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African maritime to meet to review port concession agreement

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The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has said that African maritime stakeholders are to meet to review the port concession agreement.
Mr Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of NSC, said the council was putting in place, a comprehensive tariff regime, to make the port more attractive.
According to him, the Union of African Shippers Council conference scheduled to hold on Sept. 25 to bring the terminal operators together to decide on the details of the review process.
“It is a Union of African Shippers Council which we are hosting to review what we would like to see.
“Port concessioning is a very good concept but we have to exercise abundant caution to see that it is done well.
“It is not only the government that is looking for review; the terminal operators are also looking for the review.
“We cannot review the port concessioning on behalf of anybody; all parties must come together and NSC has an important role to play in that.
“We must be part of that concession because we are the port economic regulator, we are the neutral referees.”
He said that the NSC, as the economic regulator, would advise government, through the minister, on matters relating to the structure of freight rates, availability and adequacy of shipping space.
Bello said that the council would also advise government on frequency of sailings, terms of shipment and class as well as quality of vessels.
nigeria-chinatrade

Nigeria, China sign deal on cotton industry

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Nigeria and a Chinese firm have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on first-ever cotton value chain
industry, worth two billion US dollars.
 
The Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, unveiled the deal in Abuja where he
said the agreement was signed with Shandong Ruyi International Fashion
Industry.
 
The minister explained that the agreement
would involve cotton growing to ginning, spinning, textile manufacture
and garment in Katsina, Kano, Abia and Lagos States.
 
“Their investments will comprise
aggregation and off take of cotton from farmers for ginning, spinning
and weaving and manufacturing at least 300 million metres of African
print, which will meet 20 per cent of West Africa’s demand.
 
“Others are producing cotton and denim
garments for export and local consumption by Ruyi Group in Abia, Lagos
and Kano states,” Enelamah said.
 
He added that in China, President Xi
Jinping promised to open China’s market for agricultural products from
Nigeria, based on trade negotiating engagements by Nigeria’s Trade
Negotiators.
 
Enelamah said for industrialisation, the
government was aggressively implementing the Nigeria Industrial
Revolution Plan (NIRP) by establishing the Nigeria Industrial Policy and
Competitiveness Advisory Council.
 
He said the focus would be on five high
priority areas: policy and regulation, trade and markets, critical
infrastructure , skills , capacity building and lastly financing.
 
Enelamah said that the government had
begun the establishment and upgrading of some existing industrial parks
to world-class special economic zones (SEZs), across the six
geo-political zones in the country.
 
According to him, for the Agreement
Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), there is a
serious ongoing technical work to strengthen Nigeria’s Trade Policy
Infrastructur
AFRICA

