Communication COM 635 de la Commission Européenne sur les APE

Bruxelles, le 23 octobre 2007 - COM(2007) 635 final

COMMUNICATION DE LA COMMISSION AU CONSEIL ET AU PARLEMENT EUROPÉEN

Accords de partenariat économique

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Un déficit commercial de l'UE27 de 35 mrds d'euros avec l'Afrique en 2006

EUROSTAT - 170/2007 - 6 décembre 2007

L'Afrique représente 9% des importations de l'UE27 et 8% des exportations

Entre 2000 et 2006, les exportations de biens de l'UE27 vers l'Afrique sont passées de 66 milliards d'euros à 92 mrds et les importations de 85 mrds à 126 mrds. Le déficit de la balance commerciale de l'UE27 avec l'Afrique a augmenté et est passé de 19 mrds en 2000 à 35 mrds en 2006, soit 18% du déficit total de l'UE27. L'Afrique a représenté environ 9% du commerce extérieur total de biens de l'UE27 en 2006.

À l'occasion du second Sommet UE-Afrique, qui se tiendra les 8 et 9 décembre 2007 à Lisbonne, Eurostat,l'Office statistique des Communautés européennes, publie des données relatives aux échanges de biens entre les 27 États membres de l'UE et 53 pays africains.

L'Italie et la France principaux partenaires commerciaux de l'UE avec l'Afrique

Parmi les États membres de l’UE27, la France (21 mrds d'euros, soit 23% du total) a été le principal exportateur vers l'Afrique en 2006, suivie de l’Allemagne (16 mrds soit 18%) et de l'Italie (13 mrds soit 14%). L'Italie (31 mrds soit 25%) a été le premier importateur, suivie de l'Espagne (21 mrds soit 17%) et de la France (20 mrds soit 16%).

Les excédents commerciaux les plus importants avec l'Afrique ont été enregistrés par la Suède (+2 mrds), la France et la Finlande (+1 mrd chacun), tandis que l'Italie (-19 mrds), l'Espagne (-14 mrds) et le Royaume-Uni (-5 mrds) ont affiché les plus forts déficits.

L'Afrique du Sud, l'Algérie et la Libye principaux partenaires commerciaux de l'Afrique avec l'UE

Parmi les pays africains, l'Afrique du Sud (20 mrds d'euros soit 22% du total) a été la principale destination des exportations de l’UE27 en 2006, suivie du Maroc et de l'Algérie (10 mrds soit 11% chacun). La principale source des importations de l’UE27 en provenance de l'Afrique a été la Libye (26 mrds soit 21%), suivie de l'Algérie (24 mrds soit 19%) et de l'Afrique du Sud (19 mrds soit 15%).

Les plus importants excédents commerciaux de l'UE27 avec l'Afrique ont été observés avec le Maroc (+3 mrds), ainsi qu'avec l'Afrique du Sud, l'Égypte, le Soudan, le Sénégal et la Tunisie (entre +1 mrd et +1,5 mrd chacun), tandis que les plus forts déficits ont été enregistrés avec la Libye (-22 mrds), l'Algérie (-14 mrds) et le Nigéria (-4 mrds).

Les machines et véhicules comptent pour près de la moitié des exportations de l'UE27 vers l'Afrique, l'énergie pour la moitié des importations

En 2006, presque la moitié des exportations de l'UE27 vers l'Afrique ont été des machines et véhicules et un autre quart a concerné d'autres articles manufacturés2. L'énergie a compté pour un peu plus de la moitié des importations. Au niveau détaillé, les principales exportations de l'UE27 vers l'Afrique ont été des téléphones mobiles, des médicaments et des voitures, alors que les principales importations ont concerné le pétrole et le gaz, les diamants et les fèves de cacao.

La suite

SA: Holiday expenditures to increase

Sapa, Africa News, 13/11/2007

SA consumers are expected to spend 12-percent more this holiday season, while Europeans might spend less to absorb food and energy price increases, the annual Deloitte year-end holiday survey said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Rodger George said despite a cooling in optimism towards holiday spending, SA consumers still remained more optimistic about their economy than all the other countries surveyed in the annual survey.

"They will spend 12 percent more than in previous years, while most European consumers will restrict their 2007 Christmas budget to absorb food and energy price increases."

George said this year's holiday survey revealed how consumers perceived the changing environment and how it would impact on their shopping attitude.

"Less will be spent on gifts and more on food in order to balance the budget; and more consumers will search for alternatives to imported toys when quality is in question."

He said the holiday season created a great opportunity to measure shoppers' perceptions, attitudes and behavior throughout the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region.

The survey indicated that Europeans were worried about a weakening of the economy in 2008.

"Only 28 percent believe the economy will improve while 41 percent believe it will deteriorate, so the desire to spend is curbed by limited purchasing power: 53 percent believe they have less to spend."

In contrast, 52 percent of SA respondents believed that the economy was in a state of growth while a further 28.9 percent believed the economy was stable.

However, 38 percent of SA shoppers also believed that they would have less to spend than in the previous year.

George said the tradition of celebrating the holiday season was still deeply rooted in SA and across Europe, particularly the desire to be with family for more than 80 percent of those surveyed.

Jean-Marie Bockel: "Le partenariat au service du développement"

Article de M. Jean-Marie Bockel, secrétaire d’Etat à la Coopération et à la Francophonie, paru dans le quotidien "La Tribune" (29 novembre 2007)

Le débat engagé aujourd’hui sur la question des accords de partenariat économique (APE), et dont témoignent en particulier les dernières tribunes de Jean Ziegler et du président Wade, est salutaire. Les constats de M. Ziegler sont justes : les capacités théoriques de production agricole mondiale pourraient nourrir 12 milliards d’individus, néanmoins 854 millions de personnes à travers le monde souffrent de la faim. Cette situation préexiste aux APE, puisqu’ils ne sont pas encore signés...

Pour combattre ces phénomènes inacceptables, 191 pays ont adopté le 8 septembre 2000 la Déclaration du millénaire et les huit objectifs correspondants (OMD). Figure au premier rang la réduction d’ici à 2015 de la proportion de la population qui souffre de la faim.

Pour gagner ce combat de manière pérenne, un ensemble d’actions simultanées et de long terme est à mettre en oeuvre : santé, planning familial, éducation et formation professionnelle, facilitation des migrations saisonnières ou définitives vers des zones plus productives, désenclavement, stabilisation des prix des produits agricoles, adaptation des conditions de crédit (taux, durée,...), banques de céréales, stockage et utilisation de l’eau, restauration des sols, intensification et diversification de l’agriculture et de l’économie, sécurisation foncière, etc.

Malgré les accords commerciaux précédents, nombre de pays en développement n’ont pu profiter des ouvertures privilégiées qui leur étaient offertes, notamment pour des raisons structurelles, que le président Wade a évoquées : infrastructures défaillantes, crédit aux entreprises absent ou très cher, capacités humaines insuffisantes en quantité et en qualification, technologies anciennes et peu performantes. Alors, que peuvent apporter les accords de partenariat economique ?

Rappelons que ces accords ne seront pas seulement adossés à un volet commercial, mais devront comporter un volet "accompagnement" qui permette un investissement massif dans l’environnement technique et financier des petites et moyennes entreprises et des exploitations agricoles. Cet investissement sera complémentaire de celui que les pays d’Afrique, Caraïbes et Pacifique (ACP) réaliseront, notamment les pays africains qui ont pris dans le cadre de l’Union africaine l’engagement d’affecter au minimum 10% du budget de l’État à leur secteur agricole. Ce dernier investissement ne sera rendu possible que si, simultanément, une plus grande cohérence est assurée dans les pays ACP entre politique macroéconomique et politique sectorielles.

Soulignons ensuite que les processus de libéralisation, contenus dans le volet commercial des APE, prennent en compte les inégalités des termes de l’échange et intègrent à ce titre de multiples dérogations. Concrètement, la négociation doit permettre aux pays ACP d’obtenir la protection de nombreux produits sensibles (céréales, lait, produits de l’élevage et de maraîchage...), de longues périodes de transition pour le démantèlement et des appuis renouvelés à leurs secteurs d’exportation.

