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Global Preferential Trade Agreement Database (GPTAD)
The World Bank International Trade Department has just launched it’s Global Preferential Trade Agreement Database (GPTAD). The GPTAD provides information on preferential trade agreements (PTAs) around...
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Who Will Be Africa’s Brazil?
Will there ever be an “African Brazil”? Who will that be? Angola? Congo? Ethiopia? Nigeria? South Africa? Flip that question: what will it take for an African country to become a new Brazil? A lot....
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Border Posts, Checkpoints and Intra-African Trade
You may recall earlier this year the African Development Bank and the WCO agreed to a partnership to advance the economic development of African countries by assisting Customs administrations in their...
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Open Borders and Integrated Supply Chains break down Global Trade Barriers
East Asian economies have recorded marked improvements in their ability to enable trade, while traditional frontrunners Singapore and Hong Kong retain a clear lead at the top of the global rankings,...
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Africa – ready for rich pickings?
While on the theme of African economic and trade emancipation, it is interesting to consider the detailed analysis and evaluation occurring in regard to African continental readiness for information...
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Malawi – expresses interest in Single Window
The Southern African Trade Hub (SATH) presented the National Single Window (NSW) concept as one of the most effective tools in trade facilitation to the Ministry of Trade, Malawi Revenue Authority and...
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Private sector finally welcome in Africa?
The acceptance of private sector participation in ports in Africa is gaining traction, and not before time. At least that’s what a meeting of port minds in Nigeria would have us believe. The Port...
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Reform by Numbers – a reference work on Customs reform
The word ‘reform’ is a constant in the daily life of a customs officer. No customs administration among the 177 members of the World Customs Organization has not had a reform program in progress or...
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World’s Best (and Worst) Economies
According to the WEF, competitiveness reflects the level of productivity of a country, based on its institutions, policies and economic factors. In its study, the WEF groups the 144 countries it...
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World Bank Mobilises Record Support for Africa
The World Bank Group committed a record US$14,7 billion in the 2013 fiscal year to support economic growth and better development prospects in Africa despite uncertain economic conditions in the rest...
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EAC – Top Regional Trading Block in Africa
Improving customs efficiency can boost trade volumes and reduce the cost of doing business in the region, the Doing Business in the East Africa Community 2013 survey (Click hyperlink to view the...
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Border Management in Southern Africa: Lessons with respect to Policy and...
The folk at Tralac have provided some welcomed insight to the challenges and the pains in regard to ‘regionalisation’. No doubt readers in Member States will be familiar with these issues but powerless...
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South Africa Economic Update – Focus on Export Competitiveness
The report, South Africa Economic Update 5: Focus on Export Competitiveness, examines the performance of South Africa’s export firms against that of peers in other emerging markets— and analyzes the...
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South Africa falls in 2014 global logistics rankings
South Africa has been ranked number 34 out of 160 countries in the World Bank’s 2014 Logistics Performance Index (LPI), which is topped by Germany, with Somalia ranked lowest. Africa’s largest economy...
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Global Value Chains in the Current Trade Slowdown
Real growth in global trade has decelerated significantly since its sharp recovery in 2010. Year-on-year growth in global real trade decelerated from 13.3 percent at the end of the first quarter of...
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World Bank -Trade and COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Photo: Martin Sanchez, Unsplash Maintaining trade flows during the COVID-19 pandemic will be crucial in providing access to essential food and medical items and in limiting negative impacts on jobs...
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COVID-19 Reference page for Customs and Trade users
A dedicated COVID-19 page has been added to this blog to provide Customs and Trade users a reference and insight into a variety of international and South African weblinks and documents concerning...
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World Bank suspends ‘Doing Business’ rankings after fraud
The World Bank has suspended its Doing Business report, which ranks countries based on the costs of doing business. It is the latest crisis to beset the institution. “A number of irregularities have...
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Worldbank – Corruption in Customs
Customs are often perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in developing countries. Though difficult and complex, fighting corruption in customs is possible but requires an approach that is...
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SARS hosts Single Government Authorised Economic Operator Workshop in...
Customs activities for this year are underpinned by the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) 2021 theme “Customs bolstering recovery, resilience and renewal for sustainable global supply chain”. The...
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