Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About

[Yehuda]

China builds Digital Silk Road in Pakistan to Africa and Europe

PEACE cable will reduce Pakistani internet traffic going through India

China is set to lay the final leg of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan, linking to a cable in the Arabian Sea. (Source photo by Getty Images)

MIFRAH HAQ, Contributing writer
January 29, 2021 |14:09 JST

KARACHI -- China is set to lay the final stretch of a cross-border fiber optic cable in Pakistan that will create the Digital Silk Road, serving the geostrategic interests of both countries. It will connect to a submarine cable in the Arabian Sea to service countries participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Europe.

Observers see this as a strategic move to circumvent international telecommunication consortiums dominated by Western and Indian companies.

Some BRI projects have been negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic and debt crises in partner countries, including a $6.8 billion railway project in Pakistan. Part of Beijing's response has been to step up digital projects and development of communications infrastructure.

The Hengtong Group, one of China's leading fiber optic and power cable makers, is heading a consortium of telecom companies from Africa, Pakistan and Hong Kong to install the Pakistan East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) cable in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

The laying of sea cable in Pakistan's territorial waters will begin in March following government approval this month for Cybernet, a local internet service provider, to construct an Arabian Sea landing station in Karachi, Nikkei Asia has learned.

The Mediterranean section of the cable is already being laid from Egypt to France, and the 15,000 km long cable is expected to go into service later this year.

The PEACE cable will provide the shortest direct internet route between participating countries and drastically reduce the time taken to transfer internet data.

Meanwhile, the Special Communications Organization (SCO) -- the telecommunications branch of the Pakistan Army -- is about to lay a fiber optic cable between Rawalpindi and the port cities of Karachi and Gwadar. The $240 million project is in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies, and was approved by the government on Jan 21. It will also connect with the PEACE cable in the Arabian Sea.

The 850 km northern section has been operational since 2018. The fiber optic cable links the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in southwest China to Rawalpindi, where the Pakistan Army is headquartered. The $37 million link provides secure communications between China and Pakistan, which have deepened economic and strategic ties in recent years with the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship BRI alliance.

The project will provide Gwadar with fiber optic connectivity for the first time. The deep seaport was built by China, which also runs it. Observers believe Gwadar's limited communications infrastructure contributed to its failure to take off as a regional transit hub.

With the help of China, Pakistan is untangling its growing number of communications lines, connecting Xinjiang and Africa with a fiber optic submarine cable. © Reuters

In recent months, the CPEC Authority -- the supranational body that oversees BRI projects in Pakistan -- has accelerated efforts to improve Gwadar's connectivity with major road and rail upgrades. According to Maroof Ali Shahani, chief operating officer of Cybernet, fiber optic cables will be laid alongside these new links to major national transport routes, connecting the port to the Pakistan's national fiber optic backbone for the first time.

Pakistan is also looking for an alternate link to the internet through China. At present, most Europe-bound internet traffic from China feeds through terrestrial cables traversing Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan.

In 2017, Major Gen. Amir Azeem Bajwa, the then director general of SCO, told a parliamentary committee on information technology that much of Pakistan's internet traffic was routed through India. This raised fears that sensitive data was vulnerable to hacking. According to local reports, that was when Bajwa sought approval for an alternative network to service Gwadar that avoided India.

"Heavy investment was required but Pakistan did not have the money to have a dedicated channel," said Shahani, describing how China moved in to provide soft loans, equipment and engineering services.

A factory in Zhejiang province producing fiber optic cables to support China's shift from traditional BRI infrastructure projects to digital and communications-related infrastructure. © Reuters

Pakistan is served by seven submarine cables at present, four of which come out of India, according to Telegeography, a Washington-based telecommunications market research company. These cable networks have been developed by consortiums that include telecom companies from India, Egypt and Pakistan.

The PEACE cable is expected to help reduce Pakistan's exposure to internet outages from damaged submarine cables by providing an additional route for internet connectivity.

Eyck Freymann, author of One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World, told Nikkei that the BRI is evolving to place less emphasis on traditional heavy infrastructure, and more on high-tech cooperation and digital services.

"Beijing wants to dominate the physical infrastructure underlying global communications, particularly the internet," he said. "This will give it an advantage in internationalizing its tech sector and pursuing future tech-related deals with partner countries."

"It is a way for Chinese firms to gain greater access to certain foreign markets, at a time when they are increasingly being shut out of building infrastructure like fiber optic cables and 5G technology in North America and parts of Europe," Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, told Nikkei.

Kurlantzick said the pandemic and ensuing debt crisis has contributed to the shift in focus from traditional infrastructure projects. "The Digital Silk Road, including this project, is a way of China continuing to show that the BRI will be a major initiative," he said.