Face à l’échec partiel des accords commerciaux UE-ACP sous leur forme actuelle, ces accords doivent favoriser investissements et croissance partagée dans les économies du Sud. L’intégration régionale, nécessaire étape vers une meilleure intégration au marché mondial, est aujourd’hui le vrai défi et la vraie chance des pays ACP. Le succès des APE dépendra également de l’association des milieux professionnels à leur élaboration et leur mise en oeuvre, ce qui suppose inévitablement des délais supplémentaires de négociation dans plusieurs régions.

En toute hypothèse, dans l’attente de ces APE complets, et conformément aux accords de Cotonou, le régime commercial proposé aux pays ACP à partir du 1er janvier 2008 ne saurait être moins favorable que l’actuel. Loin des logiques de charité et d’assistance, les APE doivent contribuer, par petits pas, à faire des pays aujourd’hui les moins avancés des acteurs économiques de plein exercice. Au-delà des oppositions idéologiques, reconnaissons que, sans en être le facteur principal, le commerce, en incitant à l’activité et en permettant à chacun d’avoir les moyens d’être debout, constitue bien l’un des moteurs du développement.

Les vraies raisons des nouveaux Accords de partenariat économique

Kadialy GASSAMA, Le Quotidien (Senegal), 01/12/2007

Depuis les années 70, les accords commerciaux Communauté économique européenne (Cee) - Afrique, Caraïbe, Pacifique (Acp), issus des différentes conventions de Lomé, avaient tenu compte des impératifs de développement économique des Pays moins avancés (Pma) en permettant l’accès libre de leurs produits dans les marchés européens sans réciprocité.

Dans le discours politique, le différentiel des niveaux de développement entre les deux groupes régionaux semblait être le facteur explicatif principal de l’application en faveur des Pma de la clause de la nation la plus favorisée dérogatoire des règles de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (Omc) sur le libre échangisme intégral.

Les accords de Cotonou de 2000 et les nouveaux accords actuellement en négociation préconisent le démantèlement tarifaire progressif et, de ce fait, invalide la prise en compte des impératifs de développement des Pma au profit de la seule considération des normes commerciales strictes. En clair, pour continuer de bénéficier d’exemption de taxes, les Acp devraient, à leur tour, ouvrir sans restriction leurs marchés aux exportations européennes, tout au moins, parvenir à un accord à minima autour de 80% de réduction des droits de douane à court terme.

En réalité, depuis les accords de Cotonou en 2000, l’Ue cherche à revisiter les relations traditionnelles qui les ont toujours liées aux Pma dans le sens d’une suppression des avantages liés à la clause de la Nation la plus favorisée. C’est ainsi que certains mécanismes de compensation, comme le Stabex pour les produits agricoles et le Sysmin pour les mines, ont été supprimés et, de nos jours, il est envisagé un désarmement douanier total des pays Acp leur privant du coup d’importants moyens financiers.

Les accords Cee-Acp étaient guidés à l’origine par le double souci des Européens de tenir compte des niveaux inégaux de développement et de la volonté d’aménager une zone d’influence économique préférentielle constituant une chasse gardée afin de lever le défi concurrentiel américain. Toutefois, à la volonté de juguler la concurrence américaine s’est ajouté, vers la fin des années 90, de nouveaux défis économiques nécessitant des changements d’orientation par suite de la montée fulgurante de nouvelles puissances industrielles mondiales (Chine, Brésil, Inde). Il faut dire qu’avec l’apparition de nouveaux pôles industriels d’une formidable capacité qui ont l’avantage de développer une meilleure productivité du travail pouvant entraîner un effet déflationniste sur les prix, l’Ue et les Etats-Unis entreprennent de développer des politiques protectionnistes qui ne disent pas leur nom pour protéger leurs parts de marché menacées face à la montée industrielle de nouvelles puissances économiques mondiales. Face aux mouvements internationaux de marchandises, les barrières peuvent être tarifaires, non tarifaires ou les deux en même temps. Les barrières non tarifaires concernent les restrictions administratives sur les règles d’origine, les normes sanitaires et phytosanitaires, la propriété intellectuelle, les investissement et les marchés publics qui ne s’appuient pas sur la levée de taxes, mais qui sont aussi, sinon plus déterminants. C’est dire que le libre échangisme préconisé s’identifie réellement à un protectionnisme caché qui permet aux pays du Nord de s’appuyer sur des leviers non tarifaires assez prohibitifs pour un accès libre de produits étrangers dans leurs marchés.

D’ailleurs, nous pouvons bien comprendre, à ce titre, le refus jusqu’à nos jours des Etats-Unis de ratifier le traité de Kyoto et d’intégrer les normes environnementales dans les règles de l’Omc. L’exigence de conservation des parts internationales de marché face aux mouvements de mondialisation économique avec l’entrée en scène de nouvelles puissances industrielles ont fait réagir l’oligarchie des pays riches vers la constitution de grands ensembles économiques contrôlés par les Etats-Unis pour les Etats Américains (la Zlea) et l’Europe pour les Etats Ue-Acp et méditerranéens (l’Euromed), c’est à dire à un nouveau partage du monde en zones d’influences économiques suivant les changements de paradigme. Le principe de non-discrimination qui permettait, cependant, l’entente douanière depuis la fin de la deuxième guerre mondiale avec l’Accord Général sur les droits de douanes et tarifs (Gatt) va être abandonné au profit d’un libre échangisme afin de permettre la constitution de grands ensembles économiques réservés (zone d’influence) pour la conservation des parts de marché. Ces grands ensembles permettront la mise en place d’un espace économique à dimension inter continentale dans le but de lever des barrières non tarifaires pour se protéger de l’assaut commercial des pays tiers. Dans ce recadrage des relations économiques internationales, la question fondamentale est de savoir quel est le sort des Pma à l’intérieur de ces grands ensembles économiques régionaux dans lesquels il est envisagé un commerce libre intra zone (Alena, Euromed, Ue-Acp) ?

Loin de stimuler automatiquement le développement économique des Pays moins avancés tel que indiqué dans le nouveau discours politique, le libre échangisme intégral impliquant la suppression totale des barrières tarifaires des Pma favorise les pays développés à plus grande productivité du fait de l’avance technique, technologique et financier. La croissance des échanges à l’intérieur des zones consécutivement à la libéralisation va accroître la part des marchés des pays les plus développés tout en fragilisant les structures de production des pays les moins développés réduits en consommateurs éternels. En plus de l’effet réducteur sur la production des Pma, il y a aussi l’effet suppression des taxes à l’entrée, privant du coup d’importants moyens financiers pour des Etats comme le Sénégal, dont le déficit commercial reste accentué. Le libre échangisme ne peut fonctionner correctement que dans une zone d’intégration parfaite des marchés, en ce qu'elle permet une liberté de circulation des flux de main-d’œuvre et des capitaux en plus de l’harmonisation des législations internes à l'instar de l'Ue. Or, dans l’espace Ue-Acp, le traité de Maastricht interdit la libre circulation des personnes (immigration clandestine) en dépit du projet de constitution d’une zone économique commune avec le désarmement tarifaire préconisé.

Les Etats développés du Nord, qui furent des champions du protectionnisme durant la longue période pendant laquelle ils dominèrent industriellement le monde, vont jeter l’échelle en sacrifiant les Pma sous l’autel d’un libre échangisme qui n’est que de nom pour la conservation de leurs parts de marchés afin de résister au nouveau défi économique de la Chine, de l’Inde et du Brésil, réduisant ainsi les pays pauvres en consommateurs éternels. Les impacts potentiels de tels accords s’annoncent dramatiques pour les Acp, au vu de l’impossibilité de la mise en concurrence d’économies très inégales ne pouvant commercer équitablement.

