comesa situation bulletin may 2013
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Update on the situation in various COMESA countries.TRANSCRIPT
COMESA SITUATION BULLETIN Volume 5 – No5- May 2013 - Monthly published by AFRIKASOURCES
Edited by AFRIKASOURCES – Author: Jean Philippe PAYET [CEO-Senior analyst] The content of this publication is based on a selection of news browsed by our services. Request for a more detailed analysis at [email protected] – © Afrikasources Consult Ltd
After polls, eyes on Kenya’s future
Kenya’s new president, Uhuru Kenyatta (a former finance minister), has appointed his former colleague, the Harvard-educated Mr Henry Rotich as Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury. Mr Rotich was the head of macroeconomics at the treasury in the finance ministry since March 2006. Mr Kenyatta also named diplomat Amina Mohamed as foreign secretary nominee, the first woman to be nominated for the post since independence in 1963. Other nominees included James Macharia, a banker, for the health ministry, and Fred Matiangi for the information portfolio. Kenya's private sector is upbeat about the economy after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced some major reforms during his inauguration speech. Key among the Kenyatta's pledges was the promise to drastically ease the business registration process in the country. Kenya is currently ranked among countries in Africa where business registration processes are painstakingly long but the country’s good performance has been underpinned by overall strong economic policies. More: Business Daily - http://tinyurl.com/cvpv2xq
Sudan - Sudanese insurgents have carried out their first combined attack, a surprise push into a strategic and previously peaceful region, but analysts doubt the rebels' readiness to take Khartoum by force. Swaz i land - ANC called for the democratisation of neighbouring Swaziland, in a rare public rebuke of the country's ruling monarchy. Maur i t i us - Floods devastated the Mauritian capital, Port-Louis, on Mar. 30. 11 people were killed, a hundred were wounded and thousands of dollars of damage was caused. Emergency services were overwhelmed and unable to provide effective response to the disaster. D j i bou t i – Following parliamentary election on February, President Guelleh named former defence minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed to replace longtime ally Dileita Mohamed Dileita who had served as prime minister since 2001. Egypt – The country will keep all state-owned firms in public hands, President Mohammed Morsi says in a speech, calling a halt to a flawed privatisation programme that failed to kick-start the country’s economy.
Millions missing in Congolese mining taxes
Congo has attracted international firms like Freeport-McMoRan, Glencore and Randgold to mine its rich copper, cobalt and gold deposits, but remains one of the most corrupt countries. Tax authorities have failed to account for $88 million in revenue from the booming mining sector, according to Mack Dumba Jeremy, national coordinator in Congo for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). "DGRAD (the Tax Agency) must prove that the money actually arrived in the public treasury in 2010. If they can't then the executive committee of EITI will go to the courts in order to launch an inquiry into the whereabouts of this $88 million," said Jeremy. EITI is an international initiative which aims to improve transparency in resource-rich countries by tallying up the amount paid by companies and how much governments say they receive. At the same time, London-listed ENRC is facing a corruption probe led by Britain's Serious Fraud Office following internal investigations and whistleblower allegations concerning various assets in Africa. The UK Listing Authority (UKLA) has also ordered a "diagnostic review" of its acquisitions in DR Congo, including a 2010 acquisition that handed it control of copper mines held by rival First Quantum Minerals Ltd until they were seized by the Congolese government.
Ethiopia is negotiating with Brazil, Russia and India to finance and build rail links after agreeing terms last year with Chinese and Turkish companies for other routes. The country (Africa’s second-most populous nation), is building 4,744 kilometers of electrified railway lines at a cost of 110.8 billion birr ($5.9 billion) as it seeks to reduce road-transport costs constraining the continent’s fastest growing non-oil producing economy over the past decade. Growth may slow to 6.5 percent this year and next, compared with average growth of 8.7 percent over the past five years, according to International Monetary Fund data. Ethiopia operates a state-led economy and is prioritizing investment in infrastructure as it seeks to transform one of the world’s least developed countries into a middle-income nation by 2025. The decision to use electric trains is because Ethiopia, which has the continent’s second-biggest hydropower potential, generates cheap electricity and spends all of its estimated $3 billion annual export earnings on importing fuel. Foreign investors are granted contracts on condition that 60 % of the funding is provided by their countries “policy banks” in foreign exchange, Ethiopian Railways Corp. General Manager Getachew Betru said.
Ethiopia Courts BRICS for Rail Projects
A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Moroni from March 13 to 22, 2013 for its 5th mission to review the Union of Comoros' Extended Credit Facility (ECF). According to M. Harry Trines (Head of the mission), « Performance under the programme has been satisfactory. All the quantitative targets for end-December 2012 were met, as were four of the five structural benchmarks under the programme ». Therefore, the country will receive a disbursement of USD3.45 million from the IMF. However, the IMF called on the country to forge ahead with the privatisation of Comores Telecom in 2013: « Areas of focus included the implementation of the organizational frameworks for the public administration, continued improvement in banking supervision, privatization of Comores Telecom, and reforms of the public utility (MAMWE) and “Société Comorienne des Hydrocarbures” ». Establishing reliable electricity and energy supplies is crucial to sustaining economic growth and improving the business environment. Few days later, the World Bank approved a grant of US$3 million to help Comoros scale up an emergency response in parts of the island hit by devastating floods.In the past decade, when GDP growth was at its strongest, absolute poverty has climbed from 16.7% to almost 20%.
