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The document argues that while harmonizing all border carbon adjustments (BCAs) is impossible due to diverse national carbon pricing methods, international cooperation is essential to manage the proliferation of these instruments. It highlights that a diversity of BCAs increases uncertainty and administrative burdens for traders in sectors like steel, aluminum, cement, and fertilizers, which are critical for the export revenues of many developing countries. The brief suggests that strategic international discussion is a necessary alternative to trade disputes within the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system.

The document analyzes border carbon adjustments (BCA) as tools to prevent carbon leakage and support domestic carbon pricing. It details a 'decision tree' of design options, including trade flow coverage, geographic exemptions, emission scopes (Scope 1, 2, and 3), and methods for calculating embedded emissions. The brief highlights the tension between environmental objectives and industrial protectionism, noting that fragmented national BCA regimes could create a 'spaghetti bowl' of conflicting requirements that increase administrative burdens for exporters and strain international trade and climate cooperation.

The policy brief examines how BRICS partnerships can accelerate the digitisation of African agriculture to drive economic growth. It identifies key barriers in Africa, such as weak coordination and low FDI, and highlights successful digital agricultural models in China, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa. The author recommends using the New Development Bank (NDB) and the AfCFTA to improve infrastructure and trade, while urging African nations to adopt policies that foster digital literacy and agri-tech entrepreneurship.

The Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) is a proposed WTO accord aimed at streamlining foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, particularly to developing and least developed countries. The agreement is structured around four pillars: transparency of investment measures, streamlining administrative procedures, improving cooperation (including 'sustainable investments'), and providing special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing nations. While the legal text was finalized in July 2023, the process now faces challenges regarding its legal architecture—whether to integrate it as a multilateral or plurilateral agreement—which requires consensus from all WTO members, including non-participants like India and South Africa. Critics argue the agreement lacks operative provisions specifically designed to simplify investment for sustainable development, noting that responsible business conduct (RBC) obligations are minimal and not subject to dispute settlement.

The document examines the tension between enhancing intra-African trade through the AfCFTA and the necessity of maintaining strict non-proliferation controls under UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540. It argues that while the AfCFTA aims to create a single African market to drive socio-economic integration, these trade benefits must not be compromised by the risk of non-State actors acquiring chemical, biological, or nuclear (CBN) weapons. The brief focuses on ensuring that export and border controls required by UNSCR 1540 act as enablers of secure trade rather than barriers, specifically analyzing the AfCFTA's security exceptions to increase cohesion between trade liberalization and global security obligations.

The document analyzes the transition from the 'Angola model'—characterized by infrastructure-for-resources swaps—to a 'Hunan model' centered on the Hunan province's comparative advantages. This new approach focuses on agricultural technology, construction machinery, and digital trade to foster a more diversified economic relationship between China and Africa, implemented through national platforms like the China–Africa Economic and Trade Exhibition (CAETE) and the China–Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Zone.

The document details the requirements for EU member states to establish competent authorities and national legal frameworks to enforce EU Regulation 2023/1115. It specifies deadlines for appointing authorities by December 30, 2023, and establishing sanctions and monitoring plans by December 30, 2024, to ensure that products linked to deforestation are not traded within or exported from the EU.

A joint statement from numerous NGOs calling on the 27 EU member states to establish competent authorities and national regulatory frameworks to enforce the EU Deforestation Regulation. It outlines specific deadlines for appointing authorities and implementing sanctions, monitoring plans, and customs cooperation to prevent global deforestation driven by EU consumption.

The document outlines the immediate and medium-term legal requirements for EU Member States following the entry into force of the EU Deforestation Regulation on June 29, 2023. It specifies the need to designate competent authorities by December 30, 2023, and to establish national regulatory frameworks by December 30, 2024, including sanctions such as fines of at least 4% of total EU turnover for non-compliance.

The document outlines the immediate and future legal requirements for EU member states following the entry into force of the EU Deforestation Regulation on 29 June 2023. It specifies that states must designate competent authorities by 30 December 2023 and establish national regulatory frameworks, including sanctions and monitoring plans, by 30 December 2024.

The document discusses the role of the AfCFTA Investment Protocol and the proposed Pan-African Trade and Investment Agency in attracting foreign and domestic investment to Africa. It emphasizes that reducing tariffs alone is insufficient to increase intra-African trade; instead, Africa must scale up the production of complex goods through regional value chains. The author suggests that coordinating investment promotion around specific sectors, such as the automotive industry, can create agglomeration economies and attract skilled labor, providing a more feasible path for the AfCFTA Secretariat than a broad coordination of all 54 national investment agencies.