La signature des Ape au 31 décembre 2007 constituera, pour les pays pauvres, un troisième choc qui, d’avantage, renforcera les difficultés après les chocs pétrolier et alimentaire. Aussi, doit-il être envisagé la menace d’un départ en masse des pays du Sud de l’Omc en vue de la création d’un organe multilatéral de coopération commerciale Sud-Sud à défaut de l’instauration d’un commerce équitable Nord-Sud.

APE : Le point sur les accords intérimaires dans l’environnement régional de La Réunion

TEMOIGNAGES du samedi 1er décembre 2007

Apres les accords intérimaires paraphés avec le groupe Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland et Mozambique, puis avec le groupe Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzanie et Ouganda, un troisième accord intérimaire a été passé entre les Seychelles et le Zimbabwe.

Les autres Etats ACP de la région n’ont pas encore paraphé ces accords pour diverses raisons : finalisation de leurs offres d’ouverture en cours, ou difficultés sur des thématiques comme le Protocole Sucre...la République Sud Africaine étant elle un cas particulier du fait de son statut.

Ces accords intérimaires seront finalisés sur quelques points techniques d’ici la première quinzaine de Décembre avant d’être soumis pour approbation aux Etats membres de l’Union lors de leurs prochains Conseils.

S’agissant de la place accordée à la Réunion en tant que RUP dans ces accords intérimaires, l’évolution des négociations depuis Septembre a montré que cette question, comme l’avait souligné la Région, était d’essence plus politique que technique. Aussi la Région s’est organisée en conséquence ces dernières semaines pour suivre au plus près ce dossier et intervenir autant que nécessaire auprès des différents interlocuteurs concernés.

Aujourd’hui sur la base des textes de ces différents accords, la Région a la confirmation de la prise en compte de certaines préoccupations majeures de La Réunion.

En premier lieu, a été inséré dans ces accords un article dédié aux Régions Ultrapériphériques qui prévoit explicitement le développement de la coopération entre les RUP et les Etats ACP signataires. Cela concerne tous les domaines cités dans ces accords et se ferait par l’intermédiaire d’une participation conjointe dans les programmes spécifiques de l’Union et la coordination entre les différents instruments financiers des politiques de cohésion régionale et de développement de l’Union.

Cette disposition devrait faciliter l’objectif de co-développement réaffirmé par la Région lors du dernier Conseil de la C.O.I à Maurice.

Cet article précise en outre que rien dans ces accords n’empêche l’Union d’appliquer des mesures existantes visant à répondre à la situation structurelle sociale et économique des RUP conformément à l’article 299§2 du Traité de l’Union. Cette précision défendue par la Région ces quinze derniers jours auprès de ses interlocuteurs à Paris et Bruxelles devrait conforter la situation de l’octroi de mer actuel longtemps menacé par les demandes des ACP.

Par ailleurs les dispositions concernant les clauses de sauvegarde comportent des éléments spécifiques garantissant aux RUP les mêmes assurances que celles accordées aux ACP, notamment la possibilité d’appliquer ces mesures, quand toutes les conditions sont réunies, pendant une durée de quatre ans éventuellement prolongée d’autant.

S’agissant du sucre, les accords prévoient que le sucre en provenance des ACP ne pourra accéder aux marchés des DOM pendant une durée de 10 ans éventuellement prolongée d’une période équivalente. En outre jusqu’à 2012, les accords prévoient que le sucre ACP admis en Europe continentale ne pourra être payé en dessous d’un prix inférieur à 90% du prix de référence ; ce qui devrait limiter une éventuelle baisse des prix sur le marché européen. La compensation de cette éventuelle baisse devra faire l’objet d’une attention particulière pour ne pénaliser aucun secteur agricole.

Par contre, il n’y a pas eu pour les RUP d’adaptation de la longue asymétrie dans l’ouverture des marchés (Accès libre au Marché UE/Réunion dès 2008, Ouverture des Marchés ACP progressive sur 15 à 25 ans) et du principe de l’ouverture totale du marché UE (hormis le cas du sucre) malgré les risques encourus du fait de la proximité de certains ACP.

Enfin ces accords intérimaires doivent évoluer durant l’année 2008 vers des APE complets qui comprendront d’autres chapitres comme ceux des Services, des investissements...dits sujets de Singapour. La Réunion devra s’organiser pour suivre ces futures négociations.

En attendant, il convient de rester vigilant jusqu’à la finalisation complète de ces accords.

Mobilisation générale pour préserver l’intérêt de La Réunion dans l’accord définitif

Manuel Marchal, TEMOIGNAGES du vendredi 30 novembre 2007

Avant le débat sur les délibérations à l’ordre du jour, Paul Vergès a apporté plusieurs éléments d’information relatifs aux négociations des Accords de Partenariat Economique entre l’Union européenne et les pays d’Afrique, Caraïbe et Pacifique (ACP). L’accord intermédiaire devait être signé normalement hier, et ce document préserve l’intérêt général de La Réunion.

C’est hier que devait être signé l’accord intermédiaire permettant à l’Union européenne et aux pays ACP de se donner un délai d’un an avant de signer les Accords de Partenariat Economique (APE). Cette solution permet de combler un vide juridique, elle signifie le maintien du volet commercial de la Convention de Cotonou. Elle contient pour La Réunion un aspect important : la prise en compte de l’intérêt général de notre île.

C’est le résultat d’une mobilisation impulsée par la Région, marquée par plusieurs étapes importantes. Il y a notamment la session extraordinaire du Conseil des ministres de la Commission de l’Océan Indien le 10 octobre dernier qui a débouché sur une déclaration prenant en considération le besoin de mesures spécifiques pour La Réunion. Puis ensuite, la rencontre organisée à Maurice le 29 octobre, la réunion des ministres ACP avec la Commission européenne à Bruxelles les 8 et 9 novembre.

L’octroi de mer préservé

La proposition d’un texte par la Commission européenne, incluant la spécificité de La Réunion et enfin le Conseil de l’Union européenne des 19 et 20 novembre qui note dans ses conclusions qu’il « admet les intérêts spécifiques des Régions ultrapériphériques » et qu’« il assure que ces intérêts seront pris en compte au stade final des négociations APE ».

A moins d’un changement de dernière minute, « l’essentiel de nos demandes transmises à la Commission européenne, au gouvernement et à la COI semble donc acquis », précise Paul Vergès.

Première conséquence : l’octroi de mer ne sera pas remis en cause dans le texte de l’accord intermédiaire. Reste que ce dispositif fiscal qui constitue une source importante du financement des collectivités locales sera quoi qu’il arrive, rediscuté dans huit ans. Cette échéance mériterait que les communes engagent une action commune auprès de la Commission et de l’Etat.

Deuxième conséquence : le droit à une clause de sauvegarde. Le président de la Région rappelle qu’au début des discussions des APE, les pays ACP ne voulaient pas de ce dispositif qui permet des mesures d’exception visant à préserver un ou plusieurs secteurs économiques stratégiques menacés par des importations massives en provenance des pays ACP.

La clause de sauvegarde a ensuite été limitée à un nombre restreint de secteurs, incluant le riz, le sucre et la banane. Ce qui ne laissait ensuite guère de marge de manoeuvre.

Une année décisive

Le texte de l’accord intermédiaire fait état du maintien du caractère général de la clause de sauvegarde, en plus des mesures particulières concernant le riz, le sucre et la banane.

Troisième conséquence : l’accord intermédiaire reporte d’un an le délai pour la signature des Accords de Partenariats Economiques. Autrement dit, l’année 2008 sera consacrée à surmonter les obstacles qui ont empêché la signature des APE. Pour Paul Vergès, toutes les prises de positions, même les plus récentes, sont les bienvenues. Il faudra appliquer ce qui est écrit dans les différentes motions relatives aux APE adoptées par différentes institutions.

Conclusion : « nous avons un an devant nous. A partir d’aujourd’hui, c’est une mobilisation générale qui doit avoir lieu à La Réunion pour que l’accord définitif sauvegarde nos intérêts », souligne Paul Vergès.

