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Sunday, August 16, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory
TRADE-AFRICA: Liberalisation Eroding Poor Countries’ Advantage
The trade liberalisation of the past couple of decades is eroding the advantage that least developed countries (LDCs) enjoy in export markets as duty and quota free access has become less valuable.
TRADE-MAURITIUS: Clothing Sector Not Hanging by a Thread Anymore
Mauritius had almost lost hope for its textile and clothing industry after the closure of several big factories over the past few years. The sector dropped to a negative growth rate of -12.5 percent in 2006 but has since been revamped to manufacture upmarket goods.MAURITIUS: There Is Life After 40 Years of Trade Preferences
‘‘The days of trade preferences and of cheap food are over. We are living in an era of competition and we have no choice but to reduce our costs of production.’’TRADE-NAMIBIA: Setback to EPZ Policy as Large Investor Leaves
The Namibian government plans to stay the course with export processing zones (EPZ) despite one of the largest of the foreign investors, Malaysian textile company Ramatex, deciding last week to close down its operations-a move that will destroy 3,000 jobs.TRADE-AFRICA: Agriculture Talks Stuck on Import Surge Safeguard
The Group of 33 developing countries has denounced the draft text on the special safeguard mechanism in the current Doha Development Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks as ‘‘extremely inadequate... stringent, restrictive, burdensome (and) ineffective’’.TRADE-AFRICA: Why Food Import Surges Are an Issue at The WTO
Food import surges have had devastating consequences for the rural poor and local economies in Africa. Such surges have taken place with alarming frequency in the past decade or two.TRADE-AFRICA: Make or Break for WTO Doha Round
The World Trade Organisation’s beleaguered Doha Round could either be wrapped up in the next two to three months or be stalled for an indefinite period of time.TRADE: Proposed Tariff Cuts Will ‘Destroy’ Industrial Development
The Doha Round negotiations on industrial products have once again come under fire at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with developing countries such as South Africa saying that the proposed tariffs cuts will spell the end of their industrial development.ECONOMY-KENYA: Amid Political Crisis, Food Shortages Loom
Elizabeth Mutai, who farms passion fruit in the Keiyo district in Kenya's Rift Valley, is worried. Sales of the crop has dropped significantly since the eruption of violence after the election held in December 2007.
TRADE-MALAWI: Tea Growers Devising Plans to Overcome Low Prices
Low prices continue to haunt Malawian tea on the auction floors, a bitter irony for some producers as the country is regarded as the pioneer of tea-growing in Africa.TRADE: EU Aims to Rope in African States Resisting EPAs
The European Union is determined to get those African countries on board which have so far kicked against the economic partnership agreements (EPAs). At the end of 2007, only 35 out of 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries had initialled EPAs.TRADE-AFRICA: EU Still Pushing Offensive Interests in EPA Talks
The European Union (EU) has an ambitious agenda for the economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations. It is pushing for the conclusion of full agreements in the next one to three years, covering everything from services to ‘‘trade-related’’ issues such as investment, competition and government procurement.
TRADE: EPAs Born of EU’s Concern with China in Africa
The European Union (EU) is concerned about competing with China for access to resources and markets in Africa, which partly explains its drive to hook African states into the trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs).TRADE-AFRICA: ''EPAs Are Not About Partnership''
The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between Europe and its former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions are not about equal partnerships but about enabling ‘‘big giant Europe to gain better access to African markets’’.TRADE-AFRICA: International Call for Action Against EPAs
African and international civil society organisations have adopted a call for action, urging the rest of the world to redouble its efforts to stop the European Union's drive to institute economic partnership agreements (EPAs).TRADE-UGANDA: Privatisation of Seeds Moving Apace
The Ugandan parliament will soon have a hearing on the draft Plant Variety Protection Bill, approved by the cabinet early last year. If passed unmodified, the bill is likely to entrench the rights of breeders and companies while curtailing the rights of small farmers to exchange, save and breed new varieties using hybrid seeds.TRADE-UGANDA: Exposing ''The African Green Revolution''
Uganda’s major trade partners are not only looking for food markets but also for seed markets. This has happened in a push that has been packaged as ‘‘the new green revolution’’ by corporations involved in biotechnology and chemicals. They have been supported by philanthropic organizations, notably the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.TRADE: Individual EPAs ”Do Not” Undermine Regional Integration
Central African countries have committed themselves to finalising an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union by June this year.TRADE: EPA Damages Regional Cooperation in Southern Africa
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should engage in serious discussions to prevent the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union from destroying its regional integration efforts.TRADE: Barroso’s EPA Intervention to Be ”More Than Symbolic”
Conscious that trade issues had become a major source of friction between African countries and their former colonial overlords, the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso extended an olive branch in December.TRADE-MALAWI: Caught Between Two Economic Blocs
Malawi finally has to face up to the dilemma of choosing between being a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or to stick with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) if it is to continue receiving funding from the European Union (EU).« 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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