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Sunday, June 14, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory
ECONOMY-ZIMBABWE: Consumers May be Happy But Workers Aren’t
South African retail giant Pick-‘n-Pay increased its stake from 25 to 49 percent in TM Supermarkets – Zimbabwe’s largest grocer – in October in a deal worth about 13 million dollars. But, while the champagne corks pop in the boardroom, employees are not upbeat.
RIGHTS-ZIMBABWE: “Sanctions Are Hurting the Right People”
The word "sanctions" was among the first five words mentioned to the new European Union (EU) ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell Ariccia when he first arrived and met with government officials in Zimbabwe a few months ago.
AGRICULTURE: U.S. and EU Subsidies Still Out of Bounds
The United States’ policy to double agricultural exports shows that its government "has learnt nothing" from the last food crisis, a problem reflected in the dramatic increase in that country’s trade-distorting farm subsidies between 2007 and 2008.
LABOUR-SWAZILAND: Jobs to be Cut to Secure International Loan
Thousands of public servants in Swaziland are due to lose their jobs in cutbacks as part of a government bid to gain approval from the International Monetary Fund for a loan. But some Swazis would rather see the budget slashed for the country’s autocratic royals.
TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: EPA Talks Will Miss Latest Deadline
While a trade deal between the European Union and Southern African countries is close it will not be concluded before the end of this year. In the meantime, South Africa remains in pursuit of an ambitious regional integration agenda.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: New Inland Port Set to Improve Regional Trade
Land-locked Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe expect to improve their import and export fortunes following the opening of an inland harbour, the Nsanje World Inland Port, on Malawi’s biggest river, The Shire.ZIMBABWE: Woman Metal Worker Breaking the Mould
At a time when more and more women around the world are taking up jobs in male-dominated domains, 41-year-old Sithabile Ruswa is also making her mark, albeit far from the air-conditioned boardrooms usually reported on.
DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Micro-Credit Helping Farmers to Plough Ahead
Seventeen years ago it seemed like an impossible dream to provide thousands of low-income farmers with a way to borrow small amounts of money. But people working in the tea sector in the rural areas of central Kenya were determined to address farmers’ lack of access to credit. They started the Muramati Savings and Credit Cooperative Society.
ZIMBABWE: Debt Crowds Out Essential Spending on Health
Zimbabwe’s debt burden of about 8.3 billion dollars, owed to internal and external institutions, is crowding out essential national budget items such as health and basic services, with detrimental effects for particularly women.TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: “Parochialism” Stymies Integration Efforts
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has set ambitious targets for regional integration. But the goal of creating a customs union by 2010 has been postponed and the adoption of a single regional currency by 2018 may be missed due to national concerns.
MALAWI: While the President Flies, the People Queue for Fuel
A public spat has developed between the Malawian government and organisations in the small south-eastern African country over foreign exchange being "wasted" on foreign trips undertaken by President Bingu wa Mutharika. The consequence has been repeated fuel shortages, organisations say.Free Trade Threatens Affordable HIV Treatment
With India's role as 'pharmacy to the developing world' seriously threatened by a free trade agreement to be signed with the European Union in December, the fate of cheap or free antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS hangs in balance.
ECONOMY: Electrifying African Interest in Renewable Energy
Various countries in East Africa are making gradual progress in moving from a solely carbon-based electricity network to a cleaner power grid.
ECONOMY: Growing Obesity in Africa Bad for Worker Productivity
Obesity is no longer a problem confined to wealthy nations. In their developing counterparts in Africa, an increasing number of people can be categorised as obese. According to researchers this trend could be detrimental to countries’ already fragile economies.DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Tax Could be The Way Out of Aid Dependence
Many African countries struggle with debt and finding money for national budgets because they fail to recognise taxation as a sustainable source of funding. Moreover, multinational companies are too easily given tax breaks while siphoning off money through illegal tax evasion.
RIGHTS-AFRICA: “Investors Should Help Democratise Zimbabwe”
While investors need assurances about property rights and the protection of investments before they will invest in Zimbabwe’s precarious economy, the state of democracy in the Southern African country should also be a consideration.
AFRICA: Women Traders Confronting Sexual Harassment at Borders
Harassment and sexual exploitation by border officials seeking bribes constitute the biggest obstacles for female informal cross-border traders in Africa, according to a United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) research study.
TRADE: South Africa Flexing its Muscles With Poor Neighbours
The beleaguered Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has to face up to serious challenges at its upcoming heads of state meeting in October, including the divergent interests of its member states and the lack of coordinated industrial policies in the union.
AFRICA: Liberalised Services Still Require Proper Regulations
With African countries' trade remaining inordinately dependent on natural resources exports, their economies could benefit from liberalisation of trade in services but only as long as proper domestic regulatory frameworks are put in place, some trade experts argue.
AFRICA: “Future Lies in a Free Trade Area From Cape To Cairo”
African governments’ ambitious plan for a tripartite free trade area (FTA), stretching from South Africa to Egypt, could be more realistic than getting existing ineffective regional customs unions on the continent to work.
ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Threat of States Collapsing Looms Large
The mooted restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement of the world’s oldest customs union could lead to at least two of its Southern African members collapsing into "failed states" status as well as macroeconomic crises in two of their neighbours in the sub-region.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Trade has historically been a geopolitical tool, creating significant economic imbalances in developing countries. However, many countries in East Asia and Latin America have been able to alleviate poverty due to increasing trade. Tackling poverty has proven to be much harder in low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, and their dismal trade performance is one important reason for that. They remain at the margins of world trade and indeed of the world economy. These articles are aimed at informing readers about the complexities of trade and its varying effects on development, with a special focus on the consequences of the global economic crisis, the potential of fair trade and the gender implications of trade policies.
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