Tradewinds | USAID West Africa Trade Hub

Tradewinds

Tradewinds is a monthly newsletter produced by the West Africa Trade Hub.

May, 2013

UN Women initiative prepares new knowledge-sharing platform for women worldwide Grace Gabala, UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is a newly-established UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, and one of the... >> Read more	African Cashew Alliance seal expands as a new processing factory prepares to open in Ghana Joe Lamport At the 2012 annual conference of the African Cashew Alliance, Kraft Foods and Intersnack, two of the world’s largest buyers of cashew nuts, signed an agreement with the alliance to implement a... >> Read more
Ghanaian shea stakeholders advocate for a greater say in pricing mechanisms Craig Duncan Ghanaian members of the shea industry have met to discuss their plans to advocate for greater stakeholder involvement in the regulation of shea prices in Ghana, through the establishment of an intra-... >> Read more	Global Shea Alliance holds first-ever event in North America Joe Lamport The use of shea in products across the U.S. has only increased in recent years, but the industry has never collectively reached out to buyers of shea in the country. That changed in May when the... >> Read more
Positives outweigh the negatives for investors in West Africa Ashley Heacock, AM International Ashley Heacock is an international business consultant. Tradewinds recently ran into her at the inaugural shea conference in New York City and asked her to describe her experiences in trade and... >> Read more	Region’s fifth Border Information Center opens at Cote d’Ivoire-Ghana border Craig Duncan West Africa’s fifth Border Information Center has opened on the Noe-Elubo border between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Like the other Border Information Centers in the region, the center aims... >> Read more
What's Happening at the USAID Trade Hub Nanabea Adarkwah-Agyapong Burt’s Bees joins the Global Shea AllianceThe Global Shea Alliance has welcomed Burt’s Bees as its newest member, and the company will also participate in the Alliance’s working... >> Read more

April, 2013

Adopting a Common External Tariff, ECOWAS states move closer to customs union Joe Lamport Once a month or so, an employee of Mamma Mia’s pizzeria in Accra, Ghana, drives three hours to Lomé in neighboring Togo to stock up on supplies for the popular restaurant. The reason is simple... >> Read more	Global Shea Alliance to hold inaugural event in New York City Megan Guidrey, Global Shea Alliance The Global Shea Alliance will host its inaugural North American event in New York City May 13, reflecting the organization’s meteoric growth in just two years. Launched with 54 stakeholders in... >> Read more
Interest in baobab surges in the U.S. market Joe Lamport At trade shows around the world, during meetings with brands large and small and via communications varied and regular the USAID Trade Hub has championed baobab – which, to be fair, may not... >> Read more	Lagos to host African Cashew Alliance "Value Chain & Gains: World Cashew Festival" in September Xenia Défontaine, African Cashew Alliance "Value Chain & Gains!," the African Cashew Alliance's World Cashew Festival and Expo2013, will take place Sept. 16-19 in Lagos, Nigeria, the Alliance has announced. The Eko Hotel... >> Read more
Niger eliminates checkpoints and stakeholders' persistent lobbying efforts pay off Craig Duncan The Government of Niger has eliminated seven checkpoints, winning the gratitude of truck drivers and the praise of the Borderless Alliance.Checkpoints slow down trucks, driving up transport costs and... >> Read more	Transport stakeholders in Senegal ponder "pass sticker" to reduce delays, harassment Craig Duncan The National Committees of the Borderless Alliance, the West African private sector-led group advocating for reduced costs and delays in cross-border transport, have begun mobilizing their members to... >> Read more
Viewpoint: Regional tariff reform: Necessary, but not sufficient Dr. Daniel Bromley, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Humboldt University-Berlin Dr. Daniel Bromley is the Anderson-Bascom Distinguished Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Humbold University in Berlin. He is the author, most recently, of... >> Read more	What's Happening at the USAID Trade Hub Nanabea Adarkwah-Agyapong Global Shea Alliance participates at in-cosmetics, trains women in GhanaThe Global Shea Alliance, co-founded by the USAID Trade Hub in 2011, participated at the In-Cosmetics international trade show... >> Read more

