The UK-EU Free Trade Agreement was reached just days before the UK’s departure from the Single Market and Customs Union. The deal provides for zero tariffs and sero quotas, providing a basis for a more positive future cooperation, in comparison to trading on WTO terms.
The presidential transition period which lasts until 20 January will freeze talks on a UK-US trade deal Numbers of new confirmed Covid cases continued to rise in the US, Germany and Italy.
Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The pandemic has created a vast natural experiment in home working.
Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. Governments across Europe face a hard balance between public health and economic activity as they combat a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Global trade is recovering more quickly than after the 2008 global financial crisis.
The transmission of COVID-19 has returned to “alarming rates” across Europe, says the World Health Organization. The UK government imposed more restrictions on areas of the North East and the Midlands to combat a rise in the number of cases.
In their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, governments have learned and applied many of the lessons of past crises. Early testing and tracing at scale gave countries including Germany, Taiwan and South Korea a lead in combating the virus.
In the UK Boris Johnson announced a further loosening of lockdown restrictions, reopening most remaining leisure facilities and dropping advice that public transport should be used for essential journeys only.
The speed and severity of the economic downturn has been far greater than the last recession, in 2008–09. The IMF forecasts that world GDP will shrink by almost 5% this year. Growth is coming back as the lockdown eases.
The number of recorded daily new COVID-19 cases worldwide hit a new record last week with Latin America and the Caribbean now accounting for the largest number of cases by major region.
As the lockdown eases the global economy is starting to come back to life. The UK started to emerge from lockdown, with people who are unable to work at home ‘actively encouraged’ to return to work. From next Monday all non-essential shops will be allowed to get back to business.
The value of Trade Finance Programs, which if combined with regulatory and technological innovation, is destined to hasten the closing trade finance gap and bring broader positive economic outcomes for nations.
From the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement to MANSA, TFG heard from Afreximbank on how they are addressing the challenges around African trade
Your morning coffee briefing from TFG. Countries around the world continue to ease lockdown restrictions. The collapse in the oil price and shrinking demand has sent inflation rates tumbling. Governments in the West are spending and borrowing on a vast scale as they counter the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If Africa is to realize her trade potential, they must be willing to implement far-reaching reforms across all the segments and institutions of the economy.
