N VEMBER NEW OVEMBER NE S WS

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Tanzania, Togo 06 : Gambia / 07 : Côte d'ivoire, Ghana 09 : Madagascar / 10 : Equatorial Guinea, Namibia 12 : Kenya / 18 : Sudan 20 : Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia,

South Africa-Europe Container Service (SAECS) vessel-sharing agreement for trade between Europe and Southern Africa, will add a seventh vessel to its core service.

1 NOVEMBER NEWS Africa BANK HOLIDAYS IN DECEMBER : 01 : Congo (D.R.), Côte d'ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo 06 : Gambia / 07 : Côte d'ivoire, Ghana 09 : Madagascar / 10 : Equatorial Guinea, Namibia 12 : Kenya / 18 : Sudan 20 : Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, NEW VESSEL : According to Egineering news, the four shipping lines - Safmarine, MOL, DAL and Maersk Line - in the South Africa-Europe Container Service (SAECS) vessel-sharing agreement for trade between Europe and Southern Africa, will add a seventh vessel to its core service. The addition of a seventh vessel comes in response to continued operational challenges at the ports of call and is aimed at meeting the levels of service Tanzania, Togo 21 : Djibouti, Morocco, Nigeria 22 : Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan / 23 : Sudan 24 : Madagascar 25 : Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Congo (D.R.), Côte d'ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Reunion, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo / 26 : Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania / 27 : Kenya." expected by exporters and importers.the current port rotation schedule will remain unchanged as the addition of the seventh vessel is aimed at ensuring schedule reliability. The additional vessel, Lica Maersk, joined the SAECS core service on November 11. The SAECS consists of four independent shipping lines which share vessels on two services between Southern Africa and Europe. IRAN EXPORTS TO AFRICA : During a seminar in Tehran, from November 12-13th, with the participation of 10 countries including Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, South Africa, Senegal, Chad, Libya, Morocco and Kenya, Iran said to be determined to increase export of goods as well as technical and engineering services to African countries. Iran's export to Africa stood at US $ 90 million in 2001, which increased to US $ 300 million in past year. Carpets, clothing, natural gas, industrial oil, tiles, ceramics, vehicles, building materials, spare parts and phosphate were among the major commodities which Iran exported to Africa last year. East Africa The East African Community (EAC) and the European Union (EU) have signed a temporary trade agreement. It will guarantee duty free and quota free access to the EU market exports except sugar and rice whose trading arrangements are still under discussion. The agreement also calls for the simplification of rules of origin for apparel products that will allow clothing companies established in the EAC to source fabrics from all over the world and export their products to the EU free of duty and quota restrictions. The Partner States of EAC are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

2 A new Customs data exchange system has been installed by the Uganda and Kenya revenue authorities. This new system will reduce considerably time spent clearing cargo from Mombasa port to any destination in East Africa. The Revenue Authorities Digital Data Exchange (RADDEX) currently being piloted transmits data on exports, re-exports and transit declarations from Kenya to and through Uganda. The electronic link will help cut freight costs, which have gone up due to delays caused by the bureaucratic paper-based clearing AFRICAN CABLE PROJECT : Five International lenders (including World Bank's International Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank) have signed up a US $ 70 million loan for the construction of a pan-african submarine cable to slash communication costs in the region. They will deliver the money for the 23-nation East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) cable system. The new system will allow Kenyan authorities to feed data on Uganda-bound imports into the KRA computers at Mombasa and send the information instantly to the Ugandan Customs clearance point. Authorised clearing agents will also have access to RADDEX, which they will use to download forms and paperwork concerning their transactions so that they are in a position to clear their goods within hours instead of days. that will run from South Africa to Sudan. Construction work will start in mid-december and the cable is expected to be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of Despite infrastructure improvements, notably in more Africa's more developed nations, only 2.5% of Africans have Internet access compared to 17.8% in the rest of the world. West Africa WAGP Project : Natural Gas is expected to start flowing through the West Africa Gas pipeline project from Nigeria to Ghana from December 23 this year. It would take four days for the gas to flow through the lines before reaching Ghana. The project cost about 600 million US dollars. This follows the completion of the installation of the offshore segment of the gas pipeline by WAGPCo, which is currently conducting safety awareness campaigns across the sub-region in readiness for its take-off. Participating countries operating the Gas Pipeline Project are Nigeria, which is the source, Cotonou, Togo and Ghana. WFP : The Executive Director of the World Food Programme visited West Africa November to highlight the need for renewed attention on the region's 'silent emergencies'. From 12-14th November, Ms Sheeran visited WFP projects in Mali which are helping to US NAVY : A navy ship has started a seven-month deployment to Central and West Africa designed to help nations around the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea beef up maritime security. Plans include visits to Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and the tiny archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe while possible stops in several other African nations are also being explored. Training will be provided in a broad range of tackle these issues. She concluded her trip by attending a regional meeting in Dakar followed by a press conference on Thursday November 15th at 18:00 in the WFP regional bureau. areas, including logistics, search and rescue, maritime domain awareness and navigation. The plan is to involve more nations in the training in future deployments, which may be carried out on a civilian ship or a vessel belonging to the navy of another country. The USS Fort McHenry will also distribute 75 tonnes of humanitarian assistance worth 350,000 US dollars (243,000 euros) during its current mission. REGIONAL MARITIME CENTER : Five West African countries -The Republics of Ghana, Sierra Leone, Côte d'ivoire, Guinea and Liberia - have signed a Multilateral Agreement endorsing Liberia as the central command ECOWAS MEETING : On 16th November, Ministers of Energy in 15 ECOWAS member states met in Lome to review the state of accessibility to energy service in the region to make recommendation for its improvement. The minister considered presentations by the ECOWAS commission on the energy sector whose programmes include the West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP), for conducting and coordinating Search and Rescue (SAR) in their territorial waters. This accord was signed in Monrovia on Friday 9th November. The West African Power Pool (WAPP), the Regulation Project and the Regional Policy on Access to Energy Service to Rural and peri-urban areas of West Africa. It was also considered the progress report on the WAPP for which the World Bank in June 2005 approved a 350 million US dollars financing facility for its priority projects from 2005 to 2011.

