CUTS ARC SOUNDS Vol. 1 No. 2

Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa recently (February 2003) hosted the first ever Summit of the 53-member African Union (AU). While the main focus of this extraordinary summit was to discuss a number of technical issues in regard to the AU’s basic legal framework, the Constitutive Act, twenty-eight heads of states and six prime ministers touched on a number of issues seen as critical to the success of the Union.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the AU Conference Centre, South African President and current Chairperson of the AU, Thabo Mbeki hailed the establishment of centre as a landmark event of the regional body. He added that it demonstrated that Africans were determined and able to meet the challenges that the continent was faced with. However, in considering the proceedings of the summit, one fails not to question whether the Africans are indeed determined and united in the plan to create an economically united Africa that will see the establishment of a continental currency and the free movement of people and goods across the continent.

While top on the agenda at the summit was the issue of the continent’s raging conflicts which ended in pledges by the AU members to tackle conflicts in at least seven states, namely, Burundi, the Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Comoros and Liberia, the heads of states have little power to intervene in any of these countries without an invitation to do so. This is mainly because only one AU member state, Algeria, has ratified a document providing for the establishment of a more powerful Peace and Security Council (PSC).

In reality, until 27 countries ratify it, the AU is lumbered with a relatively “all word but not action” Central Organ for the Prevention, Management and Resolution of Conflicts. Though the AU Chairman Thabo Mbeki called on member states to ratify the PSC protocol, ironically he has not even got his own government to do so yet. In addition to all these, it was learned that while all these deliberations regarding the AU operations are going on, no-one as yet even seems to have an estimate with regard to how much the running of the AU will cost the continent’s tax payers.

If the AU is to perform more effectively in comparison to its largely criticised predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), it would be imperative that African leaders and their governments make concrete decisions to move the Union ahead. Otherwise we would merely have heads of states and government officials assembling to exchange dialogues at a high cost for the poor people of Africa.

The AU summit also noted that the protocol for setting up a pan-African parliament had also not been ratified by enough member states to push the project forward.

Editor

EVENT REPORT

1.Enforcing Competition Law and a consultation on FDI in Zambia

On the 13^th of February 2003 CUTS-ARC hosted a National Reference Group meeting of the project on Investment for Development (IFD). The meeting was attended by stakeholders from civil society, government and private business. It also marked the official launch of a study report on “Enforcing Competition Law in Zambia” which was part of CUTS’s research on competition regimes in seven selected developing countries, namely, India, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Zambia.

The launch of the competition study that focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness of the law in Zambia and how this would help in engendering a competition culture in Zambia was followed by a discussion on Zambia’s Competition Commission (ZCC) with regard to its effectiveness and implementation. Releasing the study report, Mr. Eugene Appel, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for Zambia urged the civil society and the business community to engage in constructive dialogue with competition authorities so as to enhance the productivity and efficiency of Zambian firms, which are key elements in an era of globalisation.

As regards the outcome of consultation on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) it was generally agreed that in Zambia the only sector that had managed to attract significant FDI was the mining sector following the liberalisation process. The meeting recommended that it was essential for the government to move away from the emphasis on fiscal incentives. The Government should instead work on building a strong local business community, improving on infrastructural investments such as roads, communications networks as well as in the aggressive marketing of Zambia’s potential investment areas.

2. Exposure Visit of Consumer Leaders to UNCTAD/WTO

In an effort to build capacity of the African consumer organisations in the area of international trade dynamics, CUTS-ARC organised an exposure visit of participants from seven southern African countries to the UNCTAD/WTO in Geneva during 17-20 February 2003. The participants had an opportunity to interact with experts from various divisions of the WTO and UNCTAD. They also got an opportunity lobby with trade negotiators and officials of key diplomatic missions in Geneva.

NEWS BRIEFS

African Countries to Curb Migration of Health Workers

Six African countries have set up a forum to look into how to contain the rampant migration of skilled health professionals from Africa. The six countries that include South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Zimbabwe were in January represented at a Commonwealth Workshop on Migration of Health workers. The workshop, which was held in Johannesburg, basically intended to come up with specific strategic plans that would help the individual countries. (BuaNews, 20.01.2003)

Cocoa Production under Threat

With approximately five months of factional fighting in Cote d’Ivoire, following a coup d’etat attempt on the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, there are fears that the war might disrupt one-fifth of the world’s cocoa production. The intensity of fighting has reached within 100km of San Pedro port (the county’s second largest port) through which half of the country’s cocoa production is loaded off for export. While the government has stationed military personnel around the port in a bid to ensure that its most crucial agricultural product is not disturbed mid-way through the main harvest season, some farmers in the fertile region surrounding San Pedro are abandoning thousands of acres of cocoa as they flee fighting. A palpable tension seems to rest around the port as fears mount that the war may break out before the harvests are shipped out. (Inter Press Services, 16.01.2003)