March, 2013

Bribes, delays focus of workshops during week-long caravan in Burkina Faso Craig Duncan and Bright Gowonu Hundreds of transport and trade stakeholders in Burkina Faso participated in meetings in five cities during a caravan organized by the Improved Road Transport Governance (IRTG) initiative, a joint... >> Read more	How to achieve a pledge to reduce delays at Ghana's borders Niels Rasmussen At the second annual conference of the Borderless Alliance in Accra in February, Ghana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Harouna Iddrisu, pledged to reduce delays at Ghana’s borders... >> Read more
New deputy managing director at the African Cashew Alliance Meredith Ragno In 2006, the USAID Trade Hub co-founded the African Cashew Alliance with 24 private sector stakeholders. In the ensuing seven years, the cashew industry has become a major economic force in West... >> Read more	Quality, sustainability and practical business information at 'Shea 2013: Global Perspectives' Craig Duncan More than 500 representatives of all points in the shea value chain participated in the Global Shea Alliance’s “Global Perspectives” conference, held in Abuja, Nigeria, in March,... >> Read more
The challenge and opportunity of feeding Africa's cities Peter White With fast increasing urbanization, West Africa needs more food than the region currently produces – where will it come from? How will it get here? And at what cost? Peter White, an... >> Read more	What's Happening at the USAID Trade Hub Nanabea Adarkwah-Agyapong Border Information Center opens at the Port of Dakar105 stakeholders in Senegal participated in the launch of West Africa’s fourth Border Information Center in Dakar. The new center is hosted... >> Read more

February, 2013

Businesses, government, civil society should start thinking about AGOA law renewal now Sherman Katz, Trade Policy Expert AGOA opened the U.S. to duty-free sale of more than 6,000 items (tariff lines) from African nations provided those countries conduct free and fair elections. Products from West Africa... >> Read more	Buyer tour made rediscovering Ivoirian handcrafts a joy Phyllis Woods, Tribalinks Traveling in West Africa to source handcrafts and import those products is full of challenges. I don’t have to tell those who have been there, how difficult logistics alone can be as you... >> Read more
First-ever buyers expo and tour helps to rebuild Ivoirian handcrafts sector Joe Lamport In the 1990s, international handcrafts buyers included Côte d’Ivoire on their itineraries when they came to West Africa. But the country’s long civil war in the 2000s decimated that... >> Read more	Guinea welcomes West Africa’s 18th AGOA Resource Center Joe Lamport A new enhanced AGOA Resource Center (eARC) is now serving the business community in Guinea, thanks to collaboration between the USAID West Africa Trade Hub, the USAID Business Environments for Agile... >> Read more
What's Happening at the USAID Trade Hub Nanabea Adarkwah-Agyapong Seven handcrafts exporters from Ghana, Guinea, Niger and Senegal met over 100 professional buyers when they exhibited textiles, baskets, leather products, furniture and other home décor... >> Read more	With a pledge to improve, Ghana's Minister of Trade sets the tone at second annual Borderless Alliance conference Craig Duncan Ghana’s Minister of Trade pledged to significantly reduce the time it takes to process trucks at the country’s border as he opened the second annual conference of the Borderless... >> Read more

January, 2013

"The impacts (of removing trade barriers) are likely to be huge" Paul Brenton of the World Bank on Borderless 2013 Joe Lamport Paul Brenton, Trade Practice Leader in the Africa Region of the World Bank, is a keynote speaker at this year’s Borderless Conference in Accra, February 21-22. Mr. Brenton is among the world... >> Read more	20th report marks a milestone for USAID-UEMOA collaboration on road governance Christophe Bruyas, USAID Trade Hub Road Governance Team Leader In 2005, UEMOA, the eight-member group of francophone countries and Ghana, asked the USAID Trade Hub to develop a methodology to monitor the extent of checkpoints, delays and bribes along primary... >> Read more
Access to finance should be a frontline activity Peter White, Consultant to the USAID Trade Hub Ask any up-and-coming export company in West Africa what its greatest challenge is and it will probably say financing – and, in particular, long-term financing to acquire plant and equipment to... >> Read more

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USAID West Africa Trade Hub
Jubilee House, 4th Street
Kuku Hill, Osu
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Fax: +233 30 2782 231
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www.carana.com

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