Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her Malawian counterpart Joyce Banda signed a co-operation agreement between the two countries at Zimbali Lodge near Durban on Monday.
Zuma said that the Joint Permanent Commission for Co-operation Agreement created a "framework" for the two countries' future co-operation in bilateral relations.
Banda said: "There are so many areas where we can co-operate. This brings the guarantee to that co-operation."
In 2005 Malawi was South Africa's 10th largest export destination in Africa.
Zuma was expected sign a number of agreements ahead of the two-day African Union retreat being hosted by Zuma at Zimbali Lodge.
The retreat begins on Tuesday
Showing posts with label Exports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exports. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Friday, 27 April 2007
EPA may ''Destroy'' Malawi's Manufacturing Potential
BLANTYRE, Apr 26 (IPS) - Economic circles in eastern and southern Africa are abuzz with discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) which governments of these countries are negotiating with the European Union (EU).
Sixteen nations in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) EPA grouping are scheduled to sign the agreement by December this year, along with other countries in the rest of Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions.
While the Malawian government is looking forward to this step, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country remain apprehensive. Five influential NGOs, whose voices are taken seriously on the political and economic scene in Malawi, warn that the EPA will undermine the country's economy.
These NGOs are the Malawi Economic Justice Network; the Farmers Union of Malawi; the Civil Society Agriculture Network; the Malawi Council of Churches; and Oxfam in Malawi.
They have written to the EU's president, German chancellor Angela Merkel, arguing that the EPA is a bad deal as it will not allow Malawi and similar poor countries to protect their domestic industries with tariffs and other measures.
The group of NGOs also argues that the EPA is different to the Lome preferential trade agreement which it is replacing. The new trade deal will ''force'' Malawi to open up its market to the industrialised world and end up perpetuating economic misery among its population of 12 million people, say the NGOs.
Some 65 percent of Malawians live below the poverty line of less than 1 US dollar a day.
The organisations also contend that the EPA will open up Malawi's local markets to goods produced at lower costs in developed European countries. These goods will compete against Malawian goods which have been manufactured in a less advanced country that is already struggling against global economic constrictions.
''The EPA will decrease government revenue through loss of tariffs and undermine the benefits of regional trade integration,'' the NGOs argue. They believe that Malawi has the right to pursue autonomously determined trade and economic policies for the development of its economy, just like other countries do.
The NGO community in Malawi is not alone in its protestations. A report released this year by Tearfund, a global Christian relief and development charity, warns that the EPA negotiations are unbalanced. The report says the EPAs will create a greater disparity between the ACP countries and the EU in terms of development and economic power.
In the report, entitled ''Much to lose, little to gain: Assessing EPAs from the perspective of Malawi'', Tearfund warns that the EPA threatens to reinforce Malawi's position as an exporter of low-value, unprocessed commodities.
This will undermine the Malawian government's development strategy to add value to agricultural goods and to develop a manufacturing sector. It will also undermine regional integration among Malawi and its neighbours and will lead to a significant loss of fiscal revenue. There will also be other major adjustment costs, says Tearfund.
''EPA negotiations are cloaked in the language of partnership and development, but in the grossly unbalanced negotiating dynamic between the EU and the ACP, the European Commission is using EPAs to force its own agenda on Africa.
''Malawi has little to gain and potentially a huge amount to lose from entering into an EPA with the EU,'' Tearfund concludes.
Tearfund reminds the Malawian government that Malawi, as a least developed country, is in theory able to opt out of an EPA. It recommends that Malawi does that and rather sticks to the duty-free, quota-free access it has under the EU's Everything But Arms preferential trade initiative.
The concerns from the civil society groups seem to have some influence over the EPA process. The government of Malawi hosted intensive technical discussions this week (on April 24) for all the countries involved in the trade deal.
To allay fears, minister of trade Ken Lipenga has previously indicated that the government will conduct all the necessary consultations before signing the agreement. ''We will not just sign for the sake of it. We know that trade liberalisation has some negative effects and we will consider these when negotiating,'' Lipenga said.
In direct reference to the NGOs' concerns, Malawi's principal secretary for trade and private sector development Newby Kumwembe told IPS that the country's private sector incurs heavy production costs in some areas which render them uncompetitive on the global economy.
Kumwembe also argues that a lot of people have misunderstood trade agreements. Nowadays the big markets of Europe and the US have toughened up their entry requirements. Poor countries like Malawi need agreements such as the EPAs to be able to participate in the global economy. (END/2007)
Sixteen nations in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) EPA grouping are scheduled to sign the agreement by December this year, along with other countries in the rest of Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions.
While the Malawian government is looking forward to this step, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country remain apprehensive. Five influential NGOs, whose voices are taken seriously on the political and economic scene in Malawi, warn that the EPA will undermine the country's economy.
These NGOs are the Malawi Economic Justice Network; the Farmers Union of Malawi; the Civil Society Agriculture Network; the Malawi Council of Churches; and Oxfam in Malawi.
They have written to the EU's president, German chancellor Angela Merkel, arguing that the EPA is a bad deal as it will not allow Malawi and similar poor countries to protect their domestic industries with tariffs and other measures.
The group of NGOs also argues that the EPA is different to the Lome preferential trade agreement which it is replacing. The new trade deal will ''force'' Malawi to open up its market to the industrialised world and end up perpetuating economic misery among its population of 12 million people, say the NGOs.
Some 65 percent of Malawians live below the poverty line of less than 1 US dollar a day.
The organisations also contend that the EPA will open up Malawi's local markets to goods produced at lower costs in developed European countries. These goods will compete against Malawian goods which have been manufactured in a less advanced country that is already struggling against global economic constrictions.
