation increased to 0.8 per cent in December 2020 compared to 0.3 per cent in the previous month and 0.6 per cent recorded in the corresponding period in 2019” the report noted.

However, the bank report highlighted that inflation is projected to remain …

Egypt’s Balance of Payment (BOP) declined by 8.6 per cent in June 2020 compared to the same month in 2019 according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

According to CAPMAS, Egypt saw a trade deficit of $3.30 billion the same period.

This was majorly caused by the fall of exports by 7.8 per cent to $2.26 billion down from $2.45 billion causing a decrease in the BOP to $3.3 billion instead of $3.61 billion. The downturn has been attributed to the decreased value of some commodities, including fresh fruits at 10.5 per cent, ready-to-wear clothing at 2.5 per cent, crude oil at 46.3 per cent and plastics in primary forms at 10.4 per cent.

At the same period, the value of other exports increased during June 2020, which include various pastries and food preparations increased by 28.0 per cent, dairy products by 29.3 per cent and …