Africa’s agricultural paradox is an urgent enigma demanding attention. Home to 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land and with over 60% of the population reliant on farming, the continent still grapples with an alarming agricultural trade deficit. In this setting, the question arises: Can artificial intelligence (AI) be the panacea? A Sobering Reality […]Continue reading
1. The Established Facts South Africa (RSA) is the world’s second largest exporter of Citrus Fruit, second only to Spain. Those exports are worth, world- wide, approximately Euros 1.5 billion, and provide (directly and indirectly) roughly 130,000 jobs in RSA. Spain supplies around one half of all oranges sold in the EU market, equivalent to […]Continue reading
As the BRICS alliance gears up for expansion and potentially includes more countries in its upcoming leaders’ summit in South Africa, a crucial aspect may have been overlooked: the potential impact of geopolitics on global commerce and economic relations, particularly involving BRICS nations. The BRICS framework may face new pressures as businesses find themselves compelled […]Continue reading
On 13 April 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published the World Economic Outlook, wherein it discusses geoeconomic fragmentation and foreign direct investment. Geoeconomic fragmentation, for those who are not familiar with this phenomenon, was coined by Aiyar et al as a “policy driven reversal of global economic integration often guided by strategic considerations”. The considerations […]Continue reading
Early in 2022, the Republic of Korea and Chile (coordinators of the WTO Joint Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (“IFDA”)) announced that they had aimed to conclude the negotiations surrounding the provisions of the Joint Statement Initiative (“JSI”) by 2022. While the deadline for conclusion of the negotiations had to be extended, it […]Continue reading
The Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) is the latest of a number of new developments designed to enhance trade in Africa’s continent-wide free trade zone. It was launched in October 2022 to test meaningful, continuous trade under AfCFTA and aid the development of regional value chains that allow for more sustainable, climate-friendly trade across the continent. […]Continue reading
As the title suggests, the World Customs Organization, with the support of the European Union, recently published a guide to the practical implementation of Annex 2 of the Protocol on Trade in Goods concerning Rules of Origin. The guide is aimed at assisting the private sector in the practical implementation of Annex 2, which has […]Continue reading