China spurs Africa’s industrialisation drive

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By Li Zhiwei
The cooperation in industrialisation between China and Africa over the past three years has yielded rich fruits.
Such cooperation is a significant step to propel Africa’s social development, economic transformation, and improvement of people’s livelihood.
The results also constitute an impressive part of the positive progress both sides made from their efforts to implement the ten major China-Africa cooperation plans which were put forward three years ago.
For the period, African countries did not have a fairly integrated industrial system, thus making it hard to start up large-scale infrastructure projects.
Their economic structure usually become more vulnerable when faced with the price fluctuation of international commodities.
African leaders have been aware that they could not truly achieve economic transformation and economic independence without industrialization.
Against the background, they have listed a long-term strategy in the Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU) to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.
The continent also aimed to increase value it add to resources and people’s income through industrialization process, especially the growth of manufacturing sector.
The sufficient labour and natural resources have put Africa in front of a broad prospect of win-win cooperation and common development with China, who has technologies, equipment, talents and capital needed for Africa to achieve its aim.
Industrialization is the only path for Africa’s development, said Funeka Yazini April, a research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa, who also that China-Africa cooperation was a key to Africa’s development.
“China built industrial parks in Africa to transfer technology, create jobs for the locals, and increase the added value of local products. There is no reason not to welcome China,” said Namibian President Hage Geingob.
The priority China gives to Africa’s industrialization has propel the latter to take a big stride to tackle its two major development bottlenecks ­ – backward infrastructure and talent shortage.
China’s construction of standard gauge railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti has opened up traffic to freight and passenger, and witnessing a new vista in industrial corridor.
The Addis Ababa-Djibouti rail line, built and operated by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC), is also Africa’s first and longest transnational electric railway.
After Djibouti International Free Trade Zone was opened in early July, the China Merchants Group-backed zone has attracted over 20 African and Chinese enterprises to sign the letter of intent to enter the zone.
“The free trade zone would bring welfare to local people,’’ Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh noted.
He said the project would not only increase job opportunities, but also introduce the export processing industry to Djibouti and  the impetus for the growth of country’s economy.
In Ethiopia, Chinese have engaged in the construction of the majority of the more than 10 new industrial parks led by local government.
The CCECC-built Hawassa Industrial Park, an emission-free zone with 52 standardized plants, has directly created nearly 20,000 jobs for locals.
The success of the park has not only greatly boosted the confidence of the Ethiopian government in industrialization drive, but also introduced the management experiences of Chinese companies on industrial park to Africa.
China-Africa industrialization cooperation has brought more and more tangible benefits to Africans.
The rural population on the continent is now flowing to manufacturing sector because of the factories and enterprises invested by Chinese companies.
In this March, a foundation-laying ceremony for the China-Africa Textile Company was held in Salima, 100 kilometres from Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.
The project makes the dream of changing Malawi economic model from import dependent to export- oriented county a reality.
Malawian President Peter Mutharika, while extending his gratitude to China, noted that the textile mill would have a positive impact on the Malawian economy.
He said that products could be exported to neighbouring countries and international markets, and it would also improve living standards of the rural residents.
Where there are Chinese factories and projects, there are young Africans full of passion and energy. It is a situation commonly seen in more than 20 African countries.
The Huajian Shoe factory in Ethiopia, for instance, employs about 8,000 local workers, making it the country’s largest employer of labour.
The Hebei Iron and Steel Group hires more than 2,400 workers in its steel plant in South Africa, with only eight Chinese employees.
The South Africa plant of Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), a joint venture between BAIC and South Africa’s state-owned Industrial Development Corp is another of such Chinese companies in Africa.
The plant, which was initiated in 2015, could produce 50,000 cars each year upon completion of its first-phase.
It would be the largest single investment in the automobile industry of South Africa and even of the whole of Africa after its completion.
At full capacity, its vehicle and complete knock-down parts business will hit 18.6 billion yuan, and contribute 6.2 billion yuan to the exports of South Africa.
Statistics indicate that China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, with the investment to Africa totaling over $100 billion.
The achievements of China-Africa industrialization cooperation can be seen everywhere, said China’s Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian.
He  added that a large number of projects, including railways, ports and industrial parks have been completed, which significantly accelerated Africa’s industrialization drive and showed a strong momentum for rapid development.
Lin believes that China has become and will continue to be the most reliable friend and partner of Africa, helping African countries to achieve sustainable development.
Apapa-traffic-gridlock

Tanker drivers ground operations at Calabar port

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Smooth operations have been grounded just when the south eastern port of Calabar is beginning to witness increased ship and cargo traffic as petroleum tanker drivers block access roads.
The articulated vehicles are indiscriminately parked on the port access route while waiting to load petroleum products from over 10 tank farms around and within the Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
According to reports, the situation has become so frustrating that port users, visitors and residents around the area spend between 30 minutes to two hours to get to the port or the EPZ, a journey of less 10 minutes.
Mr. Mike Ogodo, President of the Nigerian Shippers Association, said he had warned the government years back when the construction of the tank farms commenced.
He explained that he warned that it would hinder port operations when trucks starts coming to queue up to load petroleum products from these facilities, but the then government of Cross Rivers state did not heed the warning.
He warned that the situation may even get worse unless urgent steps are taken to address the issue.
Ogodo also called on the state Governor, Mr. Ben Ayade, to do something about the activities of truck drivers before they completed ground the little operations still going on at the port.
He observed that the multi million naira export business from the port and the little consignments coming through the port would varnish if the governor does not step in urgently.
Similarly, he also called on the governor to lead the efforts towards the dredging of the channel leading to the port on behalf of all port users as the benefit to the state and its indigenes is better imagined.
Calabar Port is strategically situated to serve the maritime and logistics needs of 16 Northern states, the commercial cities of Aba, Onitsha and Nnewi as well as the neighbouring states of the South-South region of the country.
Industry experts also noted the proximity of Calabar Port to Equatorial Guinea and Cameroun emphasises its stratergic importance as potential hub for the West African Oil and Gas logistics.
Despite spending over N32.1billion and awarding the contract for the dredging of Calabar port channel three times by various management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, the channel has still not gone beyond the 6.4 meter draught it stood at over a decade ago.
NPACompanys