For China, building a quick and safe route for internet traffic to Europe through a dedicated cable managed and supervised exclusively by the Chinese is vital.

China builds Digital Silk Road in Pakistan to Africa and Europe

 

[Secure Da Bag]

So who controls the access? The individual countries or China?

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

 

[loyola llothta]

#Spain | Authorities are investigating several WhatsApp forums through which people tried to organize groups to intimidate or beat migrants on the Gran Canaria island.



Spain: La Palma Prosecutor's Office Investigates Racist Forums
telesurenglish.net

 

[Yehuda]

Mota-Engil Begins Work on $1.8 Billion Nigeria-Niger Railway

By William Clowes
February 9, 2021 07:43 BRT Updated on February 9, 2021 17:39 BRT

Mota-Engil SGPS SA, a Portuguese construction company, started work on a $1.8 billion railway line that will connect Nigeria with neighbor Niger.

Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi concluded a contract with Mota-Engil last month on the 283-kilometer (176-mile) line from the northern trading hub of Kano to the town of Maradi on the other side of the Nigeria-Niger border.

The groundbreaking ceremony at the site of a proposed station in Makira town, Katsina state, Tuesday marks the latest phase of an expanding nationwide rail network intended to boost commerce in Africa’s largest economy and benefit its landlocked, northern neighbor. It’s also the first that isn’t driven by Chinese construction firms and banks, and will rely on European financing.

The project “is a strategic investment for the present and for the future” that will “open the northern part of the country” by eventually enabling businesses there to evacuate their goods directly to the coast by rail, Manuel Antonio Mota, chief executive officer of Mota-Engil’s African and European units, said in a text message. The logistical costs currently associated with the region’s dilapidated and dangerous roads “destroys almost any chance of you being a successful exporter,” he said.

Commercial Viability

Mota-Engil’s local unit is a joint venture with Shoreline Group, an independent Nigerian oil producer. The nearly $2 billion of financing required for the rail line will be sourced from Europe, Amaechi said in an interview on broadcaster Channels on Feb. 7. Credit Suisse Group AG, Africa Finance Corp. and German state bank KfW are finalizing loans from export credit agencies, multilateral institutions and commercial banks, according to Mota.

Critics have questioned the commercial viability of the Kano-Maradi line, particularly the priority given to a link to Niger at a time when government revenue is scarce. Niger, with a GDP about one-fortieth the size of its larger neighbor, exported goods worth an estimated $1.54 billion last year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The government rejects such anxieties, claiming the new railway will be part of a network that will contribute to the revival of the northern economy and help establish Nigeria as the export corridor of choice for companies selling Nigerien goods abroad.

The route will be capable of transporting more than 3 million passengers and a million tons of freight each year when operational, Amaechi said at the ceremony. Construction should take 36 months once the financing is ready, Mota said.

While the Mota-Engil group is based in Portugal, the company was originally founded in Angola in 1946. The firm has previously built or refurbished railways in countries including Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, and recently announced other construction contracts in Ghana, South Africa and the Ivory Coast. Mota-Engil agreed in November to sell a minority stake in the company to state-controlled China Communications Construction Corp.

(Updates with 2020 estimated GDP of Niger Republic in sixth paragraph. An earlier version of this story corrected the location of groundbreaking ceremony to Katsina from Kano)

Mota-Engil Begins Work on $1.8 Billion Nigeria-Niger Railway

 

[phcitywarrior]

Mota-Engil Begins Work on $1.8 Billion Nigeria-Niger Railway
Mota-Engil Begins Work on $1.8 Billion Nigeria-Niger Railway

This might be one of the worst decisions I’ve seen from this administration.

Building a rail line to a country with little economic output and to a region that has been brimming with terrorists. Improving the current road infrastructure within the southern confines of the country would be a far better use of resources.

But this is a Buhari government so I don’t expect different.

 

[Yehuda]

Africa's miners and winemakers toast China's row with Australia

FEBRUARY 10, 2021 | 6:05 AM | UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
By Joe Bavier, Tanisha Heiberg, Emma Rumney

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - For South African winemaker Vergenoegd Löw, the pandemic could have been a disaster but a bitter trade war between China and Australia has thrown the 325-year-old estate a lifeline.

Bottles of its reds, whites and roses piled up when South Africa banned alcohol sales under a strict lockdown and visitors who once flocked to the vineyard near Cape Town to sip wine and snap photos of its famed Indian Runner ducks vanished.

That changed when Beijing slapped tariffs of up to 212% on Australian wine in November after Canberra led calls for an inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.