Le bouleversement des APE

Le Président de la Région a insisté sur une signification des APE. « C’est une nouvelle période d’ouverture et d’intégration à l’inverse de ce que connaît La Réunion depuis des siècles ». Jusqu’alors, depuis l’époque coloniale, l’économie de La Réunion est tournée vers la France, où elle bénéficie d’un système de quota et de prix garantis sur le sucre par exemple.

Les APE veulent dire l’ouverture de notre économie, « une nouvelle ère qui commence ». C’est un changement qualitatif de l’économie réunionnaise dans le cadre de la mondialisation des échanges, conclut le Président de la Région.

Une grave sous-estimation

C’est l’exemple d’une sous-estimation catastrophique d’un dossier essentiel pour La Réunion, a dit en substance Paul Vergès qui rappelle que le risque était que les négociations se fassent en dehors de nous.
Les négociations sont menées par la Commission européenne, pas par les Etats. La Commission est en effet investie d’un mandat de négociation dans les accords commerciaux internationaux.

Pour La Réunion, la question est de savoir comment agir auprès de l’Etat français pour qu’il intervienne sur le cours des événements, alors qu’il n’a pas une prise directe dessus.

« Nous avons pris le temps et le recul pour agir », note Paul Vergès qui rappelle que des séminaires publics organisés à la Région ont déjà regroupé des responsables de l’Union européenne et des pays ACP sur le dossier des Accords de Partenariat Economique. Cela fait plus de trois ans de démarche et de débats publics sur les APE. Mais force est de constater que l’importance n’a pas été perçue à l’époque par les secteurs concernés, poursuit en substance Paul Vergès qui conclut en regrettant une prise de position tardive des acteurs concernés, mais une prise de position qui a eu lieu, ce dont on peut se féliciter.

La Zambie exporte son excédent de production de maïs

"Le gouvernement nous a autorisés à exporter 200.000 tonnes jusqu'ici vers le Botswana, la RDC (République démocratique du Congo), la Namibie, l'Afrique du Sud, Zimbabwe et l'Angola" - ANTHONY MWANAUMO, DIRECTEUR EXECUTIF, FOOD RESERVE AGENCY (FRA)

Reuters, 24 NOVEMBRE 2007

Les associations Grain Traders of Zambia (GTZA), Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU), Millers Association of Zambia (MAZ) et la Food Reserves Agency (FRA) un institut d'Etat, ont tous obtenus des licences pour exporter chacun 50.000 tonnes d'excédent de la production de maïs.

La Zambie a enregistré un surplus de production de 250.000 tonnes de maïs cette année. Le surplus exclu environ 100.000 tonnes qu'elle compte exporter vers le Zimbabwe voisin qui souffre d'une pénurie alimentaire sévère.

La Zambie en est à sa deuxième année de surplus de production de maïs qui est son aliment de base. Le maïs sera exporté dans six pays voisins.

"Le gouvernement nous a autorisés à exporter 200.000 tonnes jusqu'ici vers le Botswana, la RDC (République démocratique du Congo), la Namibie, l'Afrique du Sud, Zimbabwe et l'Angola", a dit Anthony Mwanaumo, directeur exécutif de la FRA.

Selon des officiels, la Zambie détient environ 1,8 million de tonnes de maïs et exporter son excédent de production ne constitue pas une menace pour la sécurité alimentaire du pays. "En Zambie, nous sommes en sécurité au niveau alimentaire et nous partageons les bénéfices d'une bonne campagne avec nos voisins" poursuit Mwanaumo.

Le voisin, la RDC dépend fortement des importations de maïs, tentant de remettre sur pied un secteur agricole dévasté par des années de guerre civile. La situation est particulièrement critique à Lumbubashi, ville minière qui fait frontière avec la Zambie. Il y a eu un excédent de la production de maïs en Zambie malgré les fortes inondations qui ont ravagé une grande partie des récoltes.

En juin, le ministre zambien de l'Agriculture Ben Kapita, a déclaré que la production de maïs 2006/07 avait chuté de 4,4% à 1,36 million de tonnes par rapport à la saison précédente en raison des inondations qui avaient détruit les récoltes dans 41 des 72 régions du pays. Kapita a déclaré que la Zambie conserverait 250.000 tonnes de maïs dans les réserves stratégiques en plus des 160.000 tonnes d'excédent de production de l'année dernière.

EU and southern African states agree trade deal

Reuters, NOVEMBER 23, 2007

In a breakthrough after five years of talks on so-called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), negotiators from the EU and Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho signed initial deals covering trade in goods and development on Friday night (November 23).

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson -- who has faced stiff criticism from aid campaigners over the EPAs -- said in a statement the signing represented ''an historic step forward''.

Angola wanted to join the agreement "as soon as possible" while Namibia and the region's economic heavyweight South Africa "will determine their participation in the agreement in the coming days", the Commission said in a statement.

South Africa has a separate trade deal with the EU.

The European Commission wants to formally sign EPAs with the six regions of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) of countries before December 31.

The deals are likely to be mostly interim, goods-only agreements signed at first only by subgroups in each region because of opposition from some countries.

The interim deals would be followed by talks next year on more sensitive issues such as investment rules and services. Mandelson has said the new agreements will help nearly 80 ACP countries develop regional economies of scale that will attract foreign investment, helping them break their reliance on basic commodity exports.

Development campaign groups such as Oxfam have criticised the deals as unfair to the ACP countries, potentially opening up their economies to too much competition from the EU. The campaigners have accused the EU of strong-arming the ACP countries into signing the new deals before Jan. 1.

That is the expiry date of a World Trade Organisation waiver that has allowed long-standing preferential trade arrangements between the EU and the ACP to continue, even though they were ruled illegal by the WTO.

EU imports from the SADC region, excluding South Africa, are dominated by a few products such as diamonds from Botswana, petroleum from Angola, fish and beef from Namibia, sugar from Swaziland and tobacco.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: ISSUE OF SERVICES IS DELAYING EPA TALKS (22 October 2007)

22/10/07, (IPS)

Including the so-called new generation or Singapore issues in the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) will make the conclusion of the deals unlikely by the December 31 deadline.

Senior researcher with the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA), Nkululeko Khumalo, told IPS in an interview that ‘‘the coercive approach adopted by the European Union on service liberalisation poisons the negotiating atmosphere’’. SAIIA is a non-governmental international relations research organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

‘‘It harms the prospects for a possible breakthrough in concluding the EPA with the Southern African Development Community before the end of the year,’’ Khumalo said.

South Africa has been resolutely opposed to the inclusion of the new generation issues, which include liberalisation of the services sector, investments, competition policy and intellectual property rights. It has stuck to the view that the EPAs do not have to include these issues to be compatible with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

Moreover, the argument goes, it is prudent to have the necessary legal frameworks and infrastructure in place prior to opening up local markets to competition with European companies.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA group has contended that ‘‘the gains from including services and the new generation issues are not automatic’’, according to a report by the researcher Talitha Bertelsmann-Scott presented at a conference held by SAIIA, the European Centre for Development Policy Management and the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme in Brussels earlier this year.

Delegates to this conference pointed out that that some critical preconditions are necessary for the EPAs to be successful. These included domestic legal, administrative and regulatory capacities.

Khumalo told IPS that the EU should remember that the EPAs are meant to enhance development. Demands for the liberalisation of services to be included before the end of the year defeat that objective.

Another hurdle involves SADC and the EU’s differential approaches to ‘‘Aid for Trade’’. The SADC EPA group has proposed the inclusion of a development chapter in the EPA for continued funding for trade capacity development.

It is intended as a guarantee of financial support from the EU for necessary structures and mechanisms to ensure that the EPAs yield meaningful economic development for the region, from SADC’s point of view.

According to Bertelsmann-Scott, SADC has asked for guarantees of additional EU funding towards development beyond the expiry of the Cotonou agreement in 2020. This rests on concerns that even with access to European markets, some SADC countries will still require more time to become competitive at a level that will produce benefits from international trade.