NPA to sanction shipping/terminal operators over non- compliance on holding bays

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The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is to sanction all erring
shipping companies and terminal operators that failed to comply with an
agreement on the use of holding bays.
The Managing Director, NPA, Ms Hadiza Usman made this known on
Thursday in Lagos.
According to her, the agreement which was reached in November,
2017 between the shipping companies, terminal operators and the NPA, was to
provide holding bays for their trucks and containers through the newly- adopted
call-up system.
“These were part of the resolutions adopted at the end of two
meetings between the managing director NPA and the leadership of truck drivers
and Maritime Workers Union in response to recent protests by truck drivers at
the Lagos Port Complex and Tin- Can Island Port.
“We had a meeting on 11th July, 2018, and informed the operators
that the Authority had launched an investigation into the level of compliance
or non-compliance with the agreements reached between the Authority, shipping
companies and terminal operators.
“Any company found to have contravened this agreement will be
sanctioned, ” Usman said in a statement signed by the Assistant Spokesman for
NPA, Malam Isa Suwaid.
On the newly adopted call-up system for trucks accessing the
port, Usman explained that the authority had consulted widely with all
stakeholders before the introduction of the system.
She said that the system had proved to be the most effective way
of managing traffic in the Apapa axis till date.
Commenting on complaints over allegation of extortion by some
security agencies, the managing director assured that the Authority would
investigate the allegation and culprits would be made to face the appropriate
provision of the law.
The Chairman of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners
(AMATO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi and the President-General of the Maritime Workers
Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Mr Adeyanju Waheed said that the call-up system had
sanitised traffic congestion on the Apapa axis.
The managing director said that the meeting between the NPA
management and the union leadership was in furtherance of getting amicable
solution to issues arising from the operation of the call-up system as part of
the Authority’s Traffic Management Strategy.
Usman noted the allegation of extortion by security agencies and
the utilisation of holding bays by shipping companies and terminal operators as
defined by the November, 2017 agreement.
In another development, Rep. Jones Onyereri, the Chairman, House
Committee on Banking and Currency, on Thursday said the National Assembly
(NASS) would ensure speedy passage of the Nigerian factoring bill.
Onyereri, said this at the Nigerian Factoring Roundtable, a
breakout session at the ongoing Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Abuja.
According to him, factoring is a financial position whereby a
business sells its account receivable to a third party called a factor at a
discount.
He said the process made it possible for a business to convert a
readily substantial portion of its account receivable into cash.
“Factoring in the world all over has become a going source of
external finance for small enterprises, and Nigeria firms should not be
excluded from its benefits.
“The introduction of factoring in the financial sector will
serve as complementary financing to conventional financing and will largely
target Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“This will enable the provision of cash flows to MSMES,
especially those that have quality receivables and may not be in the position
to obtain adequate conventional bank finance due to high interest rate,
collateral or credit profile constraints.
“NASS strongly believes in the importance of this bill as a
revolutionary financing tool that will help the MSMEs in Nigeria, we therefore,
seek for a quick passage of this bill.
He said the bill would provide for the scope of application of
the law as well as the regulation and supervision of factoring activity by the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“It will criminalise any act by the factor, client or debtor
that constitute fraud or misrepresentation, provide jurisdiction for conflict
dispute resolution.
“It will also give the Federal and State high court jurisdiction
to criminal matters arising from factoring activities.
“This is essential, so we should ensure that the factoring law
in Nigeria works, especially for our MSMEs that forms the bulk of the private
sector which is where the bulk of the wealth for any positive thinking
nation should be,’’ he said.
The chairman then said it was imperative that the legislature
and critical stakeholders worked together to ensure a right and workable model
of factoring for Nigeria’s collective populace.
He said the NASS would take a critical look at the bill to come
up with a workable law that would be of best benefit to the nation.
Onyereri assured of the commitment of NASS to come up with
legislative intervention that would guarantee efficacy and effectiveness in the
banking sector of the country. 
SAPresident