It wasn’t just wine. Beijing hit a range of Australian goods with punitive duties, created new layers of red tape and banned some Australian imports outright, giving African suppliers of anything from coal to beef to copper a boost.

“We can now get much greater volumes of sales,” said Shaun McVey, marketing manager at Vergenoegd Löw, which has signed a new Chinese deal. “Instead of sending maybe three or four containers in a year, we’ve upped that to 15 to 20 containers.”

Chinese drinkers bought nearly 40% of Australia’s wine exports before the long-simmering tensions between Beijing and Canberra boiled over and brought the trade to an abrupt halt.

Over the past three months, exports of South African wine to China jumped 50%, according to the Wines of South Africa trade body, and hopes are high for even more sales once Australian stocks are polished off during China’s Lunar New Year holiday.

Martyn Davies, Deloitte’s managing director for emerging markets and Africa, said a protracted trade war would create a wide window of opportunity for miners and other sectors such as agribusiness, though seizing the potential would take work.

The Chinese market presents a range of obstacles, from language barriers and inscrutable bureaucracy to tailoring marketing to its unique social media ecosystem, analysts said.

“Many African companies are significantly behind the curve,” said Deloitte’s Davies. “Australian companies have been engaging China for 35 years.”

BAUXITE BOOST

The lack of trade deals between China and countries in sub-Saharan Africa also means exporters may face an uphill battle.

Despite its increasingly important role as an investor on the continent, China only signed its first free trade agreement with an African country, the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, in January.

Bottles of South African wine are displayed among others at a supermarket in Beijing, China February 4, 2021. Picture taken February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo

Shaun Mcvey, marketing manager at Vergenoegd Low Wine Estate, stands amongst cases of their Runner Duck wines at the estate near Cape Town, South Africa February 3, 2021. Picture taken February 3, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

FILE PHOTO: Indian Runner Ducks walk past farm buildings at the Vergenoegd wine estate near Cape Town, South Africa, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo

Bottles of South African wine are displayed at a supermarket in Beijing, China February 4, 2021. Picture taken February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo

So while some African products may leapfrog Australian goods in the pecking order, they remain at a disadvantage when competing against exports from countries with preferential Chinese trading terms such as Chile, Peru or New Zealand.

In the mining sector though, China has spent the past decade ramping up projects in Africa to safeguard the flow of raw materials to the manufacturing juggernaut.

Those investments are now paying off and African producer countries are pocketing the royalties as exports to the world’s second biggest economy get a boost at Australia’s expense.

Last year, state-owned Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, known as Chalco, shipped the first bauxite cargo from its Guinea project, and a prolonged trade war between China and Australia is only likely to help the West African country’s economy.

Australian shipments to China of the rock used to make aluminium dropped 22% in the final quarter of 2020 while imports from Guinea leapt 70%, according to Chinese customs data.

That’s after Guinea tripled its bauxite output between 2015 and 2019 as mining projects came online, with most of it going to China. Over the same period, Guinea’s gross domestic product jumped 40%.

Graphic - China switches to Guinea bauxite as it shuns Australia:

Chinese copper concentrate imports from Australia, meanwhile plummeted to zero in December 2020. At the same time, exports rose 17% from Democratic Republic of Congo, another country where Chinese companies such as China Molybdenum have invested heavily to secure key mineral supplies.

South Africa’s coal industry has also got a much-needed boost. Australian sales to China of thermal coal, which is mainly used in power plants, and metallurgical coal for steelmaking, slumped to zero in December.

The first shipment of South African thermal coal to China in five years landed last month and exporters are hopeful sales will increase further in 2021.

Graphic - China's copper imports from DRC surge:

‘INNOVATIVE AND BEAUTIFUL’

To overcome the lack of trade deals with China, South Africa’s Standard Bank, which is partly owned by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has sought to level the playing field.

Africa’s largest bank measured by assets is using online platforms and events to match its customers with Chinese buyers in a bid to boost exports.

Those efforts, however, now face challenges unique to the coronavirus pandemic, such as a shipping squeeze due to global trade distortions that have sparked a bidding war for container space and pushed prices to record highs.

“You get a lot of interest. And then when people see the cost of logistics at this point in time, they end up not concluding on the transaction,” said Philip Myburgh, Standard Bank’s head of Africa-China banking.

Still, wine is one African export Standard Bank considers a good bet. So does Edouard Duval, chief executive of East Meets West Fine Wines, one of China’s biggest wine importers.

If South Africa can capture just 1% of the 38% market share Australian imports are rapidly vacating, it would double its exports to China, he said. “The potential is there ... it’s a very dynamic and fast-moving market.”

