West Africa gets first air link to Asia

Emirates airline is launching a direct flight between Dubai and Dakar which will provide a key link between Asia and West Africa, boosting trade and tourism, airline president Tim Clark said recently.

"We're very excited about our new service, which launches on September 1. Operating five times a week, it marks the first scheduled air link between Dakar and Dubai," he told journalists in the Senegalese capital.

He said the route "will establish a whole new artery of trade." "Dakar will become significantly closer to key global markets, including the Middle and the Far East," said Clark, adding this would "introduce a brand new audience to Senegal, stimulating tourism and commerce, and creating jobs.'

Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, chairman of the board of the Senegal Airlines group, said the "lack of a direct link to Asia has been challenging particularly to the business community" with its growing interest in the Asian market.

Senegal Airlines is planning to relaunch before the end of the year with the help of Emirates, after its predecessor Air Senegal International collapsed in April 2009. Dakar is hoping to further strengthen its position as a business and tourism hub in a region where air travel is notoriously expensive and tedious.

Diong said plans were afoot to set up an aeronautical training centre in Dakar, which could also become a destination for airplane maintenance. Up until now passing through Europe has been the only option for travellers seeking to get to Asia.

The value of non-oil trade between the United Arab Emirates and Senegal rose from 14 million dollars in 2003 to 184 million dollars last year, said Clark.

AFP

Malawi reluctant to sign EPA

by Frank Jomo

Malawi won’t sign a trade deal with the European Union until the union helps the southern African country bring production standards to European companies’ level, Trade MinisterEunice Kazembe said.

Malawi, which has unreliable public utilities and poor technology standards, stands to lose should it sign the so- called economic partnership agreements as it would be forced to trade with the EU on zero-tax terms, Kazembe told reporters in late July in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

“We need to move cautiously otherwise the Malawi market will be flooded with European goods,” she said. “We want the EPAs to be of mutual benefit for the economic development of both sides.”

Peter Thompson, the European Commission’s director for development, said Malawi should show interest in continuing with the negotiations by making an offer that would lead to the two parties discussing how trade can be facilitated.

Malawi participates in the EU’s so-called Everything But Arms initiative, which is designed to boost the economies of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries by allowing them to export goods into the EU duty-free area. Malawi is content with the EBA and sees no reason to hurry into signing the EPAs, Kazembe said.

The Malawian unit of Illovo Sugar Ltd., Africa’s biggest producer of the sweetener, last year said the country’s delay in signing the economic partnership agreements with the EU had reduced profit levels for the company and means it could only sell it sugar to regional markets which are less lucrative compared with European markets.

Bloomberg