Africa Trade Digest: June 2024 Key Updates

Welcome to Africa Trade Digest,

Below are some of the interesting trade highlights of? June 2024.

The Mauritius Convention

On 15th June 2024 The Council of the EU adopted ?the decision on the signature of the United Nations Convention on transparency in Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), also known as the ‘Mauritius Convention- which facilitates the application of the United Nations Commission of International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Transparency Rules to investment treaties concluded prior to 1 April 2014.

EU- Algiers Trade Dispute

The EU has ?decided to open a dispute against Algiers. ?In the dispute ??under the he EU-Algeria Association Agreement and ?which ?is starting with consultations, the EU is ?accusing? Algiers of having introduced a system of authorisations for certain imports, which affects a variety of products including agricultural products. More specifically, the restrictions include ?an import licensing system with the effects of an import ban, subsidies contingent on the use of local inputs for car manufacturers, and a cap on foreign ownership for companies importing goods in Algeria. This is a dispute that should interest countries that have entered into trade agreements with the EU such as Kenya.

Trade in Services

WTO and the World Bank have ?launched a joint programme of activities that aim at tackling ??some of the challenges that developing economies are facing in unlocking the benefits of services trade and harnessing the sector's export potential. These activities are as a result of the recommendations of ?the 2023 joint publication by these two institutions on trade in services- “Trade in Services for Development”. The programme ?has ?four [related] components. First ?is the preparation of a user-friendly Competitiveness Diagnostic Tool to help developing economies assess their competitive strengths and weaknesses in services trade, define their overarching national services trade policy objectives, and identify and prioritize technical assistance needs.?

The second and third components seek to overcome data constraints by helping in the mapping out of core services trade measures and by building the capacity of developing economies to produce and use statistics on services trade and improve their quality.? The fourth component aims to identify best practices in the export promotion of services so as to assist the efforts of developing economies to expand and diversify their services exports.

FTAs ?and Africa’s Regional Integration

There are several talks around FTA that involve African countries, and which are worth keeping an eye on. ?Below are just but a? few: India plans to soon start new free trade agreement (FTA) discussions with South Africa, a key member of the South African Customs Union (SACU).

Also Türkiye, Algeria are set to ?launch preferential trade deal talks. That could see a conclusion ?of an FTA between these two countries.

In Nigeria, the discussions on the ?Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates are currently underway.

?And speaking of? Nigeria, reports ?suggest that ?New business opportunities are opening up for indigenous and international shipping companies following the commencement of the $20 billion Dangote Refinery and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).