SADC to Speed up FTA

The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) Executive Secretary, Dr. Prega Ramsamy, has called for the organisation to speed up the implementation of the Free Trade Area (FTA) and accede to the Customs Union (CU). The call comes in the light of fears that the United States of America’s (USA) upcoming FTA with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries could marginalise SADC as SACU is more advanced in term of development. While SADC is supposed to have brought the tariff level in all goods and service to zero by 2012, Dr. Ramsamy said that a review meeting to be held in 2004 would look at the possibility of shortening the time frame of the implementation of the FTA to 2008 without jeopardising its fundamentals. (Mmegi, 2.01.2003; The Reporter, 24.01.2003)

Western Africa Sets for Single Currency

The West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) says plans for the creation of a common single currency for the West African countries are underway. However, the target for commencement of the operation has been extended from the initial 2004 deadline to 2005. This is an effort to enable individual countries prepare their economies for the transition as WAMI has been dogged with problems of the inability of the member countries to meet the four convergence criteria for a single currency. WAMI is a creation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) designed to promote trade and commerce among the 16-member states. (Ghanaian Chronicle, 20.01.2003)

New Drugs Proposal of the US under Fire

African trade campaigners have raised their voices in calling for the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reject a new proposal recently tabled in the on-going Trade Related aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) negotiations that seeks to limit the manufacture of cheap drugs by poor countries. With the insistence of the United State on the limitation of the use of cheap generic drugs to be restricted to the largest international health threats (AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis), the proposal seeks to limit the use of compulsory licensing for many developing countries to national emergencies or other circumstances of extreme urgency. This implies that countries would have to wait for a public health problem to spin out of control before they could use this solution to address it.

Trade campaigners have warned that accepting the proposal to the WTO on patents and drugs would be taking a backward step in terms of the public health policy gains made under the Doha declaration on TRIPS and public health in 2001. This would curtail the ability of developing countries to treat diseases. The cost of some essential medicines may double and hence limit access to affordable medicines in treating common diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhoea. (The Monitor, 16.02.2003)

EVENTS AND ANOUNCEMENTS

Announcements

1. National Partnership Conclave, Lusaka, 10 March 2003

As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), the Africa Resource Centre is hosting a one day National Partnership Conclave to be held at Lusaka on 10th March 2003. The conclave will have representation from civil society, government institutions, academia, and media, from Zambia. The broad theme for deliberation is governance and poverty reduction from a rights-based perspective. The issues to be discussed in conclave and case studies relate to “What type of Economic Liberalisation is required for Poverty Reduction” and “Countdown to 2015”. The topics linked to the above themes such as Impact of economic liberalisation on small farmers, small industries, Governance & Development, policy mix for Investment, Competition & Regulation, and Consumer Rights & Responsibilities will be discussed at this conclave from the perspective of stakeholders. For more information please contact cutsarc@zamnet.zm
lusaka@cuts.org

2. Correction

CUTS-ARC policy brief no. 2/2002 entitled “Development and the Challenge of Poverty: NEPAD, Post Washington Consensus and Beyond” acknowledged CUTS as the copyright holder was a printing error. The copyright holder is in fact Professor Jimi O. Adesina of Rhodes University in South Africa who kindly gave permission to CUTS-ARC to abridge his paper into a policy brief.

The error is regretted.

Publications

Policy Briefs

WTO and Competition Policy at National and Regional Levels

Nobody can deny the need for a multilateral competition framework- an issue on which members agreed to launch negotiations after the Fifth Ministerial. However, this policy brief brings out the fact that for the developing countries signing a multilateral agreement on competition at current would not serve any purpose for them, as they lack capacity to fully take full advantage of such provisions due to their weak capabilities in terms of expertise and resources to challenge the trade policies of industrialised countries that harm their export interests; or be able to defend themselves effectively against complaints due to their lack of access to high-powered lawyers who could argue their case. This Policy Brief is researched and written by Mr. George K. Lipimile of the Zambia Competition Commission.

(For further information please visit: www.cuts-international.org )

Contact Us

Africa Resource Centre

Suite 4.11, Main Post Office Building,
Cairo Road, P.O. Box 37113, Lusaka, Zambia
Ph: (00) 260-1-224992
Email: cutsarc@zamnet.zm
lusaka@cuts.org

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