August - November 2018 www.un.org/africarenewal FREE TRADE AREA A NEW DAWN FOR AFRICA Youth: ‘Not Too Young To Run’ campaign gains momentum Female-led tech startups on the rise Special focus on the Sahel: opportunities & challenges CONTENTS August - November 2018 | Vol. 32 No. 2 3 SPECIAL FEATURE COVER STORY Africa set for a massive free trade area 6 Interview: Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General 8 Southern African trader: one stop border post will boast trading “Education is the most powerful 9 West African traders: infrastructure key to intra-African trade weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela 10 Trading while caring for people and planet ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 12 Africa-made luxury loungewear takes on big brands 14 China’s ‘Little Africa’ losing its allure Acting Editor-in-Chief 16 Interview: Prof. Eddy Maloka, CEO of the APRM Zipporah Musau 18 The state of African elections in 2018 Acting Managing Editor 20 Youth: getting ready for public office Kingsley Ighobor 22 World Cup: lessons from Russia Staff Writers 24 Strengthening bonds in the Sahel Franck Kuwonu 26 Interview: Ibrahim Thiaw, special adviser for the Sahel Sharon Birch-Jeffrey 28 Confronting sexual violence in schools Research & Media Liaison 29 UN calls on countries to stand against genocide Pavithra Rao 30 What future for commercial nuclear power in Africa? 32 Gender: women tech entrepreneurs break barriers Design & Production Paddy D. Ilos, II DEPARTMENTS Administration Pavithra Rao 35 UN Appointments Distribution Khalid Halloumi Cover photo: Graphic depicting trade in Africa. Africa Renewal (ISSN 2517-9829) is published in supporting organizations. Articles from this Intern English and French by the Strategic Communications magazine may be freely reprinted, with attribution to Adam Melville Division of the United Nations Department of Public the author and to “United Nations Africa Renewal,” Information. Its contents do not necessarily reflect and a copy of the reproduced article would be appre- Africa Renewal is published by the United the views of the United Nations or the publication’s ciated. Copyrighted photos may not be reproduced. Nations, New York, on recycled paper. ©2018 Africa Renewal. All rights reserved. Subscribe to Africa Renewal ISBN: 978-92-1-101394-8 Africa Renewal offers free subscriptions to eISBN: 978-92-1-047317-0 individual readers. Please send your request to www.un.org/africarenewal Address correspondence to: Circulation at the address to the left or by e-mail to The Editor, Africa Renewal [email protected]. Institutional subscriptions are available for thirty-five US dollars, payable by Room S-1032 facebook.com/africarenewal international money order or a cheque in US dollars United Nations, NY 10017-2513, USA, drawn on a US bank, to the “United Nations” and Tel: (212) 963-6857, Fax: (212) 963-4556 sent to Circulation at the address to the left. twitter.com/africarenewal E-mail: [email protected] 2 AfricaRenewal August - November 2018 Following the unveiling of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018, Africa is about to become the world’s largest free trade area: 55 countries merging into a single market of 1.2 billion people with a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion. In this edition, we examine the benefits and challenges of a free trade area for countries and individual traders. FREE TRADE AREA Africa set for a massive free trade area Experts say the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is a game changer BY KINGSLEY IGHOBOR he shelves of Choithrams Super- countries in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2018, (From left) African Union chairperson and market in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is meant to create a tariff-free continent president of Rwanda Paul Kagame, president of boast a plethora of imported prod- that can grow local businesses, boost intra- Niger Mahamadou Issoufou and African Union ucts, including toothpicks from African trade, rev up industrialization and Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat TChina, toilet paper and milk from Holland, create jobs. at the launch of AfCFTA in Kigali in March 2018. sugar from France, chocolates from Swit- The agreement creates a single conti- Office of President Paul Kagame zerland and matchboxes from Sweden. nental market for goods and services as well Yet many of these products are pro- as a customs union with free movement of duced much closer—in Ghana, Morocco, capital and business travellers. Countries The ECA adds that intra-African trade Nigeria, South Africa, and other African joining AfCFTA must commit to removing is likely to increase by 52.3% by 2020 under countries with an industrial base. tariffs on at least 90% of the goods they the AfCFTA. So why do retailers source them half- produce. Five more countries signed the AfCFTA way around the world? The answer: a patch- If all 55 African countries join a free at the African Union (AU) summit in Mau- work of trade regulations and tariffs that trade area, it will be the world’s largest by ritania in June, bringing the total number make intra-African commerce costly, time number of countries, covering more than of countries committing to the agreement wasting and cumbersome. 