South Africa typically exports less than half of its wine and earned 9.1 billion rand ($616 million) from overseas sales last year, with Britain buying by far the most. Sales to China came to just $19 million.

Even though Chinese tariffs wiped out Australian wine sales in November and December, its exports to China alone still came to A$1.01 billion ($779 million) last year.

At his “Cheers” wine store in Beijing, Lin Lulu is not too concerned about the impact of the trade war with Australia.

“South African wine now has great advantages over Australian wine because of the new tariff situation,” he said as he stocked his shelves with South African reds. “South African wines are more innovative and beautiful.”

($1 = 1.2962 Australian dollars)

($1 = 14.7621 rand)

Additional reporting by Mike Hutchings in Cape Town, Helen Reid in Johannesburg and Thomas Suen, Tom Daly and Muyu Xu in Beijing; Editing by David Clarke

Africa's miners and winemakers toast China's row with Australia

 

[loyola llothta]

US Urges Ethiopia's PM to Allow 'Immediate' Help to Tigray


AP

Thursday 4 Feb 2021

The call is the latest this week that world leaders have held with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopia faces growing pressure to open Tigray to journalists, independent investigators and far more humanitarian aid.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call with Ethiopia's prime minister on Thursday expressed ``grave concern'' about the crisis in the embattled Tigray region and urged ``immediate, full and unhindered humanitarian access to prevent further loss of life,'' a US spokesman said.

There was no immediate comment from Ethiopian officials.

The call is the latest this week that world leaders have held with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopia faces growing pressure to open Tigray to journalists, independent investigators and far more humanitarian aid.

The Tigray conflict, which has entered its fourth month, remains largely in the shadows. Thousands of people have been killed as Ethiopian and allied forces fight those of the now-fugitive Tigray government that once dominated the country's government for nearly three decades.

Most of the population of 6 million need emergency aid.

Abiy also has spoken this week with the French president and German chancellor, whose governments have expressed similar wishes on opening up Tigray.

Starvation has become a major concern in Tigray. ``Many households are expected to have already depleted their food stocks, or are expected to deplete their food stocks in the next two months,'' according to a new report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which is funded and managed by the US

The report posted Thursday says more parts of central and eastern Tigray likely will enter Emergency Phase 4, a step below famine, in the coming weeks.

Ethiopia's government has denied the presence of soldiers from Eritrea, a bitter enemy of the former Tigray leaders, but witnesses have described widespread looting, killing and other abuses.

``Eritrean forces are almost everywhere in Tigray,'' one man who managed to travel from northern Tigray to the regional capital, Mekele, told The Associated Press this week. He described widespread looting of health centers and people dying from lack of care, with little to no communication or transport links to rural areas. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns for family members.

A senior official in the interim Tigray government, Mesfin Desalegn, in an interview with the pro-governmentUor Eritrean officials for the immediate withdrawal of their forces from Tigray.

The US did not say how Eritrea, one of the world's most secretive nations, responded. Eritrea's information minister in recent days has denounced ``frenzied defamation campaigns.''

The fighting in Tigray has the potential to destabilize other parts of Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous country and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, as security forces are deployed to the region, the UN humanitarian chief told the Security Council.

Lowcock also said the UN has received reports that food is scarce in markets mainly because it was harvest time when the conflict began. Main supply routes remain cut, cash is scarce and some people are reportedly eating leaves to survive.

Ethiopia's government has said it is reaching more and more people with aid, and it has privately told Biden administration officials that life is returning to ``normalcy.``

US urges Ethiopia's PM to allow 'immediate' help to Tigray - Africa - World

 

[Yehuda]

6 reasons why Africa's new free trade area is a global game changer

Open to the world … the port at Cape Town, South Africa. Image: Jean van der Meulen/Pexels

09 Feb 2021
Caroline Kende-Robb | Senior Fellow, African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET)

The arrival of COVID-19 in 2020 has rapidly reshaped countries, societies and communities. Our response to the pandemic has changed political and social systems and created new social norms. Now the world continues to face a plethora of challenges – including climate change, inequality, technological change, migration and displacement – that are both complex and evolving, and which demand collective action. Most pressingly, the full economic impact of the pandemic is still not fully understood: The IMF projected a historic global GDP contraction of 4.4% in 2020 and a partial and uneven recovery in 2021, with growth at 5.2%.

And yet, despite these challenges, global leadership and cooperation have been woefully lacking since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. During this time, our rules-based international order became more fragile and even “disordered”. We saw a rise of populism, protectionism and nationalism, exacerbated by COVID-19. Citizens’ trust in governments across the world has been eroded, creating fragility in once-stable democracies. Events in the US Capitol last month simply highlight the fragility of the previously thought-to-be-most-stable of democracies.