IMF supports Comoros
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Author: Jean Philippe PAYET - The content of this publication is based on a selection of news browsed by our services. Request for a more detailed analysis at [email protected] – © Afrikasources Consult Ltd NEXT EDITION: June 7th 2013
IMF prescriptions hurt Malawi say NGOs
Markets are Endorsing Path to Growth
Recent increase in Uganda’s military expenditure even amidst global and regional defence cuts might be the latest indication of President Museveni’s strategy to fasten his grip on power and his influence on the region. It comes at a time when a new report by SIPRI, indicates that globally and regionally, military expenditure is declining : 2012 saw military expenditure in Sub-‐Saharan Africa drop by 3.2 %. Uganda was the second largest importer in the Sub-‐Saharan region of arms between 2008-‐2012 accounting for 15 per cent after South Africa’s 24 percent. It also reportedly bagged 17 % of the of the small arms and light weapons; assault rifles and submachine guns, transferred in Sub-‐Saharan Africa and Kenya, Uganda’s other regional military competitor, 17% 23% in the Arms Flow to Sub-‐Saharan Africa report. Sudan is always cited among what whets Museveni’s arms appetite. Recently, the country complained to the African Union that Uganda was supporting rebellion in Sudan and Sudanese media reported that Khartoum was in talks with forces opposed to President Museveni.
The African diaspora is a major source of foreign income so large that it now outstrips foreign aid sent by Western donors. Nearly 140 million Africans live abroad. The money they send back home, remittances, is worth far more -‐ in value and usefulness -‐ than the development donations by Western financial institutions. The exact amount of these remittances is unknown because not all of it is sent through official banking channels. But the official volume to the continent has gradually increased over the years, from $11 billion in 2000 to $60 billion in 2012, according to the World Bank. As a proportion of gross domestic product, remittances in Africa range from next-‐to-‐nothing to almost five per cent. Worldwide remittances to developing countries were $351 billion in 2011, far exceeding the $129 billion in official development assistance, according to the World Bank. More on Africa in Fact, April 2013: Aid-The bottomless pit
The 6h Conference of the African Ministers in charge of Integration [COMAI 6] was held in Mauritius on 15 to 19 April 2013. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Governance of Integration’. Discussions focused on the status of integration in Africa and the implementation of COMAI V recommendations, consideration and adoption of the recommendations of the Experts meeting, consideration and adoption of the Draft Ministerial Declaration. Panel discussions involved several sub-‐themes, namely Pan Africanism and Integration, Impact of Globalisation on the Governance of Integration in Africa and the furtherance of African leaders’ interest in the integration process. One important decision relates to the formation of a Second Bloc of combined RECs as endorsed by the 18th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in January 2012. This would be an emulation of the Tripartite Arrangement (between EAC/SADC/COMESA). The second bloc is being set up to undertake consultations and eventual negotiations with other regional groupings on the process of continental free trade area with a view to enhancing Intra African Trade. Other key recommendations include devoting one of the ordinary sessions of the AU Summit to development and integration, convening a consultative meeting on the ‘Blue Economy’, commissioning a study to propose ways and means for the rapid integration of Island States and landlocked countries as well as the facilitation of the movement of people. Challenges impending regional integration in Africa remain, said AUC Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha, emphasizing in this regard, the governance and the lack of clear implementation and accountability mechanism, among others. The inefficient free movement of persons across the continent; the over-‐reliance on donor funding for financing integration projects; the insufficient citizen ownership and the lack of an enabling environment for a people-‐centered approach to policy making, as well as the low implementation rate of numerous signed and ratified, with insufficiently transposed legal texts into national legislation and the intra-‐African trade which remains low at 10-‐12 per cent of the continental total; were among the major obstacles featured by M. Mwencha.
More: http://foreign.gov.mu/English/COMAI%20VI/Pages/default.aspx
6th CONFERENCE OF AFRICAN MINISTERS IN CHARGE OF INTEGRATION [Mauritius]
In the face of severe economic hardship and an ominous economic growth prognosis for the foreseeable future, the Malawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) was quoted as claiming that the economic reforms that critics have been against are actually the necessary cure for the country. But for the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi (Congoma), International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions imposed on Malawi such as a combined dose of currency devaluation; floatation of the kwacha and removal of subsidies of fuels is hurting Malawians. Following a mission in April, IMF decided to released US$19.6m ECF funding to Malawi. Indeed, “Malawi’s performance under the fund-supported program has been commendable despite a difficult environment. The policy reforms have begun to yield positive results, including increased availability of foreign exchange. The government also successfully rolled out its social protection programs,” said the IMF Team. IMF had suspended ECF in 2011 over what they called failure by then ruling Democratic Progressive party government led by the late president Mutharika. President Joyce Banda who came into power after the death of Mutharika saw devaluation as ‘necessary evil’. She devalued the kwacha by almost 50% and later floated it. As a result the cost of basic goods rose dramatically pushing the inflation rate well above 35 percent.
Rwanda’s debut on the global bond market raised $400 million with an offering that was heavily over-subscribed by nearly eight times. Final yield on the 10-year bonds of 6.875% was less than reported expectations in the low-7% area, due to strong buyer interest. Proceeds will go to repayment of bank loans, infrastructure such as a hydropower project, expansion of the national airline RwandAir, and the completion of a convention center in the capital of Kigali. Fitch, which affirmed a “B” rating on Rwanda, noted its “solid economic policies and a track record of structural reforms, macroeconomic stability, and low government debt” (23.3% of GDP in Rwanda, compared to the median of 43.5% among B-rated peers). Certainly, the country is not without its challenges; it is landlocked, which vastly increases transportation costs for imported goods, and more electrical generation capacity is needed. It is often clouded by geopolitics, most notably the morass of conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kagame draws criticism for being too tightly controlling, and human rights watchers charge the country suppresses political opposition and free speech. Critics highlight that the country is already the first beneficiary of Donors Aid in Africa.
Are Uganda and Sudan entering arms race ? Why Diaspora’s Money is good
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