The EU has argued that any additional resources given in the new EPAs should be based on reciprocity. EU delegates at the Brussels conference pointed out that the Cotonou agreement already offers financial packages for ‘‘Aid for Trade’’. The view is that the EPAs are adequately funded.

The EU position is that reciprocal free trade agreements will provide development opportunities for ACP countries which stand to benefit from venturing into European markets.

EU opposition to the proposed development chapter is connected to the EU’s expectation of the liberalization of services. The EU has argued that it stands to carry a heavier burden in the liberalization commitments in the EPAs, compared to the ACP countries.

The possibility of not concluding the EPA negotiations by the end-of-year deadline is of considerable concern for those states in the SADC EPA group which are not categorised as least developed countries (LDCs). They are Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland.

The non-LDC categorisation excludes them from access to European markets as part of the ‘‘Everything but Arms’’ initiative. As such, they are expected to enter into new contractual reciprocal free trade agreements in the form of the EPAs to be compatible with WTO rules.

Inconclusive negotiations will lead to the expiry of the WTO’s waiver which allowed trade between the ACP and the EU to continue in terms of the preferential terms of the Cotonou agreement. ACP goods will then be subjected to financially crippling export tariffs from January 1 next year.

Khumalo observed that there is reason for concern for SADC non-LDC states -- especially among export companies which finalise their annual budgets a few months before the start of a new year.

Meanwhile, IPS has reported that the EU is willing to drop the insistence on the Singapore issues for now in its negotiations with the West African EPA group to ensure that an EPA on trade in goods is finalised by the December 31 deadline.

In a letter to the West African group, Peter Mandelson and Louis Michel, the European commissioners for trade and development aid respectively, said they would be willing to sign a less ambitious EPA.

The letter states that, ‘‘as a minimum’’, a deal relating to trade in goods should be completed this year. This would be a ‘‘stepping stone towards a full EPA’’, the commissioners added, ‘‘for which negotiations would continue in 2008’’.

The EU has so far argued that the EPAs should be concluded by December 31 and that they should cover issues such as trade in goods as well as services liberalisation, competition, investment, government procurement and intellectual property.

Draft EU-SADC EPA (June 2007)

Economic Partnership Agreement between the SADC group of states, of the one part, and the European Community and its member states, of the other part.

(draft EC consolidated proposal - June 2007)

The uncommented posting of this document under the header "Draft EU-SADC EPA" might lead to some misunderstandings.

This document was submitted as the EU position to SADC and ONLY reflects the wishes of the European Union at that time. It was sent to SADC for preparation of the 21-24 June negotiations. However this document was an old one (spring 2007). The fact that the EC submitted it end of June shows how little progress had been made in the negations.

Link

JOINT STATEMENT by the EU‐SOUTHERN AFRICA BUSINESS COUNCIL (ESBC)

18th OCTOBER 2007, MAPUTO (MOZAMBIQUE)

Link

Southern Africa: Botswana Signs EPAs

Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), 27 November 2007

Botswana, together with Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland, has signed an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU), the Ministry of Trade and Industry has announced.

A statement from the ministry says the agreement was signed last Friday in Brussels, Belgium after extensive negotiations which began in 2004 between the EU and the SADC EPA configuration.

Under the new trade agreement, Botswana's exports, including beef, will now enjoy permanent duty free, quota free (DFQF) access to the European market. Additionally some textile products will benefit from single transformation for export.

"This improved market access should enable higher returns and better profits to producers and hence higher employment and growth to the Botswana economy," the statement says.

"The Interim Agreement also provides for support from the European Union through development assistance through capacity building in various areas impacting trade."

Botswana's Minister of Trade and Industry, Neo Moroka, was the Chief Coordinator of the SADC EPA Group while his Permanent Secretary, Banny Molosiwa, served as Chief Negotiator.

The Botswana delegation was led by M.K.J. Masisi, who acted as the country's Chief Negotiator. He was supported by senior officials and technical experts from various ministries.

The media statement says the Interim EPA, which will come into effect on January 1,2008, is meant to ensure continuity of trade between both the EU and signatory SADC EPA states.

The current trade regime of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the EU and ACP countries expires on December 31, 2007, and the waiver, which extended preferences to ACP countries was WTO incompatible.

"The agreement provides for continuation of the negotiations beyond December 2007, after which a comprehensive EPA will be concluded," the statement says.

Critical areas of future negotiations include Trade in Services and Investment. The agreement now provides an opportunity for local and foreign investors and producers to access the markets of the 27 countries of the European Union.

"The Ministry of Trade and Industry therefore encourages entrepreneurs to take full advantage of the benefits of this agreement," the statement says.

INDIA-BRAZIL-SOUTH AFRICA: Southern powerhouses home in on trade and technology cooperation

By Keith Campbell, Engineering News, 09/11/2007

Although largely unheralded, the second India, Brazil, South Africa Dialogue Forum (Ibsa) summit saw further development of functional cooperation between the three major developing powers.

Energy, climate change, science and technology, innovation, health, intellectual property, and trade were all issues covered by the summit and its asso- ciated specialised forums. Memoradums of understanding (MoUs) were signed on wind energy, education, customs and excise, health, public administration, social issues, and culture.

“There is no doubt at all that this summit was a significant advance for Ibsa,” asserts Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Rajiv Bhatia. “It represents an important milestone in the evolution of Ibsa.”

“Ibsa is a process,” highlights Brazilian Foreign Ministry undersecretary-general for Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East Roberto Jaguaribe. “It is dynamic, not static.”

Ibsa was created in June 2003 and its first summit was held in September last year, in Brasilia (see Engineering News August 1, 2003, and September 29, 2006). The second summit took place on October 17, in Pretoria, preceded by meetings of specialist forums – parliamentary, business, academic, and women’s – in Sandton on October 15 and 16.

The formal outcome of the summit was the Tshwane Summit Declaration issued by the three leaders, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. They “recommitted themselves to vigorously pursue the deepening of South–South cooperation for sustainable development,” states the declaration. “They reaffirmed their shared commitment to the eradication of poverty through sustained and inclusive economic growth.”

Economic growth, of course, involves business and trade. Back in 2004, the three countries announced their desire to double trilateral trade from the then level of $4,6-billion to $10-billion by this year. “We’re on track to achieve this target,” assures Bhatia. “I believe that this target will be reached,” agrees Jaguaribe.

“So the leaders decided to set a new target, for $15-billion, by 2010,” points out Bhatia.

“I believe that this new goal will be achieved,” affirms Jaguaribe. This would represent a trebling of trilateral trade in just six years.

“This growth has been important,” argues Jaguaribe. “Brazil’s global foreign trade has grown at about 20% annually for the past four or five years, and now totals some $250-billion. This growth has been faster in nontraditional areas, such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Concerning Africa, our trade with the continent has grown by three times over the past five years. Our trade with India has also grown strongly. But we need to understand each other’s markets and regulatory frameworks – hence, the importance of the Business Council.”

The Ibsa Business Council was founded last year and is composed of five organisations – the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, Business Unity South Africa (Busa), the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the National Confederation of Industry of Brazil. Meeting on October 16, the Business Council had working groups on energy and climate change, mining, information and communications technology, health-care and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food processing, infrastructure and logistics, and financial services.

“Since the first Business Council meeting, there have been developments,” says CII delegation leader, and TCE Consulting Engineers executive director and CEO A P Mull. “The countries have moved closer, and trade has picked up – this forum built on the first one and we want to take it further.”

“This was only the second council meeting, so we are refining it for next year,” points out Busa trade policy director Catherine Grant. The meeting was hampered by the fact that most of the Brazilian business delegation was travelling with Lula da Silva, whose visit to South Africa for the summit was part of a longer African trip, and so only arrived in this country late on October 16.

“Also, there was no time to feed the outcomes of the Business Council into the deliberations of the summit,” she points out, because the council met on the day immediately before the summit. “We’re looking, next year, to decouple the council from the summit, and hold it in advance of the summit, so as to be able to feed the results into the summit.” Even so, “we had some very good sectoral discussions, which will definitely be taken forward by the council”, she states.