WEST AFRICA INVESTMENT : A Spanish delegation in Dakar met representatives of certain West African countries (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Burkina Faso).

territory. The Minister signed a bilateral investment agreement with Senegal and Angola, along with a memorandum of understanding for a financial cooperation programme with the oil producer.

Spain, which last year launched a "Plan Africa" for stronger political and economic engagement with the West African region on its southern flank, is also negotiating an investment agreement with

3 WEST AFRICA INVESTMENT : A Spanish delegation in Dakar met representatives of certain West African countries (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Burkina Faso). The Industry Minister said Spain is turning to Africa as a potential investment destination in a commercial and political offensive linked to trying to control flows of illegal migrants to its territory. The Minister signed a bilateral investment agreement with Senegal and Angola, along with a memorandum of understanding for a financial cooperation programme with the oil producer. Bilateral trade with oil-exporter Angola reached nearly 572 million euros ($848 million) in Spain, which last year launched a "Plan Africa" for stronger political and economic engagement with the West African region on its southern flank, is also negotiating an investment agreement with Mauritania. Benin E.U.: Benin and the European Union signed five investment contracts involving 38 billion CFA francs (US $ 81.3 million), from the 9th European Development Fund. The fund will be used to promote the development of Benin's health service and cotton industry, improve its road maintenance and support the country's state budget. Côte d'ivoire Chinese cooperation : During a meeting with the Chinese assistant foreign minister, President of Cote d'ivoire Laurent Gbagbo announced that his country is committed to enhancing friendship and cooperation with China. The Chinese government appreciates Cote d'ivoire's adherence to the one China policy and is keen to enhance mutual political trust and pragmatic cooperation. During the visit both sides also signed agreements on issues including economic and technical cooperation. African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) : Cote d'ivoire aims to rejoin a preferential trade scheme with the United States in early 2008 as it moves towards holding elections, boosting trade and ending child labour according to the head of its export promotion agency. The world's No. 1 cocoa producer, which was split in two by a 2002/2003 civil war, was excluded amid political turmoil in 2005 from the U.S. African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). For the country regaining eligibility for AGOA status had become more urgent as the value of the dollar continued to slip, pushing up the cost of imports into the United States. It provided 90% of the exports to the United States shipped by member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), including cocoa, textiles and tropical fruit. Gabon Devon Energy Corporation today announced that it has agreed to sell its oil and gas business located offshore Gabon to Oranje-Nassau Energie B.V., a subsidiary of Oranje-Nassau Groep B.V. The purchase price is $205.5 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approval by the Gabonese government. Devon said it's currently in talks to sell its other West African properties and expects to sell these assets in the first half of Shares of Devon fell 8 cents to $84.63 upon the announcement.

Japan is lagging far behind in aid to Africa compared with China. China provided 44% of its total economic assistance overseas to Africa in 2005, compared with Japan's 10.5 %.