South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa – 25th Anniversary Celebrations of African Export-Import Bank

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Address by
President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of
the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Abuja, Nigeria
Programme Director,
The President of Afreximbank, Dr Benedict Oramah,
HE Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Faki,
HE President of the Republic of Niger, President Mahamadou Issoufou,
Honourable Ministers,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It
is a great honour and privilege for me to be part of this occasion,
which marks a remarkable milestone in the history of Afreximbank.
Allow me to congratulate you on this great achievement and for the important work the bank has done over the past 25 years.
I am very pleased
to be sharing a platform with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who has been
leading the African Continental Free Trade Area process.
Under his leadership, we have made significant progress towards making the AfCFTA a reality.
The 25th
anniversary of Afreximbank coincides with two historic occasions in
South Africa – the centenary of the birth of former President Nelson
Mandela exactly a week from today and the centenary of the birth of Mama
Albertina Sisulu in October.
These two great Africans are synonymous with South Africa’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
The outstanding role they played in our journey to democracy will forever be etched in the annals of history.
As a country, we
are today able to participate in such events as the 25th anniversary of
Afreximbank thanks to their contribution not only to free South Africa,
but also to ensure that it ties its future to the future of the African
continent.
We continue to be inspired by these two icons in the work we do every day to create a better Africa and a better world.
We are guided by the words of President Mandela, when he said:
“I am fundamentally
an optimist… Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed
toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments
when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could
not give myself to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
We gather here in Abuja as optimists, our heads pointed towards the sun, our feet moving forward.
We are not daunted by the obstacles we face, nor discouraged by the setbacks we experience.
We are determined
to build an Africa that is prosperous, that is at peace, that is
inclusive and where all its people enjoy an improving quality of life.
We are encouraged
by the progress that has been made in many areas of endeavour, from
governance to trade, from education to technology.
We are encouraged by the ongoing work of the African Union and its organs.
We have seen significant growth and development in economies across the continent.
We have many
success stories of companies and organisations that are making a great
difference in the lives of the people of Africa.
Afreximbank is one such story, which serves as an example and an inspiration to many others.
We are optimistic
about Africa’s future because of the momentous developments over the
last few months in forging a free trade area across the continent.
The Extraordinary
African Union Summit in Kigali in March was a watershed, with most of
the countries on the continent signing up to the agreement on the
African CFTA.
At the 31st Session
of the AU Assembly in Mauritania just over a week ago, South Africa
joined its counterparts in signing the agreement.
Agreement on the Continental Free Trade Agreement represents a new dawn for Africa.
This new dawn
signals the unity of purpose among Africans and a quest to work together
to achieve a common goal of a prosperous and independent continent.
The AfCFTA makes us a winning continent because it carries a vision that represents the aspirations of our forebears.
It encourages unity among us rather than division.
It gives practical
expression to our long-held belief that the interests of any nation in
our continent become meaningless if they are not pursued within the
context of shared prosperity among African people as a whole.
It is a significant
step towards the creation of an integrated and diversified market of
approximately $3.3 trillion with a population of over 1 billion people.
In pursuing the
CFTA, we seek to combine market integration with industrial and
infrastructure development to ensure that we enhance Africa’s productive
capacity, address supply-side constraints and alleviate the
infrastructure deficit.
We have to have the
means to produce the goods that will be freely traded across the
continent and we need to have the roads, railways, ports and air routes
that are going to carry these goods.
The CFTA will assist Africa as it works towards self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
By trading among
ourselves, we will be able to retain more resources within our continent
to be shared among our people, alleviating poverty and reducing
inequality.
Integration, and
the economic development that will accompany it, will also contribute
towards the maintenance of stability, democracy, peace and development.
At the same time,
we need to work with greater determination and urgency to end conflict
and instability to create improved conditions for economic development.
Greater integration and inclusive growth provides greater possibilities to replace conflict with constructive dialogue.
Integration will assist in our efforts to silence the guns on our continent.
Programme Director,
This annual meeting
is convened at a time when the multilateral trading system is under
severe strain, largely due to an abandonment by some of the agreed upon
rules of engagement.
It is important
that this meeting considers the full extent of this strain because it
carries the risk of reversing the modest gains we have made in placing
development at the centre of the multilateral trading system.
Our response must be to consolidate and advance the integration of our continental market.
Under the
leadership of President Issoufou, our collective priority should be to
conclude Phase I and II of the negotiations of the CFTA, before
commencing new preferential trading negotiations with third parties
outside of the continent.
We have set
ourselves a deadline of 2020 to conclude the CFTA negotiations and to
ensure that the liberalisation of trade in goods is complimented by
rules on investment, competition policy and intellectual property
rights.
In this way, we will be able to unlock Africa’s full productive capacity.
I have no doubt
that those of you gathered here have the requisite ability not only to
deal with the economic challenges facing our continent but also to
develop practical programmes that will accelerate the pace towards
meaningful regional integration.
Let us spare
neither effort nor strength as we work collectively to build and achieve
the Africa we want, as articulated in Agenda 2063.
As I conclude,
please allow me, once more, to congratulate Afreximbank for achieving
this milestone, and wish that you grow from strength to strength in
order to make a meaningful contribution in the development of the
continent.
I wish you well in your further deliberations.
I thank you.
More from:
The Presidency
More on:
Africa
Address by
President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of
the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Abuja, Nigeria Programme
Director,
culled:Allafrica
Oil-Rig-thumb

