Browsing: Trade

Africa: AfCFTA launch online hub to ease trade on the continent

Business
  • The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has launched an online hub to ease trade on the African continent
  • The AfCFTA Hub is a focal point for national governments, intergovernmental, private, and public organisations
  • It links the parties together to make way for SMEs and startups to drive the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has launched an online hub to ease trade on the African continent.

The AfCFTA Hub is a focal point for national governments, and intergovernmental, private, and public organisations. It links the parties together to make way for SMEs and startups to drive the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The online hub is designed to grow into a single, trusted directory of the services needed to navigate the AfCFTA for small players, thereby making the AfCFTA the most inclusive Free Trade Area …

Zambia and Tanzania agree to revamp TAZARA, expand TAZAMA pipeline

Industry and Trade

ZAMBIA and Tanzania last week agreed to revamp and recapitalize the TAZARA railway and expand the TAZAMA pipeline following a change in objectives from the transportation of crude oil to finished products.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the agreement to revive TAZARA was reached when she held talks with visiting Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

According to Zambia Daily Mail, TAZARA was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, with commercial operations starting in July 1976, covering 1,860 kilometres from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

President Hassan added that the two leaders have also agreed to work closely in promoting trade and investment through the revival and renovation of key joint post-independence infrastructure projects that were built to link the two nations, including the Tanzania-Zambia Crude …

What does Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mean for Southern Africa?

Countries
  • When the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on March 2 to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, African countries accounted for almost half of the 35 abstentions including South Africa.
  • The conflict triggered by Russia’s invasion has complicated the challenges and sources of stress already facing Southern Africa.
  • A few countries are sensing long-term growth opportunities from the crisis. Specifically, Africa’s natural gas could reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the existing world order and with it the global energy, production, distribution, and financial systems. Russia and China are openly challenging the Pax Americana. But the question of what the next world order will look like remains wide open.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, its neighbour to the southwest, marking a dramatic escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014, Putin announced a “special military operation” in…

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China Sneezes Will Africa Catch A Cold

China sneezes, will Africa catch a cold?

Africa
  • China’s GDP is central to the global economy and especially in Africa
  • The Asian country’s economy is integrated with nearly every sphere of global trade from manufacturing to finance and mining
  • This means that when China does well economically so do African countries

The AFCFTA will transform Africa if it can be implemented.

China is an integral part of the global economic matrix. The Asian behemoth is responsible for the economic well-being of a litany of countries in the world.

Much of the economic growth enjoyed by numerous countries owes itself to and is sponsored by China’s economic activity either in whole or in part. China’s mass urbanization gave a spark to producers of natural commodities who continue to rely on the Asian country’s appetite for these natural resources for their income.

China went from being a pure-play communist republic to a hybrid capitalistic society of sorts owing to its…

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AfDB to lead Zimbabwe’s debt repayment strategy

Countries

In September last year, the government started making quarterly token payments of $100,000 to each of the 16 Paris Club creditors as it sought ways to extinguish the mounting debt.

As of the end of May, Zimbabwe had made $8 million in token payments to multilateral banks and $4.8 million to the Paris Club creditors.

The article added that Zimbabwe is already defaulting on active loans from China, which is affecting the disbursement of funds for ongoing projects, the debt management office said in the report.…

Digital Manufacturing in Africa 2022

Tech & Business

The widespread adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) by manufacturing companies the world-over is driving competition and permanently disrupting the playing fields.

According to an article by Cision PRNewswire published on May 11, 2022, the competition for a strong manufacturing industry is a global one, and initiatives to promote and advance manufacturing from other governments include Germany's "Industrie 4.0",  France's "Industrie du Futur," and China's "Made in China 2025".

Japan has planned Society 5.0 (Industry 4.0), targeting its economic and social challenges, such as an aging population, labor shortages, and weak growth through advanced technologies. Germany Industrie 4.0 Initiative aims to create an industry infrastructure fit for sustainable future manufacturing in the country.

Recently, African countries have made promising progress towards industrialization, exhibited in the continent’s strategic framework for leveraging the pan-African drive for achieving inclusive and sustainable development, Agenda 2063.

However, the continent has faced unprecedented disruption over…

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President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa delivering his solidarity statement during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Solidarity Conference) Heads of State and Government. www.theexchange.africa

Government and business hostilities undermine Zimbabwe’s economy

Countries

The movement of exchange rates on the parallel market has been caused by the government itself. Firstly, the government introduced a currency that economic agents have no confidence in because it did not have the macroeconomic fundamentals to give it credence. There was no parallel market for foreign currency during the years that the country made use of a basket of currencies.

The parallel market only emerged when the government introduced a surrogate currency called the bond note which was said to be at par with the United States dollar. No sooner than the surrogate currency had been introduced that the parallel market emerged, and United States dollars started trading at a premium.

Secondly, the government reportedly purchases foreign exchange on the parallel market. Through the central bank, the government issues new currency and then purchases foreign currency on the parallel market and drives up the exchange rate. It has …

EU renews commitment to boost bilateral relations with Nigeria

Regional Markets

The European Union (EU) and Nigeria have enjoyed robust trade and bilateral relations since the formulation of this lucrative partnership, and remains its most important trading partner for oil and non-oil exports. In cognizance of Nigeria’s strategic importance as Africa’s most populous nation, and one of the largest economies; the EU’s cooperation with the country aims to enhance growth and stability to achieve social equity, hence their partnership has been rooted in shared values and interests since inception. In addition, Nigeria is also a key beneficiary of the EU’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

To boot, the EU has recently renewed its commitment, pledging to continue to pursue with increased vigour, its bilateral engagement and friendship with Nigeria I n order to deliver better and to make the partnership more fruitful. This comes after the trade volume between the European Union and Nigeria, increased by 25.8 per cent to peak at…

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