Enter the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Launched on 1 January, the AfCFTA is an exciting game changer. Currently, Africa accounts for just 2% of global trade. And only 17% of African exports are intra-continental, compared with 59% for Asia and 68% for Europe. The potential for transformation across Africa is therefore significant. The pact will create the largest free trade area in the world measured by the number of countries participating. Connecting 1.3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at $3.4 trillion, the pact comes at a time when much of the world is turning away from cooperation and free trade.

The agreement aims to reduce all trade costs and enable Africa to integrate further into global supply chains – it will eliminate 90% of tariffs, focus on outstanding non-tariff barriers, and create a single market with free movement of goods and services. Cutting red tape and simplifying customs procedures will bring significant income gains. Beyond trade, the pact also addresses the movement of persons and labour, competition, investment and intellectual property.

AfCFTA is the largest global free trade area by countries participating. Image: World Bank

To overcome many current challenges, and to build back better in the wake of COVID-19, now is the time for more trade and greater cooperation. If fully implemented, what would this exciting new agreement bring to Africa and to the world?

1. The AfCFTA will significantly reduce poverty

According to a recent report by the World Bank, the pact will boost regional income by 7% or $450 billion, speed up wage growth for women, and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035. Wages for both skilled and unskilled workers will also be boosted by 10.3% for unskilled workers, and 9.8% for skilled workers.

The AfCFTA highlights the significant and increasing commitment of the African Union to reducing poverty through trade – a link that is increasingly recognized. As Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, candidate for the WTO Director General, recently stated: “Trade is a force for good, and properly harnessed can help lift millions out of poverty and bring shared prosperity.”

2. Positive economic outcomes will be many and varied

Diversifying exports, accelerating growth, competitively integrating into the global economy, increasing foreign direct investment, increasing employment opportunities and incomes, and broadening economic inclusion are just a few of the positive economic outcomes AfCFTA can bring.

It is estimated that the agreement will increase Africa’s exports by $560 billion, mostly in manufacturing. Intra-continental exports would also increase by 81%, while the increase to non-African countries would be 19%. According to Mo Ibrahim Foundation, if successfully implemented, AfCFTA could generate a combined consumer and business spending of $6.7 trillion by 2030. Furthermore, markets and economies across the region will be reshaped, leading to the creation of new industries and the expansion of key sectors. Significantly, it would make African countries more competitive globally.

3. Women stand to gain

The AfCFTA clearly focuses on improving the lives of women. There is a risk that some of the economic gains made by women through trade could be reversed by the COVID-19 crisis. According to the Economic Commission for Africa, women account for around 70% of informal cross- border traders in Africa. Through such work, women can be vulnerable to harassment, violence, confiscation of goods and even imprisonment. Tariff reductions under the AfCFTA will enable informal women traders to operate through formal channels, bringing better protection. Furthermore, a growing manufacturing sector would provide new job opportunities, especially for women.

As AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene stated, “It [the AfCFTA] will be the opportunity to close the gender income gap, and the opportunity for SMEs to access new markets”. This is significant, since small and medium-sized enterprises account for 90% of jobs in Africa.

4. Trade integrity will be centre-stage

The AfCFTA offers an opportunity to promote good governance both globally and across Africa, through the concept of “Trade Integrity” – defined as international trade transactions that are legitimate, transparent and properly priced – as a way to ensure the legitimacy the global trading system. The prevalence of illegally-procured or produced goods (for example, illegal mining or fishing, or goods resulting from child or forced labor), misinvoiced trade transactions (i.e. trade fraud) and opacity in most free trade zones strips governments of revenues – needed now more than ever before to assist with the pandemic response, undermines fair labor standards and human rights, and obfuscates who is involved in trade transactions and what goods are being traded, which can facilitate transnational crime.

5. The negative impacts of COVID-19 will be cushioned

The pandemic is expected to cause up to $79 billion in output losses in Africa in 2020. The African Development Bank Group’s African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2020 Supplement estimates that Africa could suffer GDP losses in 2020 between $145.5 billion (baseline) and $189.7 billion (worst case), from the pre-COVID–19 GDP estimates. Further, trade in medical supplies and food has been disrupted. It is being fully recognized across the continent that AfCFTA presents a short-term opportunity for countries to “build back better” and cushion the effects of the pandemic. In the longer-term, the pact will increase the continent’s resilience to future shocks.