“I feel that South–South cooperation is a very good thing that has happened,” avers Mull. “As it matures and grows, it is not just these three countries that will benefit, but their whole regions – the countries around them, because they are all developing countries, and their requirements, their poverty issues, are quite different from those of developed countries.”

A key agreement reached at the Business Council was that it should, henceforth, be driven by a steering committee, composed of 12 representatives of each country, appointed by the five business organisations for a term of one year with the option of renewal. The steering committee will be responsible for guiding and overseeing the activities of the Business Council, and it will comprise both leaders of organised business and captains of industry from a range of key sectors. It will also create, as required, working groups to look into specific issues, including the exploration of financing Business Council projects.

“Trade is undoubtedly one of the most important facets of Ibsa,” asserts Bhatia. “The three leaders are committed to the creation of a trilateral free trade area (FTA).” This is complicated by the fact that South Africa and Brazil already belong to regional trade blocs – the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) respectively – which must be involved in these FTA talks. Nevertheless, in the Tshwane Declaration the “leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the envisaged India-Mercosur-Sacu trilateral free trade agreement . . . They urged the need for sustained efforts to realise early an India-Mercosur-Sacu FTA”.

“We’re very happy that a meeting of senior officials of these three parties (India, Mercosur, and Sacu) took place shortly before the Ibsa summit and they have agreed to study the trilateral FTA project,” reports Bhatia. “Dialolgue has started.” This meeting was ‘welcomed’ by the three leaders in the declaration. “All three sides (India, Sacu and Mercosur) are following this FTA path,” confirms Jaguaribe.

Currently, Mercosur has limited preferential trade agreements (PTA) with both Sacu and India, but Sacu has, as yet, no PTA with India. The Sacu-Mercosur talks were held on October 5 and 6 in Pretoria, and, according to the Tshwane Declaration, made ‘significant progress.’ The same two days saw the start of the Sacu-India trade negotiations, also in Pretoria. As part of their initiatives to further promote trilateral trade, the three countries are reaching a common understanding of tariff lines, and important trilateral cooperation is developing between the three countries’ national revenue authorities.

The Business Council, in its October 16 declaration, called on the three governments to consult with the private sector “and other stakeholders” on the planned trilateral FTA, including “during the preliminary discussions on its feasibility”.

“The governments have taken very serious note of the suggestions by the business leaders that we need to encourage easier flow of people, goods, and capital, to promote greater cooperation,” assures Bhatia.

In this regard, a key factor is ‘connectivity’ – the Business Council urges the three governments to improve the transport links between the three countries and ensure more efficient access to business visas, as well as speeding up the issuing of work permits.

“Air connectivity is not good,” admits Jaguaribe. “Between Brazil and South Africa, and South Africa and India, it is not good enough, while between Brazil and India connectivity is almost zero. Sea connectivity is better, but still not good enough, and connectivity is a basic requirement for growing trade.”

“The issue of connectivity between the three countries is engaging the attention of the three governments, and it is agreed that we need better air and maritime links,” reports Bhatia. “The relevant ministries in the three countries have been tasked to look at this, taking into account constraints, including resource constraints – the matter is engaging our attention.” It was noted in the Tshwane Declaration as well, in which the three leaders expressed the hope that by the time of the third summit in India (scheduled for next year), effective and innovative solutions would have been put in place to mitigate this problem.”

Another matter which has caught their attention is the need to develop cooperation in science and technology to stimulate innovation and apply it to industry. To this end, the leaders “emphasised the need for immediate action to start implement-ation of joint research projects”. They welcomed the creation of a seed fund of $1-million in each country for collaborative activities.

“This $3-million is over and above existing research funding,” explains South African Department of Science and Technology group executive: international relations Dhesigen Naidoo. “It is to promote innovation in industry. Financially, it’s not very significant – it’s really the pilot of a pilot, but the potential is huge.”

There will be a joint call for research proposals, and bidders must take the form of trilateral partnerships or consortia, with at least one member from each Ibsa country.

“Ideally, there should be two from each country, to allow for one public-sector and one private-sector partner each,” he elucidates. “The aim is to develop relationships with the private sectors of the three countries and develop new products.” The proposals should be, ideally, in one of the six research areas already identified by Ibsa – biotechnology, information and communications technology, HIV/Aids, nanotechnology, ocean-ography, and tuberculosis – although proposals in other areas, especially energy and climate change, may also be considered.

“The logistics are now being worked out between the countries, and it is most probable that the first call for proposals will be made in the first quarter of next year,” he reveals. “South Africa has a lot to gain from this – the high-tech sectors in Brazil and India are very significant, whereas ours is relatively small, although we do have areas in which we are advanced.”

Although not one of the six agreed joint Ibsa research areas, energy and climate change certainly attracted significant attention from both the political and business leaders at this year’s summit. The Tshwane Declaration states, the “The leaders strongly emphasised the need for ensuring the supply of safe, sustainable and nonpolluting sources of energy . . . they agreed to explore approaches to cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy . . . The leaders urged an agreement on innovative modalities for the development, transfer and commercialisation of technologies, including clean coal technologies, at affordable costs to developing countries . . . They also urged the international community to work in a collaborative manner for the development and deployment of renewables, biofuels and biomass . . . The leaders called for the establishment of joint projects and collaboration for the increased usage of alternative sources of energy such as biofuels, synthetic fuels, and wind and solar energy to help achieve the objective of energy security which can bring significant reduction in GHG (greenhouse-gas) emissions.

“The Ibsa Business Council,” it states in its own declaration, “acknowledged the significance of climate change for the global economy. It called upon the governments of the three countries to work with the private sector in the development of renewable energy sources. Innovative thinking is required . . . The use of biofuels will expand in the world . . . Biofuels represent an important opportunity for developing countires, in particular for India, Brazil and South Africa.”

“Concerning energy, each country is strong in a particular area,” points out Bhatia. “Brazil’s expertise is very clear: biofuel technology; South Africa’s expertise is also very clear – synthetic fuel technology; and India has done a lot of work on alternative energy: solar, and wind, power – one of the MoUs signed at the summit was on wind energy.”

“Energy has always been important but clean energy is one of the basic, major issues of the twenty-first century,” highlights Jaguaribe. “It is essential for sustainable development in the full meaning of both these words. Brazil is [quite] involved in biofuels, South Africa in coal, and India is a leader in wind power. Biofuels are not just ethanol, and Brazil is now going into biodiesel, which is based on palm oil, jatropha, and other plants, not on sugar cane, and we believe that Africa can play a major role in biofuels in the future.” Jatropha is drought resistant and so potentially could form the basis of biodiesel industries in all three Ibsa countries.

One of the factors underlying the interest in biofuels is, of course, climate change. “The Ibsa summit was a success with regard to climate change,” stresses Naidoo. The three countries have their own approaches to the political negotiations on climate change, but we were able to agree on a climate change programme, and this is very significant – it means we now have a platform for technical cooperation between the three countries. It opens the way for South Africa to participate in the development of climate change mitigation technologies and services, and the opportunities are great as there are currently only a few companies operating in this sector, mostly European, and significant niches are available.”

Thus, under Ibsa, trilateral trade is growing rapidly and becoming significant, while tech- nological and functional cooperation is beginning to develop. Obscured, perhaps, by the more political pronouncements of the three leaders, focused on global affairs, this loose and often misunderstood grouping is beginning to deliver concrete benefits to the member nations.

ABB wins $180m power order in Namibia

By: Olivia Spadavecchia, Engineering News, 09/11/2007

Power and automation technology group ABB has won an order worth $180-million from the Namibian national power utility, NamPower, to connect two parts of the country's power grid and strengthen electricity networks in southern Africa, the company said on Friday.