The report examines 93 unique plastic pollution reduction measures notified by nearly 70 WTO members. It finds that prohibitions on single-use plastics and import restrictions on plastic waste are the most common tools. The analysis highlights a lack of product diversity in current bans and suggests that WTO members could benefit from enhanced transparency, geographic expansion of successful measures, and the exploration of new thematic areas beyond common single-use items.

The document analyzes Turkey's 'niche diplomacy' in Africa, focusing on its 'Ankara consensus' for development aid, its growing role as an arms exporter (particularly drones), and its trade relations. It highlights a distinction between North African and Sub-Saharan African perceptions of Turkey, noting that while Turkey is seen as a non-colonial partner, its overall trade and aid volumes remain modest compared to major global powers. The brief suggests that Turkey's influence is currently driven more by its status as a rising donor than as a primary trading partner.

The author argues that while governments can implement unilateral trade-related tools to promote sustainable agriculture, transboundary environmental challenges require multilateral coordination through the WTO. The paper identifies three 'windows of opportunity' for the WTO: addressing environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies, managing sustainability requirements and standards to reduce costs for developing countries, and utilizing the new work program on food insecurity to build resilience in least developed countries and net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs).

The paper examines the rise of trade measures based on non-product-related process and production methods (PPMs) used to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and human rights. It analyzes the legal requirements for such measures to be WTO-compliant, highlighting the importance of non-discrimination and proportionality. The authors provide examples of current PPM-based policies, including forced labour import bans, deforestation-free supply chain regulations, and sustainability-linked tariff preferences in regional trade agreements, while noting ongoing WTO disputes between the EU, Indonesia, and Malaysia over biofuels.

The AfCFTA aims to boost intra-African trade by eliminating 97% of tariff lines, but commercially significant trade is delayed primarily by ongoing negotiations on Rules of Origin (RoO). To maintain momentum, the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) was launched in October 2022 as a pilot involving eight countries: Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Tunisia. While political will is high and many countries have developed national implementation strategies, challenges remain, including clashes between national interests and pan-African goals, dependence on external donor funding for expertise, and concerns over productive capacity disparities. The document highlights that 'smaller' countries fear domination by 'bigger' economies like South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, while some, such as Kenya, anticipate significant tariff revenue losses. Recommendations include seeking political solutions to stalled technical negotiations, institutionalising support through African multilaterals like the AfDB and Afreximbank, and coordinating industrial policies to build complementary production structures across the continent.

The document analyzes the 'demographic departure' between China, whose population peaked in 2022 and is declining, and Africa, whose population is projected to grow significantly. It examines China's 'getting old before getting rich' strategy—a two-tier approach focusing on capturing a low-wage demographic dividend while preparing for an aged society through education and healthcare investments. The author argues that African nations should adopt similar cointegrated economic-demography strategies to avoid productivity stagnation and leverage new market opportunities created by ageing global populations.

The report tracks the progress of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) toward a stabilized negotiating text for a WTO Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development, noting that very few outstanding issues remain.

The document analyzes the foreign policy of Nigeria under President Buhari, highlighting a lack of coherence between domestic goals and regional aspirations. Key issues discussed include the 2019 land border closures, which aimed to curb smuggling but increased food inflation and harmed regional trade; the delayed ratification of the AfCFTA due to domestic productivity concerns; and the decline of the oil sector caused by insecurity and poor governance, which deterred foreign direct investment. It also evaluates the role of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in managing relations with Nigerians abroad amidst increasing economic migration.

The document provides a detailed analysis of the draft Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD), which is being negotiated by over 110 WTO members. It breaks down the agreement into seven sections: scope and general principles, transparency, administrative streamlining, coordination and cooperation, special and differential treatment for developing countries, sustainable investment, and institutional provisions. The report highlights significant progress made in 2022, such as the consensus on foreign direct investment (FDI) as a core focus and the inclusion of home-state transparency measures. However, it identifies several pending issues, including the definition of 'enterprise', the treatment of e-commerce measures, and the specific timelines for developing countries to implement obligations. It also discusses three potential legal architectures for integrating the IFD into the WTO framework: as a multilateral agreement (Annex 1), a plurilateral agreement (Annex 4), or through coordinated lists in existing GATT and GATS agreements.