Sunday, November 24African Digital Business Magazine

Tag: trade

Angola News

Angola’s Special Economic Zone, provides new services to national and foreign investors with the inauguration of the GAI – Investor Support Office

The Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE)  launched a useful new tool for investors,  the GAI (Guiché de Apoio ao Investidor), or Investor Support Office, which in addition to supporting the presidential directive to facilitate access for national and foreign investors, will eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that can hinder the actions of those who want to access Angola’s privatized assets or those businesses already established within the ZEE. The GAI will: - reduce the time needed to access and resolve matters relating to the Angolan public administration - contribute to a significant increase in the number of companies based in the ZEE - expand domestic production and the export of goods generated by the Angolan economy - increase foreign direct investment in the Republic of Ango...
Business, South Africa News

Creating a disruption-proof supply chain in Africa

The impact of the pandemic on global supply chains has prompted governments around the world to look at ways to fix the broken links. In Africa, the launch of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), has provided the continent with new opportunities to strengthen its regional supply chain. Virusha Subban, Head of Indirect Tax at Baker McKenzie in South Africa, explains that there were massive breakages in key links in global supply chains during and after the pandemic, with issues including, among many other things, route congestion and blockages, manufacturing shutdowns, a deficit of skilled labour, a global shortage of key logistics components including shipping containers, a lack of space in warehouses, a spike in transportation costs and substantially increased demand for goods a...
Main

China’s trade with the continent grows to record highs

By Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and Africa increased by 40.5 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2021, and was valued at a record high of USD 139.1 billion. The Ministry noted that African products were increasingly being recognised in the Chinese market, and that imports from Africa into China increased by 46.3% between January and July 2021. Further, the import of agricultural products, such as rubber, cotton and coffee from Africa into China doubled when compared to the first seven months of 2020. Data from the Ministry further revealed that over the last 20 years, China's trade with Africa has risen 20-fold, showing that China is Africa's biggest bilater...
Cameroon News, Events, Zambia News

Annual Investment Meeting Successfully Concluded AIM AFRICA Digital Edition

The event witnessed the participation of 101 expert speakers, 2092 participants from 99 countries, with 41 countries from Africa and over 47 global exhibitors. The Annual Investment Meeting successfully concluded AIM AFRICA Digital Edition which took place from the 29th – 30th of June 2021 via Events10x platform under the theme “Africa Unlocked: Innovation and Sustainability as the Drivers of Economic Growth”. The two-day virtual conference witnessed the participation of 101 expert speakers, 2092 participants from 99 countries, with 41 countries from Africa and over 47 global exhibitors. Top government officials and high-level dignitaries also joined AIM AFRICA and among them was H.E Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan - Cabinet Member and Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affair...
Canadian Awards 2021 are more than just olive oil participation trophies
African News, Events

Canadian Awards 2021 are more than just olive oil participation trophies

A solid awards strategy can help you build credibility through third-party validation that will make your olive oil brand stand out to target audiences. CIOOC speaks for the quality of the olive oils and their position in the market, and also about the overall performance of a brand in the market.  Montreal- April 16, 2021 This year, there is a new way for olive oil producers and companies to attract the attention of Canadian consumers and buyers worldwide: the Canada International Olive Oil Competition (CIOOC). As organizer George Kouvelis says, “for those ready to expand globally, Canada may be an ideal country in which to start. The word ‘Canada’ is a global trademark.” The Canada IOOC will also help shoppers learn about high quality extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs). As George Kouvelis ...
South Africa News

SA shoppers are online. Retailers need to meet them with an exceptional experience

Consumers are embracing the e-commerce experience in growing numbers and corporate South Africa is taking serious notice, according to Geoff Hardy, Head of Digital, Immersion Group, a global team of experience design experts. Across the globe online sales have surged, while locally online transactions on Black Friday alone grew by more than 60%, and a recent study released by Mastercard found that 68% of South Africans are shopping more online since the beginning of last year. “The Covid-19 pandemic undoubtedly accelerated prevailing trends as well as consumer behaviour and preferences by as much as a decade. This extraordinary industry-wide transformation is a forecast of the future of South African retail,” notes Hardy. He says a solid digital footprint and strategy have become non-negot...
Botswana News, Egypt News, Main, Mauritius News, Morocco News, South Africa News

Competition law in post-pandemic Africa a key driver for market participation, consumer protection and fair practices

 With the growth of economies across Africa, competition law has remained one of the key drivers for effective market participation, consumer protection and fair business practices. However, the global pandemic introduced new challenges for competition authorities in Africa and abroad, with each enforcer pursuing the most beneficial enforcement method for its national or regional jurisdiction. According to Lerisha Naidu, Partner in Baker McKenzie’s Competition & Antitrust Practice in Johannesburg, “These efforts were aimed at curbing the persistence of unjustified price hikes, anticompetitive cooperation between competitors and other harmful business practices that sought to undermine competition. In addition to the urgent responses to the unprecedented impacts of the global COVID-19 c...
Events, Tech

Demand surges for 4IR tech as 4,600 register for Africa’s largest AI trade event

AI Expo Africa — the continent’s largest annual gathering of buyers and suppliers of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) smart technologies — is set to have its biggest edition this year as 4 600 delegates and several international and local sponsors have already registered to attend the trade show and conference which takes place between 7 to 9 September. AI Expo Africa 2021 ONLINE will mark the fourth edition of the annual trade event. Dr Nick Bradshaw, AI Media Group CEO and AI Expo Africa founder, pointed out that this year’s event will — like last year’s edition — also be held online to circumvent COVID-19 event restrictions. “Based on the early interest in AI Expo Africa 2021 ONLINE, we know our community likes the eve...
Burundi News, Kenya News, Rwanda News, Tanzania News

GUUD Africa Secures Tender to Work on East African Community Single Customs Territory Solution

- Project first started in 2016 where vCargo Cloud (“VCC”) worked on a Proof-of-Concept (“POC”) platform for the project - Completion of project will see seamless transmission of trade-related documents between participating EAC SCT member authorities. KENYA, 30 March 2021: Singapore’s GUUD (Africa) Pte. Ltd, via its wholly owned subsidiary, vCargo Cloud Kenya Limited., has won the project tender to kickstart official development work on the East African Community (“EAC”) Single Customs Territory (“SCT”) solution. A landmark project for the region, it will be one of the first regional single window projects within the African continent that will facilitate the transmission of trade-related documents for 5 countries within the EAC region. The EAC SCT project was first embarked on by the EAC...
Main

Challenges remain for Industrials, but calculus shifts

Disruption arising from COVID-19 has accelerated trends already apparent in the industrials market –– particularly digitalisation and trade volatility –– and transformation has gone from a “nice to have” to a necessity, according to the latest findings from Baker McKenzie. The law firm surveyed 700 company leaders in six industrial sub-sectors in early 2020, and again at the end of the year after the pandemic had taken hold of the global economy. In Africa, challenges in the industrials market were exacerbated by the pandemic, and highlighted by the requirements for seamless trade, strong supply chains, digitisation and sustainability, that were necessitated by the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA), as well as by the post pandemic market environme...