6. The benefits of cooperation will set an example for the world

Across the world, countries are questioning trade agreements and economic integration, alongside turning away from global cooperation, leadership and collective action. Political dynamics are driving short termism, polarization and isolationism. Yet our multiple threats demand long-term thinking and greater cooperation – and this is precisely what the AfCTFA represents. While the world turns in one direction, the African Union is moving in the other by deepening ties across the continent.

At the same time, we cannot lose sight of significant challenges that still exist. Three stand out. First is implementation. A recent article by the African Center for Economic Transformation highlights how the agreement will accelerate economic transformation and help Africa “escape the colonial legacy”. They stress, however, that “the devil is in the implementation” and recommend a bottom-up approach, which focuses on national problems that require cross-border solutions such as shared water resources, regional energy markets and highways.

The second is equity. It will be crucial to understand who gains and who loses from the pact. For example, smallholder farmers may lose if there is a focus on large-scale cash-crop farming, which could lead to greater food insecurity and poor nutrition. The poverty and social impacts therefore need to be tracked across sectors and those who are negatively affected protected until extractive patterns of trade are replaced by robust value chains, value addition, increased interregional integration, greater investment, creating more jobs and increased income. And third is infrastructure. According to the African Development Bank, Africa’s infrastructure needs are substantial at $130-170 billion a year, with a financing gap between $68-108 billion, driving most countries’ trade outward rather than inward.

The Ghanaian president, Nana Akufo-Addo, recently stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of the success of the AfCFTA – a success that is now within reach, despite the current challenges. The president added, “The destruction of global supply chains has reinforced the necessity for closer integration amongst us so that we can boost our mutual self-sufficiency, strengthen our economies and reduce our dependence on external sources.”

6 reasons why Africa's new free trade area is a global game changer

 

[Yehuda]

Multibillion Rail Project Connecting SGR to Uganda Border Approved

By LILIAN WAMATHAI on 12 February 2021 - 1:44 pm

Kenyans in the western region are set to enjoy the return of the rail service after a Ksh3.7 billion project to connect the Standard Gauge to the Malaba border was approved.

Treasury CS Ukur Yatani, in the supplementary budget for 2020/21, allocated funds for the line connecting Naivasha - Malaba to the standard gauge railway amounting to Ksh 3.7 billion.

The burden shifted to Kenyan taxpayers after the government was not able to secure the multibillion loan from China to kickstart extend the SGR line to Kisumu.

The new plan will see the SGR extended from the Naivasha Inland Container Depot to Longonot at a cost of Ksh1 billion. The old railway line (Metre Gauge Railway) will then be rehabilitated from Longonot to Malaba.

“Sh2.7 billion is for construction of the Naivasha ICD-Longonot railway link and Sh1 billion is for the rehabilitation of the Longonot-Malaba MGR,” Yatani in a supplementary budget he presented in parliament.

President Uhuru Kenyatta flags off SGR Phase 2A at the Nairobi Terminus on Wednesday, October 16, 2019. Photo: PSCU

The government had earlier on partnered with a private investor to finance the project under a Chinese contractor but later on, bailed after the contractor tendered an extra Ksh50 billion. This stalled the project that was to be completed in eight months.

Construction of the 23.5kilometre rail that began in August 2020 is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

China Road and Bridge Corporation which was contracted for the first and second phase standard gauge railway from Mombasa port to Naivasha is in collaboration with Kenya Railways in constructing the rail.

The economic feasibility of the standard gauge railway is hooked on the connection to Kampala via the Malaba link as it connects the port to the landlocked country. On completion, it will ease the transportation of cargo and passengers from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda and the neighboring countries.

Uganda was allocated land to put up a dry port in Naivasha for its cargo, as part of the mutual SGR project between the two countries. This was meant to serve the country in preparation for the construction of the link railway.

A file image of Treasury CS Ukur Yatani. Photo: CITIZEN DIGITAL

Multibillion Rail Project Connecting SGR to Uganda Border Approved

 

[Yehuda]

Africa infrastructure bank looks forward to greener future

Lagos-based development bank aims to widen investor pool through move into renewables

A solar energy power plant in Zaktubi, Burkina Faso. Investors are looking for opportunities in green energy in Africa © Ludovic Marin/Pool/Reuters

David Pilling | February 14, 2021 | 2:42 PM

Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African infrastructure bank, plans to shift its energy portfolio towards greener projects in a bid to attract greater interest from institutional investors, according to its new chief investment officer.

Sameh Shenouda, who on Monday will join the Lagos-based bank from Blackstone-owned energy group Zarou, said the AFC board had agreed to a plan to bundle new and existing solar, wind and hydro projects in several African countries into a new unit, with combined generating capacity of 1-2 gigawatts of renewable energy. That unit could eventually be separated out and floated on the London Stock Exchange, he said.