Oil prices fall as Trump urges OPEC to cut prices

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Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump sent a strident tweet demanding that OPEC cut prices for crude.
The escalating trade row between Washington and Beijing, which
triggered another sell-off in Asian stocks on Thursday, was also felt in
oil markets, with China warning it could introduce duties on U.S. crude
imports at an as yet unspecified date.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at 77.70 dollars per barrel at 6.53 GMT, down 54 cents, or 0.7 per cent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 37 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at 73.77 dollars per barrel.
Mr Trump on Wednesday accused the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of driving up fuel prices.
“The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they
are doing little to help,” Trump wrote on his personal Twitter account.
“If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s.”
“This must be a two way street,” he wrote, adding in block capitals, “REDUCE PRICING NOW!”
OPEC together with a group of non-OPEC producers led by Russia started to withhold output in 2017 to prop up prices.
Recent price rises have also been spurred by a U.S. announcement that
it plans to re-introduce sanctions against Iran from November,
targeting oil exports.
“A key driver of the rise in prices has been the OPEC-Russia deal to
cut oil output, compounded by collapsing Venezuelan production and the
U.S. decision to end the Iran deal,” National Australia Bank (NAB) said
in its July outlook.
OPEC and Russia announced in June they were willing to raise output
to address concerns of emerging supply shortages due to unplanned
disruptions from Venezuela to Libya, and likely also to replace a
potential fall in Iranian supplies due to U.S. sanctions.
In spite of these measures to replace disrupted supplies, Goldman
Sachs said in a July 4 note to clients that “the market will remain in
deficit” in the second half of the year.
The U.S. bank warned that supply threats were “threatening a sharp further rise in prices and global economic growth”.
Meanwhile, China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday the United
States is “opening fire on the entire world”, warning that Washington’s
proposed tariffs on Chinese goods will hit international supply chains.
The comments came as Washington plans to impose tariffs on an estimated $34 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday.
Asian stock markets on Thursday extended recent sharp losses.
China’s customs agency said on its website that Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods would immediately be implemented in retaliation.
“The decision by the U.S. administration is expected to be taken on
Friday and China is expected to retaliate immediately,” said Hussein
Sayed, Chief Market Strategist at futures brokerage FXTM.
However, the Chinese government has not yet specified a date on which it may introduce duties on imports of U.S. crude.
The latter have soared in the last two years to around 400,000
barrels per day in July, worth around $1 billion at current market
prices.

