WTO and UNECA promote Trade in Africa

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will hold a regional seminar on 'Aid for Trade and Africa's Trade and Development Prospects'.

The seminar, will be held from 4-6 June 2013 with experts on trade and development from the WTO, the ECA, African countries and Regional Economic Communities in attendance to discuss, among other topics, trade-related development challenges for the region, opportunities and challenges in the international agenda and relevant Aid for Trade issues.

As part of the seminar, experts will also validate a report produced by ECA in preparation for the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade, to be held in Geneva from the 8-10 July 2013.

In addition to an analysis of Aid for Trade flows to the region, the report will present the result of a survey conducted by African Union (AU) and ECA, on how Aid for Trade can best support the AU Action Plan to boost intra-African trade.

 

Credit: UN Economic Commission for Africa

XeroxFirst African- America female CEO Ursula Burns Has Advice for Ambitious Women

CEO Xerox Corp. Ursula Burns

Ursula Burns, the first African- American female CEO of Xerox Corp.  a Fortune 500 company, since 2009, started as an intern at Xerox Corp., and eventually rose through the ranks to become the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer the early retirement of Mulcahy.

During a talk at Catalyst’s annual awards conference on Tuesday, 19th march 2013, the 54-year-old CEO recounted how her mother, who raised Burns in New York City public housing, loved to give out advice. One of her mom’s favorite sayings, “Where you are is not who you are. Remember that when you’re rich and famous,” sticks with her to this day.

Nowadays, young women ask her for advice on achieving their career goals. Here’s what she tells them:



1.      Redefine work-life balance. It’s a “fool’s journey” to try to achieve perfect balance between one’s professional and personal lives, Burns says. Instead, she suggests women get comfortable with the idea of taking “your entire life to find balance. You should have balance, on average, over time – not in a day or in a month.”

2.      Be selfish sometimes.  Burns advises “checking out” occasionally to put personal needs ahead of career and family. “Think about your health, physically and mentally,” she says. A failure to do so, she warns, can put everything else at risk.

 3.      Find a good (older) husband. Burns met her husband, Lloyd Bean, while working at Xerox. A scientist and researcher, he was also 20 years her senior. “He had already gone through this ‘growing up’ stuff,” she says. The age difference proved advantageous when Burns’s job later required her to travel frequently and leave their two young children at home. Her husband retired, allowing Burns to focus on advancing her career. “So the secret,” she jokes, “is to marry someone 20 years older.”



4.      Don’t take guilt trips. Mothers often feel pressure to be present for their children all the time, but such expectations are neither realistic nor necessary, Burns says. “Kids are pretty resilient,” she says. “You don’t have to be at every volleyball game. We can’t guilt ourselves.” Her own mother missed many of her extracurricular activities, she adds, “and I’m fine.”




5.      Don’t take life too seriously. “Ninety percent of this stuff is just not that serious,” she says. “We get crazy about it.” Burns says she often thinks back to her mother’s advice to stay grounded. “Continually go back to the basic stuff,” she says. “Be prudent. Enjoy it.”

Credit: Wall Street Journal 

600-year-old Chinese coin found in Kenya, - over $200 China investment in Africa 2012!

Scientists from Illinois in the United State of America have found a rare, 600-year-old Chinese coin on the Kenyan island of Manda.

The Field Museum in Chicago announced the find Wednesday, 13th-March 2013. The joint expedition was led by Chapurukha Kusimba of the museum and Sloan Williams of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Researchers say the coin proves trade existed between China and eastern Africa decades before European explorers set sail.

Fast track to 2013 BEIJING, March 20, 2013 (UPI) -- China's trade with Africa is booming as Chinese investments in the continent soar, Chinese officials and experts say.
China is already Africa's largest trading partner.
"China and Africa are good friends, good brothers and good partners. China has actively supported African countries in developing their infrastructure and economy," said Li Zhaoxing, president of China Public Diplomacy Association.

President of China, Mr Xi Jinping

The visit by the new President Xi Jinping president will give impetus to the strengthening cooperation between China and African countries."

.......Chinese official data showed China-Africa trade reached a high of more than $160 billion in 2011, up 28 percent from 2010. China Daily said the volume for 2012 is estimated to have surpassed $200 billion.
At the end of 2011, China's direct investment in Africa reached almost $15 billion, with more than 2,000 Chinese companies currently invested in Africa, the report said.

Rewind.....