“This is an area a lot of European investors and oil companies are going into, but they haven’t cracked Africa yet,” Shenouda said.

Investors were interested in opportunities in green energy on the continent, he said, but were unable to spend time scouting out relatively small 50-60 megawatt projects. “So we will deliver an opportunity that gives them higher returns and access to a market they haven’t cracked yet.”

AFC, an infrastructure-focused development bank established in 2007, has expanded rapidly in recent years, investing $8.7bn in projects in 35 African countries across power, telecoms, heavy industry, logistics and transport.

An investment-grade rated bank, it has sought to attract funding from a wider pool of investors, raising money in several Asian markets including China, Singapore and Malaysia. In December, the US International Development Finance Corporation provided $250m of funding to strengthen the bank’s capital base. Nigeria’s central bank holds a 42 per cent stake.

Aubrey Hruby, co-founder of the Africa Expert Network and an investor in African start-ups, described the AFC’s tilt towards a green strategy as “good news”. However, she cautioned that many funds were looking for similar opportunities.

“The new climate focus across the financial world will probably mean a surplus of capital chasing limited bankable deals in green energy on the continent,” she said.

In the past, the AFC has expressed caution about embracing the shift towards green energy because much of Africa has a woeful infrastructure deficit. In the AFC’s own home base of Nigeria, only about half of homes have access to electricity. A recent investigation found that congestion at a Lagos port was so bad, it cost as much to get a truck through the city as it did to ship the same goods from China.

“We have to be a little careful of not trying to accelerate this carbon issue so fast, so hard, that you start stifling Africa’s development,” Sanjeev Gupta, executive director for financial services at AFC, told Investors Chronicle recently. “Projects that meet all the criteria around which green financing can happen, there are still not that many, it’s not that easy, and not that cheap [to develop them].”

Shenouda said the bank had done many power projects, but not enough in renewable energy. “We will always find fossil fuels in the mix, but now the challenge is how to get to 20 per cent of your capacity from renewables,” he said.

He disagreed that renewable projects were expensive, saying that solar and hydropower were the cheapest source of power in Africa, with little or no running costs. The Red Sea region was particularly suited to wind energy because of its wind patterns, he said.

AFC has already invested more than $60m in a wind power project in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The bank was looking at renewable energy opportunities in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and Mozambique, he said.

Africa infrastructure bank looks forward to greener future

 

[Yehuda]

UAE and Africa non-oil trade hits $40.7b in first nine months of 2020

15 Feb 2021

Containers ready for shipment at the Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi.

The value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Africa totalled $40.7 billion in the first nine months of 2020, compared to $36.9 billion in the same period of 2019, underscoring the growing trade between the UAE and African countries despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), on the occasion of the launch of “Dubai Week in Africa-Kenya” forum on Monday, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said that the value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Africa amounted to $50 billion in 2019, compared to $33 billion in 2015.

He said that the commercial exchange between the UAE and Kenya has witnessed significant growth from 2015 to 2019, amounting to nearly $2.7 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in 2015.

Regarding Emirati investments in Kenya and future cooperation opportunities between the two countries, Al Zeyoudi highlighted the growing investment flows between the two countries, noting that Emirati investments in Kenya are equivalent to some $2.38 billion while Kenyan investments in the UAE are valued at $63 million, with around 18 trademarks in the UAE being from Kenya.

On the exchange of expertise that will enable Kenya to benefit from the UAE’s pivotal role in maintaining the sustainability of supply chains and maritime and aerial shipping movements in global markets, he stressed that the UAE has become a leading global trade destination, noting the country’s advanced position in many global indexes related to logistical supply, facilitating the practice of business, advanced port and logistical facilities, and adopting the best global practices in related areas. He then pointed out that the UAE has become a permanent regional hub in the Middle East for leading international companies and trademarks.

The UAE is considered a vital and geostrategic gateway to Middle Eastern and African markets and is ranked third globally in re-exports, only behind Hong Kong and Singapore, underscoring the country’s attractiveness to global trade, most notably with African countries, Al Zeyoudi further added, stressing that the UAE appreciates its cooperation with Kenya and is willing to facilitate the entry of Kenyan products into new markets.

On the role of the forum in promoting mutual dialogue on exploring available opportunities, in light of the current changes to the global economy, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Al Zeyoudi said that the unprecedented repercussions of the pandemic are difficult to predict, given their profound impact on the global economy.