(Reuters/NAN)
afdb4thposition

AfDB ranks 4th among 45 organisations in 2018 global aid transparency index

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The 2018 Aid Transparency Index Report (ATI), has ranked African
Development Bank (AfDB) 4th among 45 development organisations that share
transparent and open data on project impact, result and evaluation.
A statement signed by AfDB Chief Communication Officer, Mr
Chawki Chahedi on Wednesday in Abuja, said the 2018 ATI report had lifted the
bank by six positions since 2016.
According to Chahedi, ATI has been the only independent
organisation measuring transparency in the world’s major development and
humanitarian agencies.
“The improved ranking reflects the bank’s operational
capabilities, the efficacy of its systems and processes, including a strict
adherence quality reporting, disclosure of its programmes, projects, aid and
financial interventions.’’
He said that it was a laid down procedure that organisations
provide information on the objectives of their operations.
“But only four Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) like the
Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank and
AfDB publish details of their pre-project impact appraisals, evaluations and
review documents and results.’’
The statement also quoted AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina as
saying “proactive stakeholders relations and governance anchored on
transparency are critical and at the heart of the impact-driven work that makes
the AfDB Africa’s leading DFIs’’.
“The latest ranking on the global aid transparency index
reflects the bank’s alignment to its strategic priorities and unwavering
commitment to Africa’s development and transparency agenda.”
The Bank said a signatory to the International Aid Transparency
Initiative (IATI) since April 2011, the bank had recently launched a new
projects portal, publishing data according to IATI’s international standards on
transparency.
It said the aim was to make information about its development
spending easier to access, use and understand.
The bank said open data supporters had endorsed the index,
adopted by the United Nations, African Union, European Union, the United States
government and other international and regional bodies.
Chahedi, however, noted that the report identified some
challenges to the open data momentum, which includes the shrinking “civic
space’’ needed for citizens and Civil Society Oorganisations (CSOs) to engage
in decision making.
The chief communication officer said the report also listed
increasingly scarce assistance from development partners, and the changing
development landscape, adding that they pose a fresh set of fiscal, regulatory,
technical and ethical challenges for global transparency efforts.
portuguesespeakingcountries

Portuguese-speaking countries at the forefront of creating an African Free Trade Zone

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Five of the six
Portuguese-speaking African countries are on the list of 44 states that
have subscribed to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
project, which received a generally positive reception from civil
society.
The first step towards the creation of the AfCFTA was taken at the
end of March in Kigali, Rwanda, at the summit of heads of state of the
African Union (AU), with the signing of an agreement that provides for
the creation of a customs union similar to that of the European Union
(EU).
At the head of the signatories is Angola, who was represented at the
summit by its president, João Lourenço, as well as Mozambique, also
represented by the head of state, Filipe Nyusi.
According to Angolan economist José Carlos Costa, Angola, under
Lourenço’s leadership, “embraced this project with enthusiasm,” in
contrast with the position hitherto opposed to greater economic
integration in the region.
“I would like Angola to embrace regional integration tomorrow and to
face a hemispheric integration in the medium term without any
reservations, and I, therefore, hope that the enthusiasm shown with the
signing of the agreement in Kigali will have as its first consequence a
change of position on regional economic integration,” Costa wrote on his
website “Angonomics.”
From the AfCFTA project “there will certainly be more positive than
negative things, such as the cheaper import of products from other
countries in the region and the expansion of markets for our already
exporting companies and the emergence of opportunities for those that do
not yet export,” he added.
Following the signing of the Kigali agreement, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, José Pacheco, stressed
the importance of Africa “to unite to do inter-African business.”
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said the agreement “has
important economic implications for the African population, “as it will
open the market to 1.2 billion people with the possibility of generating
great wealth for the continent, accelerating investment, diversifying
the economy and increasing trade.”
Signatories of the agreement include Equatorial Guinea, through its
prime minister, Francisco Obama Asue, São Tomé and Príncipe and Cabo
Verde (Cape Verde), represented at ministerial level.
Guinea-Bissau was thus the only Portuguese-speaking country that did not sign the Kigali agreement.
Moroccan think-tank OCP Policy Center, in a recent analysis of the
signing of the agreement, stressed that the “translation of vision into
action,” will not be easy, not least because of the need to include
large economies such as South Africa and Nigeria, which are still
studying their membership, but also to limit the exclusion of products
and to define rules of origin for them.
“All African nations are also faced with the need to improve
transport infrastructure to enable trade to take place. The larger and
richer economies, notably China, the European Union and the United
States, have an interest in the success of the free trade zone and there
is much they can do to promote a favourable outcome,” said the OCP
Policy Center. (macauhub)