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of to 49 by July’s end. But a free trade area has The African Continental Free Trade $2.5 trillion, according to the UN Economic to wait until at least 22 countries submit Agreement (AfCFTA), signed by 44 African Commission for Africa (ECA). instruments of ratification. By July 2018, AfricaRenewal August - November 2018 3 only six countries—Chad, Eswatini (for- Renewal, emphasizing that the youth will cooking utensils, food items—from China merly Swaziland), Ghana, Kenya, Niger mostly benefit from such job creation. or somewhere in Europe than from South and Rwanda—had submitted ratification In addition, African women, who Africa, Nigeria or Morocco,” Mr. Paelay instruments, although many more coun- account for 70% of informal cross-border added. tries are expected to do so before the end trading, will benefit from simplified trad- African leaders and other development of the year. ing regimes and reduced import duties, experts received a piece of good news at the Economists believe that tariff-free which will provide much-needed help to AU summit in Mauritania in June when access to a huge and unified market will small-scale traders. South Africa, Africa’s most industrialised encourage manufacturers and service If the agreement is successfully imple- economy, along with four other countries, providers to leverage economies of scale; mented, a free trade area could inch Africa became the latest to sign the AfCFTA. an increase in demand will instigate an toward its age-long economic integration Nigeria, Africa’s most populous coun- increase in production, which in turn will ambition, possibly leading to the establish- try and another huge economy, has been lower unit costs. Consumers will pay less ment of pan-African institutions such as one of the holdouts, with the government for products and services as businesses the African Economic Community, African saying it needs to have further consulta- expand operations and hire additional Monetary Union, African Customs Union tions with indigenous manufacturers and employees. and so on. trade unions. Nigerian unions have warned “We look to gain more industrial and that free trade may open a floodgate for value-added jobs in Africa because of intra- A piece of good news cheap imported goods that could atrophy African trade,” said Mukhisa Kituyi, sec- Many traders and service providers are Nigeria’s nascent industrial base. retary-general of the UN Conference on cautiously optimistic about AfCFTA’s The Nigeria Labour Congress, an Trade and Development, a body that deals potential benefits. “I am dreaming of the umbrella workers’ union, described with trade, investment and development, day I can travel across borders, from Accra AfCFTA as a “radioactive neoliberal policy in an interview with Africa Renewal (see to Lomé [in Togo] or Abidjan [in Côte initiative” that could lead to “unbridled page 6). d’Ivoire] and buy locally manufactured foreign interference never before wit- “The types of exports that would gain goods and bring them into Accra with- nessed in the history of the country.” most are those that are labour intensive, out all the hassles at the borders,” Iso However, former Nigerian president like manufacturing and agro-processing, Paelay, who manages The Place Entertain- Olusegun Obasanjo expressed the view rather than the capital-intensive fuels and ment Complex in Community 18 in Accra, that the agreement is “where our [eco- minerals, which Africa tends to export,” Ghana, told Africa Renewal. nomic] salvation lies.” concurred Vera Songwe, executive secre “Right now, I find it easier to import the At a July symposium in Lagos organ- tary of the ECA, in an interview with Africa materials we use in our business—toiletries, ised in honour of the late Adebayo Adedeji, a onetime executive secretary of the ECA, Yakubu Gowon, another former Nigerian Mapping intra-Africa trade flows leader, also weighed in, saying, “I hope Nigeria joins.” Speaking at the same event, Ms. Songwe Origin Destination urged Nigeria to get on board after con- sultations, and offered her organisation’s Central Africa Central Africa support. Eastern Africa Eastern Africa Last April, Nigerian president Muham- madu Buhari signalled a protectionist Northern Africa Northern Africa stance on trade matters while defending his country’s