The repercussions of the pandemic will dominate the discussions on the forum’s first day, which will include exploring related opportunities and adopting appropriate new practices, he further said, noting that the forum’s recommendations and outcomes will likely focus on finding solutions to overcome the current obstacles.

Meanwhile, DMCC - the world’s flagship Free Zone, business hub and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise - announced record-breaking performance in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 2,025 new companies joined the DMCC in 2020, the highest number of registrations in five years. Retention rate remained at an all-time high. This was primarily due to the Business Support Package launched in March 2020 that saw interest from companies in 149 countries. More than 8,000 member companies availed over 13,000 offers and incentives throughout the year.

In recognition of its continued efforts to enhance its ecosystem, the DMCC claimed Global Free Zone of the Year by the Financial Times’ fDi Magazine for a record sixth consecutive year in October 2020.

For its efforts in supporting business and residents in the JLT-community in terms of COVID-19 relief efforts, the DMCC is shortlisted for “Best Communications During COVID-19” and “Best Integrated Campaign” by PRCA, the world’s largest professional PR body, in its MENA regional awards.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, said, “A year like no other, 2020 was shaped by market uncertainty, geopolitical tension and a global pandemic. Despite the difficult context, the UAE’s visionary leadership and prompt and decisive actions meant that our economy remained resilient. As for the DMCC, we continued to attract, facilitate and promote global trade flows to and through Dubai. We surpassed 18,000 member companies, broke company registration records while launching new initiatives and progressing on time with flagship projects. Building on this momentum, we will maximise the progress made to reach new heights in 2021.”

China - 2020 saw a 20 percent year-on-year increase in Chinese companies joining the DMCC. A China Service Centre opened its doors in Almas Tower with Mandarin onboarding support while a representative office in Shenzhen was inaugurated all to promote the ease of doing business through the business hub.

Israel - Following a Memorandum of Understanding with the Israel Diamond Exchange, the DMCC inaugurated its representative office in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Israel in 2020. The new office is supporting Israeli businesses, from all industries and sectors, to set up an office in DMCC.

UAE and Africa non-oil trade hits $40.7b in first nine months of 2020

 

[Hoodoo Child]

 

[Yehuda]

African Union to set up infrastructure fund for the continent

FEBRUARY 19, 2021 / 6:46 AM / UPDATED 20 HOURS AGO
By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The African Union is setting up a fund to finance the construction of much-needed roads, railways and power plants on the continent, its infrastructure head said, turning to new sources of cash due to donor fatigue and higher debt levels.

Raila Odinga, Kenya's former Prime Minister and the African Union (AU) High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Nairobi, Kenya February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

The continent has an estimated annual infrastructure financing deficit of $60 billion-$90 billion, the AU says, making it hard for the body to advance its goal of integrating the disparate individual markets into a single, free trade area.

“Africa is financially starved as far as the need for infrastructure development is concerned,” Raila Odinga, who is the AU’s high representative for infrastructure, told Reuters.

The 55-nation AU is now turning to sovereign wealth funds, insurance and retirement funds in countries like South Africa, Angola, Nigeria Morocco, Egypt and Kenya, to raise the cash.

The funds will be invited to invest about 5% of their holdings, Odinga said, “which is actually going to be more lucrative for those institutions, rather than having funds lie idle”.

Talks with the funds are going on and the AU’s experts are setting up the legal and financial structure for the infrastructure fund, which will be administered by the newly formed African Union Development Agency, Odinga said.

The move bucks the past trend of dependence on wealthy donor nations and borrowing from financial markets.

China, which has been one of the biggest funders of infrastructure projects on the continent over the past decade, has cut back on lending due to high debt levels among individual nations like Kenya.

“We are now trying to think out of the box,” Odinga said.

The drive to find new ways of funding the construction of roads and railways and other utilities comes as Africa seeks to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc known as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“This infrastructure is urgent for the realization of the AfCFTA, otherwise it is just going to remain on paper,” Odinga said.

It was critical to connect landlocked nations to ports on coastlines, and complete missing links for transcontinental highways, to facilitate the free flow of goods under the AfCFTA and lift people out of poverty, he said.

“Africa needs to trade with itself,” Odinga said, citing figures which show intra-African trade is just 15%, compared with intra-European trade levels of 70% and 50% in Asia.

Editing by Angus MacSwan

African Union to set up infrastructure fund for the continent

 

[Secure Da Bag]

1. We tried the African Dinar and the Europeans invaded Libya.
2. We tried the ECO but France was able to make the Ivory Coast a turncoat.
3. We have the Free Trade Block, but every neo-colonial power found a way to use it to move their goods freely.
4. Now we have the Infrastructure Commission. How long until a foreign power finds a way to screw that up too?