''The EPA will decrease government revenue through loss of tariffs and undermine the benefits of regional trade integration,'' the NGOs argue. They believe that Malawi has the right to pursue autonomously determined trade and economic policies for the development of its economy, just like other countries do.
The NGO community in Malawi is not alone in its protestations. A report released this year by Tearfund, a global Christian relief and development charity, warns that the EPA negotiations are unbalanced. The report says the EPAs will create a greater disparity between the ACP countries and the EU in terms of development and economic power.
In the report, entitled ''Much to lose, little to gain: Assessing EPAs from the perspective of Malawi'', Tearfund warns that the EPA threatens to reinforce Malawi's position as an exporter of low-value, unprocessed commodities.
This will undermine the Malawian government's development strategy to add value to agricultural goods and to develop a manufacturing sector. It will also undermine regional integration among Malawi and its neighbours and will lead to a significant loss of fiscal revenue. There will also be other major adjustment costs, says Tearfund.
''EPA negotiations are cloaked in the language of partnership and development, but in the grossly unbalanced negotiating dynamic between the EU and the ACP, the European Commission is using EPAs to force its own agenda on Africa.
''Malawi has little to gain and potentially a huge amount to lose from entering into an EPA with the EU,'' Tearfund concludes.
Tearfund reminds the Malawian government that Malawi, as a least developed country, is in theory able to opt out of an EPA. It recommends that Malawi does that and rather sticks to the duty-free, quota-free access it has under the EU's Everything But Arms preferential trade initiative.
The concerns from the civil society groups seem to have some influence over the EPA process. The government of Malawi hosted intensive technical discussions this week (on April 24) for all the countries involved in the trade deal.
To allay fears, minister of trade Ken Lipenga has previously indicated that the government will conduct all the necessary consultations before signing the agreement. ''We will not just sign for the sake of it. We know that trade liberalisation has some negative effects and we will consider these when negotiating,'' Lipenga said.
In direct reference to the NGOs' concerns, Malawi's principal secretary for trade and private sector development Newby Kumwembe told IPS that the country's private sector incurs heavy production costs in some areas which render them uncompetitive on the global economy.
Kumwembe also argues that a lot of people have misunderstood trade agreements. Nowadays the big markets of Europe and the US have toughened up their entry requirements. Poor countries like Malawi need agreements such as the EPAs to be able to participate in the global economy. (END/2007)
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Malawi to export maize to Zim
Malawi, swamped with surplus maize from two bumper harvests, will export 400,000 tons of the staple to cash-strapped Zimbabwe, the head of the state-run strategic maize reserve agency said.
"Malawi has had two good years of bumper maize harvest and is in surplus of about 1.1 million tons," Nasinuku Saukila, general manager of the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) told AFP.
"Zimbabwe has been shopping around for maize. We will be exporting 400 mega tons of maize following a demand from that country.
"The general picture in the region is that there is a problem and there is demand for our maize and we will export on first come first served basis," the NFRA chief said.
Saukila said maize exports this year would give "local farmers and traders a steady market for their surplus maize."
Millions of Malawians depend on maize for their food needs, which is grown on small plots.
"Maize traders were looking for a market and if we buy from them, it will have a multiplier effect as rural farmers are also likely to benefit," Saukila said.
The poor southeastern African nation, which annually needs two million tons to feed its 12 million people, had a maize surplus of 500,000 tons last year and is set for a bumper harvest in 2007 of three million tons, a 22 percent increase.
The surplus is due to subsidised fertiliser and prolonged periods of rainfall, agriculture experts say.
Malawi, where food security is a pressing issue with about 60 percent of the people living below the poverty line, met its food needs for the first time in seven years in 2006 with a harvest of 2.2 million tons.
Famine threatened up to five million people in 2005 following drought and the government spent over 100 million dollars to import more than 400,000 tons of food to avert hunger.
Zimbabwe, once the bread-basket of the region, recently announced it would need to import hundreds of thousands of tons of maize.
Harare blames the shortfall on lengthy drought but critics say its agricultural policy, including depriving hundreds of white commercial farmers of their land, is largely at fault.
Sapa-AFP
"Malawi has had two good years of bumper maize harvest and is in surplus of about 1.1 million tons," Nasinuku Saukila, general manager of the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) told AFP.
"Zimbabwe has been shopping around for maize. We will be exporting 400 mega tons of maize following a demand from that country.
"The general picture in the region is that there is a problem and there is demand for our maize and we will export on first come first served basis," the NFRA chief said.
Saukila said maize exports this year would give "local farmers and traders a steady market for their surplus maize."
Millions of Malawians depend on maize for their food needs, which is grown on small plots.
"Maize traders were looking for a market and if we buy from them, it will have a multiplier effect as rural farmers are also likely to benefit," Saukila said.
The poor southeastern African nation, which annually needs two million tons to feed its 12 million people, had a maize surplus of 500,000 tons last year and is set for a bumper harvest in 2007 of three million tons, a 22 percent increase.
The surplus is due to subsidised fertiliser and prolonged periods of rainfall, agriculture experts say.
Malawi, where food security is a pressing issue with about 60 percent of the people living below the poverty line, met its food needs for the first time in seven years in 2006 with a harvest of 2.2 million tons.
Famine threatened up to five million people in 2005 following drought and the government spent over 100 million dollars to import more than 400,000 tons of food to avert hunger.
Zimbabwe, once the bread-basket of the region, recently announced it would need to import hundreds of thousands of tons of maize.
Harare blames the shortfall on lengthy drought but critics say its agricultural policy, including depriving hundreds of white commercial farmers of their land, is largely at fault.
Sapa-AFP
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