NamPower is building a 350 kV, 300-MW transmission link between the northeastern Caprivi region and the power network in central Namibia. This link will also interconnect the electricity networks of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and South Africa to create an alternative route for power imports and exports to and from neighbouring countries. The design allows for an extension to 600 MW.

The link will use ABB's high-voltage direct current (HVDC) light system, a transmission technology that will stabilise the two weak networks and increase grid reliability in the region, the company explained. The system is scheduled operational by the end of 2009.

"The new Caprivi Link Interconnector will enable the establishment of power trading in the expansive region of southern Africa," said head of the power systems division Peter Leupp.

"It will allow a more efficient use of power resources in the region, including renewable energy," he added.

ABB is responsible for system engineering including design, supply and installation of the two converter stations and earth electrodes.

This project extends the voltage for HVDC light to 350 kV and marks the first time the technology will be used for long overhead transmission lines, the company noted.

New SA ports rules to improve control and management

By Christy van der Merwe, Engineering News, 29/10/2007

South African ports can expect a new set of rules to replace the existing harbour regulations of 1982.

The new rules aim to improve control and management of ports, upgrade safety and security maintenance, and enhance environmental protection, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) CEO Khomotso Philela said.

The TNPA, part of State-owned Transnet, is calling for stakeholder input at country wide public hearings, to discuss the draft of the new Port Rules and Harbour Masters Written Instructions.

Drafting of the new Port Rules began towards the end of 2006, and will replace the existing rules, which were drawn up in 1982. The rules are viewed as insufficient to meet the requirements of world-class standards as called for by the National Ports Act.

The Harbour Regulations of 1982, together with the international conventions on port safety and security, were used as the basis for the drafting process, and inputs from harbour masters, marine operations managers, and international experts were obtained, the TNPA said.

The public consultations call for input from all stakeholders, and will take place at the port of Cape Town, the port of Saldanha Bay, the port of Durban, the port of Richards Bay, the port of Mossel Bay, the port of Port Elizabeth, and the port of East London, from October 29 to November 7.

Transnet had previously indicated that container volumes at South African ports have grown by an average rate of about 12% a year over the last five years and similar growth rates are expected over the medium term.

Africa mobile firms to invest $50bn over 5 years

By Reuters, Engineering News , 29 Oct 07

Sub-Saharan Africa's GSM mobile industry plans to invest $50 billion over five years to expand networks and upgrade services, an industry official said on Monday.

"That puts Africa probably at the very front of the investment league in mobile," Tom Phillips, the chief government and regulatory affairs officer for industry body GSM Association (GSMA) told Reuters in an interview.

"The investment will bring sub-Saharan Africa broadly in line with the developed world in terms of mobile coverage ... it will be truly connected to the mobile broadband global network."

The continent's service providers have spent about $5 billion a year since 2000, he said .

Researchers estimate that mobile operators worldwide have spent more than $234 billion building GSM and 3GSM networks over the last five years.

Nearly 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africans are covered by mobile networks today, but that number would rise to about 90 percent following the new investment, Phillips said.

Much of the planned new money will go not only on expanding coverage for voice calls, but also on boosting the capability of networks to deliver high-speed internet access.

Only 26 percent of Africans currently use mobile services, spending $13.60 on average each month, mostly on text and voice calls, according to GSMA figures.

MORE SPECTRUM, MORE CONNECTIONS

Phillips was speaking ahead of a meeting of African government leaders and telecoms industry officials in Rwanda that hopes to come up with major new commitments to connect the unconnected on the continent.

African governments needed to remove obstacles like charges for accessing telecoms spectrum to reduce connection costs to fixed-line operators -- usually state-owned monopolies -- to further mobile expansion, he said.

"Charges made by government to access spectrum just take money out of the investment part rather than support it."

Phillips said if mobile operators were to connect as many people as possible in the future, they would need more spectrum, adding that some radio frequencies currently used for analogue television should be handed over for cell phone use.

African operators currently get spectrum bands at between 900 and 1800 megahertz, but are asking for bands at about 110 megahertz, he said.

East African governments also needed to stop squabbling over plans for an undersea telecoms cable linking the region with the rest of the world, he added.

Countries on Africa's east coast currently have no cable links and rely on expensive satellite connections that drive up bandwidth connection costs.

The GSMA also urged governments to cut taxes, which it said would in turn increase usage and taxes collected.

"A lot of governments continue to tax mobile services almost as if they were luxury items," Phillips said. "With high levels of tax, it is difficult for operators to invest as much as they would have done."

Eskom receives 5 000 MW in cogeneration offers

By Terence Creamer, Engineering News, 05/11/2007

South African power utility Eskom has received expressions of interests for more than 100 cogeneration projects, which, if implemented, could add 5 000 MW to South Africa's energy mix.

It has also emerged that these proposed projects exclude discussions for a material cogeneration opportunity that could arise at Sasol's Secunda complex, in Mpumalanga.

Eskom reports that there has been considerable interest in offering projects to the utility and that a draft power purchase agreement has been issued.

This interest is underpinned by the fact that South Africa's reserve margin has dipped well below 10% and is currently running at even lower levels (possibly as low as 5%) given the fact that much of the fleet is undergoing summer maintenance.

Eskom has confirmed with Engineering News that it is hosting a "bidders conference" for potential participants in the so-called ‘Pilot National Cogeneration Project' on Wednesday, November 7.

The day is reportedly designed to share information with the bidders participating in the project and with those that responded to Eskom's request for proposals by the October 4 deadline.

Final bids are expected by February and the utility's intention is to evaluate these expeditiously so that some of the projects can begin moving through the various environmental and economic approval processes.

It has emerged that some of the projects are renewable in nature, and that most of the proposals involve small projects able to produce between 10 MW and 50 MW. But there were about ten projects involving more than 100 MW.

Engineering News has reported previously that petrochemicals group Sasol is considering a 300-MW cogeneration project, which would reduce Secunda's gas flaring, as well as its reliance on the power grid.

The group is in advanced negotiations for the securing of specially designed turbines that will enable Secunda to convert flared gas from Secunda into electricity - the petrochemicals complex currently draws about 1 200 MW of electricity continually from the national grid.

SA's first new nuclear plant to be operational by mid-2015

By Matthew Hill, Engineering News, 05/11/2007

State-owned power supplier Eskom has set June 30, 2015, as the date that it wants to have its first new nuclear reactor up-and-running by, and hoped to commission new reactors at intervals of six to twelve months thereafter, an official said on Monday.

In September, the firm said that it had short-listed French nuclear giant Areva, and international nuclear-technology group Westinghouse Electric Company as potential builders for what would be South Africa's first nuclear power plant in more than 20 years.

In fact, Areva built the country's only nuclear plant, Koeberg, which was at one of the three sites where Eskom was considering building the new power station.

Meanwhile, Westinghouse on Monday launched its South African operation under the name Westinghouse Electric South Africa, after it had finalised its acquisition of South African company IST Nuclear for an amount it did not disclose.

Eskom technical strategy manager Phumzile Tshelane said that the power company hoped to have a contract signed with one of the two nuclear technology firms by the end of 2008.

It would be meeting with them both before the end of 2007 for negotiations, and was aiming to have a business case completed by March next year, he stated.

The negotiations would include critical aspects such as localisation, and possible financial benefits of increasing the order to include more than one nuclear power plant.

The nuclear plant would have a capacity of between 3 200 MW and 3 300 MW, depending on the technology chosen.

Eskom had indicated that it was looking to build as many as five nuclear power stations by 2025 and, not only would it make sense to standardise its new nuclear plants, but ordering more than one from a company could offer savings, and ensure that the reactors come on stream in time.

Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Broederstroom, outside Johannesburg, Tshelane said that Eskom hoped to have the contract for the new power plant signed by the end of 2008.

Further, it wanted the first reactor finished by June 30, 2015, he said, with a new nuclear reactor being added to the national power grid every six to twelve months thereafter.

However, this would largely depend on Areva's or Westinghouse's capacity, Tshelane added.

Tshelane said that it was too early to put a price tag on such a plant. However, it was widely understood that a plant the size that Eskom was looking at would cost in excess of R100-billion.