The coin is made of copper and silver. It has a square hole in the centre so it could be worn on a belt. Scientists say it was issued by Emperor Yongle of China and his name is written on the coin.

Scientists from Kenya, Pennsylvania and Ohio also participated in the expedition. They also found human remains and other artefacts predating the coin.

This present day....
Trade and investment flows between China and Africa will gain momentum this year as President Xi Jinping visits several nations on the continent during his first overseas trip.....Trade between China and Africa may have risen to a record last year after growing 20 percent to 163.9 billion yuan ($26.4 billion) through October, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. Forecasts of a more stable economic environment will help drive trade and investment, Priestley said.
“There are fewer disruptions within Africa than there were in the last year and the year before,” he said. “We just saw an election in Kenya, we just had an election in Ghana and there was a transfer of power and there’s no disruption to the economy. It’s a stable growth pattern and more young African are getting quality Education.”

Standard Chartered Bank, with operations in 16 African countries, plans to invest $100 million over the next three years, opening 110 branches on the continent and recruiting 950 consumer-banking staff. Revenue from Africa made up more than 8 percent of income last year, according to the London-based bank.

 

 

Substantial Economic Growth in Africa have come to Stay!

credit: Myweku,
          3News
         UPI

India, to increase trade to Africa to target $100 billion

Investment funding from India to Africa is almost $USD 50 billion  and the government has decided to increase the trade target between India and Africa to $100 billion.
India Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma met his counterparts from various African countries on Monday at a round table conference chaired by him. He informed the ministers that in spite of the sluggish trade growth, the bilateral trade target with Africa was being increased.
According to Sharma“We are upwardly revising the target to at least $100 billion by 2015... We may end up achieving it by the end of 2014 if we continue working together in the same spirit in which we have been working,”.
Since Indian investments in Africa are almost touching $50 billion, he said adding trade between India and Africa stood at $70 billion in 2011-’12.

Sharma also said that India has decided to open dialogue with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa  (COMESA), which is the largest economic group in Africa. “We have established a joint study group for examining the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement between India and COMESA,” Sharma said.
The African Ministers were in the capital to participate in the 9th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership. Seven heads of state and heads of government, over 80 senior ministers and parliamentarians from 45 African states participated.

Turkish goverment aims to boost African trade to $50 billion by 2015,

Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on a working visit to some Africa countries. According to World bulletin the Prime Minister said on Sunday that Turkey aimed to increase trade volume with African countries to 50 billion US dollars in 2015.

"Turkey has been exerting efforts for development of Africa," Erdogan told a press conference at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul before his departure for Gabon.

Erdogan will visit Gabon, Niger and Senegal in his first foreign trip abroad in the new year, he will meet with officials, participate in business forums and sign several agreements during the six-day African tour.

The Turkish premier's first stop will be Gabon, where he is set to meet with Gabonese President Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba and the country's Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima and appear in a joint press conference.

Accompanied by a large delegation of Turkish businesspeople, Erdogan will speak in a Turkish-Gabonese business forum which would seek cooperation opportunities in trade and investment.

Erdogan will visit Niger on January 8 on the second stop of his African tour and meet with President Mahamadou Issoufou and chair meetings between Turkish and Nigerien officials.

On January 10, Erdogan will arrive in Senegal, the last stop of the tour and he will meet with President Macky Sall and Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye and the two premiers will chair meetings between Turkish and Senegalese officials.

Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey's exports to Senegal stood at $109 million in the January-October period of 2012, down from $116 millon over the same period a year earlier.

Turkey has opened embassies in 19 African countries in the last three years to bring the total number of its top diplomatic missions in the continent to 31.

PM Erdogan said that they aimed to increase the number of embassies to 34 within next few months.

Turkey's trade volume which had been 5 billion US dollars in 2003 increased to 17 billion US dollars at the end of 2011, he said.

 Credit: World Bulletin

Nine candidates nominated for the post of Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO)- Two of the candidates are from Africa

Ambassador Amina C. Mohamed, CBS, CAV, is the second African we will be profiling that is nominated for the WTO post of Director-General. She is from Kenya and the First African we profiled is MrAlan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, from Ghana.