4 Kenya The Japanese government will extend a US $ 318 million loan to Kenya to support additional construction at Mombasa port. In the port expansion project, Kenya plans to build a new container terminal next to the existing terminal site and roads linking the facilities. The work is slated for completion in Japan is lagging far behind in aid to Africa compared with China. China provided 44% of its total economic assistance overseas to Africa in 2005, compared with Japan's 10.5 %. The fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development will be held in Yokohama in May next year. CONGESTION : On Friday 09th November, container congestion at the port of Mombasa had reached worrying levels forcing the Kenya Ports Authority boss to publicly urge importers to collect their cargo. The KPA boss said that the number of containers at the port stood at 10,396 whereas the facility has a holding capacity of between 7,000 to 8,000 containers. He added that although the port had put in place measures to tackle the crisis, problems kept on cropping up especially when large dischargers arrived. African Development Bank (AfDB) has awarded Kenya 246 million dollars in loans and grants to improve its roads and water supply projects. "The overall goal of the project is to improve the accessibility, affordability and reliability of the transport infrastructure in order to promote economic growth and socio-economic development in Kenya," the bank said in a statement. COUNTRY'S SUGAR IMPORT : Kenya has won the quest for the extension of the safeguard on sugar imports from the Common Markets for East and Southern Africa - Comesa for another four years. Intratrade among Comesa countries has grown by 8% in the last year. Kenya accounted for 36% of all intra-comesa trade last year followed by Egypt with 17%. Liberia NIGERIA DEBT RELIEF : Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has proposed writing off $13 million out of $48 million it is owed by Liberia as a 'contribution to consolidating peace there'. He suggested that the Liberia's debt was an obstacle to economic recovery following the 14 years of civil war that ravaged the country until Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been travelling the world since her election pressing creditor nations to cancel debts in order to give Liberia a chance. Mozambique CORRIDORS DEVELOPMENTS : Mozambican Transport Minister has declared that a lot remains to be done to exploit to the maximum the potential of the development corridors, linking the country's major ports to the hinterland, despite the substantial growth in cargo handled in Comparing the figures for 2007 with those of 2004, one finds 22% growth in the Maputo and Beira corridors and a 13% growth in the Nacala corridor. In the Maputo Corridor, for instance, the rehabilitation of the Ressano Garcia railway line, linking Maputo port to South Africa, is to be completed by December. A programme to extend the fixed telecommunications network to 42 district capitals, in 2008, is also awaiting final approval by the funding agency, this time the Chinese Exim Bank. Transport and Communications Ministers of Zimbabwe and Mozambique will sign the MoU concerning the Beira Development Corridor which will aimed at enhancing trade and investment between the two countries. it would also promote the free movement of goods between the two neighbouring countries. The corridor links Zimbabwe's eastern border town of Mutare with Beira in Mozambique. The finalisation of the MoU comes at a time when the two countries have abolished visas for their citizens travelling between the two countries.

Namibia The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) will spend about N$1,3 billion during the next five years in an attempt to increase cargo movement through the port of Walvis Bay.

strategically located as a gateway to American and European markets, and is fast becoming a viable import and export option for landlocked SADC countries.

5 Namibia The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) will spend about N$1,3 billion during the next five years in an attempt to increase cargo movement through the port of Walvis Bay. The WBCG Business Development Executive said NamPort was one of the region's major assets, with its extended transport corridors throughout Namibia to neighbouring countries: "Walvis Bay was strategically located as a gateway to American and European markets, and is fast becoming a viable import and export option for landlocked SADC countries." CORRIDORS : Namibia is intensifying its efforts to establish itself as a "small, but smart" transport turntable for goods to and from its landlocked neighbours in Southern Africa. The vast country is sparsely populated, but has a good roads and rail infrastructure leading to and from the west coast harbour of Walvis Bay. - The 1,400- kilometre Trans Kalahari Corridor links Walvis Bay to the South African industrial hub of Gauteng via the Botswana capital Gaborone. It provides a key route for motor vehicle industry parts and high-safety goods. - The Trans Caprivi Corridor links Walvis Bay to Livingstone in southern Zambia via a bridge over the Zambezi River, as well as Lusaka and Ndola in Zambia further north, and finally with Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Transport logs in Cote d'ivoire Encl. : Newsletter printable version We remind you that you can also find this newsletter on the website Your contact in Paris : (33) afritramp@bollore.com customer-service.shipping@bollore.com -

The Second Japan-Africa Business Forum TICAD and Business: Feedback from the Yokohama Action Plan to the Nairobi Declaration July 25, 2017

The Second Japan-Africa Business Forum TICAD and Business: Feedback from the Yokohama Action Plan to the Nairobi Declaration July 25, 207 Takeshi Osuga Ambassador, Assistant Minister, Director-General