UStasury

U.S. Treasury chief Mnuchin slams report that Trump wants to exit WTO

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said a report by the Axios news
website, that cited sources as saying President Donald Trump wanted the
United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization, was wrong.
“There’s no breaking news here … it’s not right,” Mnuchin told Fox Business Network, calling the report “fake news.”
Axios reported earlier on Friday, citing people who were involved in
discussions with the president, that Trump frequently told advisers he
wanted the United States to quit the WTO, a move with potentially
disastrous implications for global commerce.
“This is an exaggeration,” Mnuchin said. “The president has been
clear, with us and with others, he has concerns about the WTO, he thinks
there’s aspects of it that are not fair, he thinks that China and
others have used it to their own advantage, but we are focussed on free
trade. That’s what we’re focussed on – breaking down barriers.”
U.S. stocks wobbled briefly in premarket trading after the Axios
report, but regained their footing following Mnuchin’s comments.
One person who has discussed the subject with Trump, according to
Axios, said the president frequently told advisers: “I don’t know why
we’re in it. The WTO is designed by the rest of the world to screw the
United States.”
A source familiar with Trump’s thinking told Reuters he has said
privately that the U.S. should get out of the WTO but that it was not a
serious proposal.
“He’s frustrated with it and doesn’t love it but it’s not like we’re
doing some formal process to withdraw. He thinks they impede good trade
deals and make trading more complicated,” the source said.
A December 1994 statute approving the creation of the WTO requires
explicit approval from both U.S. chambers of Congress for the country to
withdraw from the agreement, an extremely high barrier to such a move.
The 164-member WTO is the only international organisation that deals
with the rules of trade between countries and states its key purpose as
opening trade “for the benefit of all.”
In Geneva, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said no one from the U.S.
government had indicated to officials “in the Secretariat that they have
any intention of leaving the organisation.”
The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request
for comment, and neither did the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.
CHINA
The USTR has launched a WTO challenge against China’s technology
licensing practices, arguing that they ignore market principles and
violate WTO rules. The challenge is part of Trump’s “Section 301” tariff
efforts to pressure China to change its intellectual property practices
and industrial policies.
Last Friday, the United States told the Geneva-based WTO that appeals
rulings in trade disputes could be vetoed if they took longer than the
allowed 90 days.
The statement by U.S. Ambassador Dennis Shea threatened to erode a
key element of trade enforcement at the 23-year-old WTO: binding dispute
settlement, widely seen as a major bulwark against protectionism.
It came as Trump, who has railed against the WTO judges in the past,
threatened to levy a 20 percent import tax on European Union cars, the
latest in an unprecedented campaign of threats and tariffs to punish
U.S. trading partners.
Mnuchin was asked earlier on Friday if new trade tariffs the United
States has imposed or threatened might wipe out gains from major tax
cuts passed into law six months ago.
“I can assure you that we are not going to do anything that wipes out
all those benefits or does anything that has a significant risk on
growth,” he said.

 Source: Reuters (Reporting by Tom Miles in GENEVA and David Lawder,
Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle, Eric Walsh and Doina Chiacu in
WASHINGTON;

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