Eskom has a stated ambition of installing 20 000 MW of nuclear power as part of a bigger 40 000-MW expansion programme over the next two decades.

CSIR, NWU to establish SA's first hydrogen research centre

By Engineering News, 29/11/2007

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said on Thursday that it would jointly establish a Hydrogen Centre of Competence (CoC) with the North-West University.

The centre would focus on hydrogen production, storage, delivery and distribution.

The CSIR said that hydrogen and fuel cell technologies had been identified by the Department of Science and Technology as a “frontier science and technology” initiative that could, potentially, expand the base for the creation of wealth and position the country to compete within the dynamic knowledge economy.

This initiative would foster proactive innovation and knowledge generation in the beneficiation of key natural resources, resulting in new downstream industries, the organisation stated.

Globally, hydrogen and fuel cells are seen as energy solutions for the twenty-first century, enabling clean and efficient production of power and heat from a range of primary energy sources. The transition to a hydrogen economy was expected to greatly reduce dependency on oil and gas, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

South Africa was in a good position to participate in the emerging hydrogen economy, as it held a dominating position in platinum reserves with more than 75% of the world's known reserves. Platinum is the key catalytic material used in hydrogen fuel cells.

The country also had a leading position in high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactors, such as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor.

“This technology is key in the production of industrial-scale process heat that could be used in thermal electrolysis to generate hydrogen for use in fuel cells,” the CSIR said, adding that South Africa was also regarded as a leader in the technology to produce liquid fuels from coal through gasification.

The Hydrogen CoC would function in a hub-and-spoke collaborative mode, which was a mechanism to bring together all interested stakeholders to deliver on a long-term vision.

The CoC, in its network form, would create a coherent and dynamic action plan to achieve that vision. It would steer the implementation of an action plan to deliver on agreed programmes and would generate sustainable competitiveness and world leadership for the country by stimulating increased and more effective investment in research and development, accelerated innovation and through eliminating barriers, contribute to the deployment and growth of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

The CoC also has the benefits of providing an opportunity to develop a knowledge base that can contribute at the forefront of an emerging industry, creating socio-economic opportunities for the nation.

Accord de partenariat économique intérimaire entre UE et 4 pays d'Afrique

AFP pour Le Monde, 25/11/2007

Quatre pays d'Afrique australe, le Botswana, le Lesotho, le Mozambique et le Swaziland, ont passé avec l'Union européenne un Accord de partenariat économique intérimaire visant à libéraliser leurs échanges commerciaux, a-t-on appris dimanche de source européenne.

Qualifié par le commissaire européen au Commerce Peter Mandelson "d'avancée historique dans les relations entre l'UE et l'Afrique australe", l'accord a été conclu vendredi lors de négociations entre la Commission européenne et la Communauté de développement d'Afrique australe (SADC).

"Dans un premier temps", l'accord intérimaire, dont les détails n'ont pas été rendus publics, ne s'appliquera cependant qu'aux quatre pays mentionnés. La principale puissance économique de la région, l'Afrique du sud, ainsi que la Namibie, se réservant "de décider dans les jours à venir s'ils y adhèrent ou pas", explique un communiqué diffusé ce week-end par la Commission.

En attendant, la SADC et l'UE "sont convenues de poursuivre les négociations en vue d'arriver courant 2008 à un Accord de partenariat économique de plein effet", a indiqué la Commission.
L'annonce s'est attirée les critiques de l'organisation humanitaire britannique Oxfam, qui a dénoncé dans un communiqué les "pressions" exercées selon elle par la Commission sur les pays d'Afrique australe qui dépendent le plus de son aide.

Bruxelles veut leur imposer des accords commerciaux déséquilibrés en faveur de l'UE, avec des "effets potentiellement dévastateurs sur leur mode de vie et leur économie", dans l'espoir que les autres pays suivront leur exemple, a estimé l'ONG, qui dit redouter "un possible effet domino".

Oxfam relativise toutefois elle-même la portée de cet accord intérimaire, en soulignant qu'il ne précise pas à quelle vitesse le commerce entre l'UE et les pays concernés doit se libéraliser et qu'il faudra attendre le 6 décembre pour en connaître le contenu définitif.

L'ONG estime par ailleurs que l'UE va multiplier les initiatives d'ici à la date butoir du 31 décembre pour pousser l'ensemble des pays ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes et Pacifique) à signer le nouvel accord de partenariat qu'aucun d'entre eux ou des groupes économiques régionaux qui les représentent n'a encore signé.

"La pression monte et la menace de la Commission d'augmenter dès le 1er janvier les droits de douane (sur leurs produits entrant dans l'UE, NDLR) a mis les pays en développement dans une situation très difficile", selon Oxfam.

South Africa’s Foreign policy

By Stephanie Hanson, Council on Foreign Relations, November 15, 2007

In the latest puzzling foreign policy move from South Africa, the country has attempted to block (Sapa)criticize (NYT) passage of a UN General Assembly resolution on government-sponsored rape. U.S. officials South Africa for claiming its position to be Africa’s stance (SAPA) even as three African countries most affected by the issue—Burundi, Liberia, and Congo—signed on as co-sponsors.

This incident is emblematic of disappointment U.S. and European policymakers express with post-Mandela South Africa, a state they hoped would play a more muscular role as an advocate of stability and human rights in Africa.

Earlier this year, South African diplomats worked to prevent strong action by the UN Security Council against repressive regimes in Myanmar and Zimbabwe. It also opposed sanctions against Iran, which is thought to be pursuing a nuclear weapons program. Summing up European frustrations, the Economist writes: “From being a rare African beacon for human rights, it has become more like most other countries around the world—putting their own interests before principle.”

South African President Thabo Mbeki has drawn the most fervent condemnation for his policy of “quiet diplomacy” toward Zimbabwe, which hovers on the brink of economic collapse. Many experts contend Mbeki has not taken a more proactive stance because he does not respect the opposition in Zimbabwe, led by trade union leader Morgan Tsvangirai. (Hear Tsvangirai’s side in this CFR.org interview.) South Africa has its own such unions, and a few analysts speculate that Mbeki does not want those groups to see a precedent in Tsvangirai’s activism.

Yet Mbeki and his supporters see this as pragmatism, not cynicism, and very much in keeping with visions of African solidarity dating from the days when Mbeki’s African National Congress was still an outlawed guerrilla movement fighting white apartheid rule. Under Mbeki, South Africa has pursued an “African Agenda” that seeks to integrate the continent into the global economy. He helped create the African Union as well as NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. But this ambitious policy does not sit well with everyone in Africa. Experts, including Chris Landsberg at the Center for Policy Studies in Johannesburg, note resentment among other African countries and concern that South Africa wants to dominate the continent (Mail & Guardian).

This pan-African vision may not be shared by the rest of South Africa. “Despite Mbeki’s efforts to integrate South Africa into the rest of Africa, it is unclear how deeply entrenched these efforts are within South Africa’s political and business elite and citizens,” writes (Mail & Guardian) the University of Cape Town’s Adekeye Adebajo. A new book (PDF), which she and Landsberg both edited, examines the country’s role on the continent, concluding that a strong foreign policy must be rooted in domestic reforms.

While South Africa’s economy is robust, critics note the country faces pressing domestic problems. There is strident criticism of South Africa’s refusal to accept the global scientific consensus in its HIV/AIDS policy. “One can argue that there has been a lack of respect for public debate” on issues such as HIV/AIDS, economic policy, and Zimbabwe, says Jonathan Faull, a researcher at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, a South African think tank. In fact, Mbeki may want to play the global statesman as a way of deflecting attention from domestic problems, says Richard Schrire of the University of Cape Town in a podcast interview with CFR.org. Because Mbeki has been so focused on foreign policy, many experts say a new leader will need to spend most of his time on domestic priorities. Under a new president, Schrire anticipates the “depersonalization” of foreign policy and greater focus on issues such as social inequality and HIV/AIDS.