Ambassador Amina Mohamed is a committed international civil servant who has had a distinguished career in both public and. foreign service. She has served in strategic government positions and been elected to key international positions. Her work experience in over twenty six years covers a broad spectrum of domestic and international assignments. She rose through the ranks in Kenya's diplomatic service to the highest level of Ambassador/Permanent Representative Kenya Mission to the UN at Geneva from 2000-2006. She served as Director, Europe and the Commonwealth and Director Diaspora from mid-2006-2007 and was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs in 2008. Since July, 2011 she has served as United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at Nairobi.

She is an excellent strategist and visionary anticipating the management needs of every organization she has been involved with. With her profound knowledge of the WTO and her strong managerial skills, Ambassador Amina Mohamed has all the required competencies to lead the WTO into the future. She is fluent in English, Russian, Swahili and has a working knowledge of French.

A DistinguishedAfrican Diplomat

Ambassador Amina Mohamed has had a distinguished diplomatic career since 1986 and rising through the ranks to become Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission to the Republic of Kenya at Geneva in 2000. As the Permanent Representative, she represented Kenya in the UN system, and the WTO among other international organizations. Her strong interpersonal skills in negotiations, developed during her career in the multilateral fora, enabled her to effectively articulate Kenya's interests in the WTO. She participated in drafting and interpretation of International Trade Treaties.

An Expert in Public Sector and Institutional Reform

Ambassador Amina Mohamed was instrumental in restructuring, reforming and rationalizing the Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Missions abroad. She chaired the team that drafted Kenya's foreign trade policy focusing on economic and commercial diplomacy. As Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, she supervised the drafting, negotiation, national referendum and promulgation of the new Constitution of Kenya 2008- 2010, including institutional reforms on elections, ethics and integrity, access to justice and the development of a national cohesion policy. At UNEP, Ambassador Amina Mohamed has spearheaded the implementation of UNEP's Medium Term Strategy and Programmes as well as on-going reforms. Most recently she has been actively engaged with intergovernmental processes in implementing the RIO+20 outcomes and support efforts to enhance the funding base of the organization.

A Distinguished Legal Practitioner

Through her experience in the multilateral fora, she has provided legal advice during Kenya's tenure in the Security Council, negotiations in the WTO, particularly in launching the Doha trade talks and contributed texts in the Kenya's constitution where foreign trade has been integrated with Foreign Affairs.

Result-oriented Team Leader

Throughout her career, Ambassador Amina Mohamed has demonstrated solid leadership ~nd proven negotiations skills. She chaired three key WTO bodies: the Dispute Settlement Body, the Trade Policy Review Body and the General Council during her tenure in Geneva. During which important decisions and recommendations were made. Under her leadership as the General Council Chair, the accession of Saudi Arabia was concluded; she guided the negotiations and preparation for the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference where substantial progress was made on Doha Development Agenda; the LDC's waiver on market access was successfully concluded and members agreed to amend the TRIPS agreement to legally allow WTO members without capacity to produce pharmaceutical products to import and address public health concerns.

At UNEP she has been instrumental in enhancing the capacity of the institution and seeking additional resources to initiate new goals and action plans.

Key Positions Held in UN

2011-To date: United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director, UNEP

2008- 2011: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and

Constitutional Affairs

2010-2011; President of the United Nations Conference on Transnational Crime, Vienna

2006- 2007: Director, Europe and Commonwealth Countries and Director for

Diaspora matters~ Chairman the Task Force Sub - Committee on Strengthening and restructuring of the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs

2000- 2006: Ambassador Permanent Representative, Kenya Mission to the UN and other International Organizations at Geneva.

~ Chairman, Coordinator and the Spokesperson for the African Group in the

WTO, Human Right Commission

~ Served as President of the Conference on Disarmament in 2002

~ Chairman the International Organization for Migration in 2002

~ Chairman the Trade Policy Review Body in 2003

~ Chairman Dispute Settlement Body in 2004

~ Chairman General Council in 2005

~ Member of the Executive Boards and Committees of the WHO, UNHCR,

WIPO, ILO, UNCTAD AND UNAIDS 2001-2005

1990-2000: Kenya's Legal Advisor in various Missions abroad, including the 6^th Committee of the UN

1986-1990: Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Honours

National Award of Chief of Burning Spear (CBS)

Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella della solidarieta italian a

Life Member, RedCross Society Member of the Life and Peace Institute International Advisory Council, Sweden

Member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on the Arctic

Member of the Strathmore Law School Advisory Board, Kenya

Education Background

LLM University of Kiev and Kenya School of Law

Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations, Oxford University

UNITAR Fellow

credit: WTO