East African community to discuss regional cyberlaw

The East African Community (EAC) Task Force on Cyberlaws will meet in Mombasa, Kenya on March 28–30 to discuss the next phase in putting into effect laws endorsed by countries of the region to smooth the conduct of business through information and communication technologies (ICTs).
The meeting will be followed by a March 31- April 1 briefing for members of the Parliament of Kenya on selected legal and regulatory issues relating to e-commerce, m-commerce and business operations conducted by mobile devices, said the UNCTAD press note.
The opening session of the briefing will be attended by the Kenyan minister of information and communication technology, Samuel Poghisio.
The Task Force meeting, organised jointly by the EAC secretariat and UNCTAD, will review progress in implementing the Cyberlaw Framework’s Phase I, which covers electronic transactions, electronic signatures and authentication, data protection and privacy, consumer protection, and computer crime.
In addition, officials will consider a draft framework for Phase II, which focuses on intellectual property rights, competition, e-taxation and information security.
The intent is to finalise the draft and submit it for adoption by relevant EAC institutions. Thirty-five members of the task force will attend, including representatives from the Ministry of East African Cooperation and national officials from Ministries of Justice, Law Reform Commissions, ICT Ministries, and regulatory institutions dealing with telecommunications, revenue and competition. Other participants will come from the East African Business Council and the East African Legislative Assembly. Also, representatives from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) will attend. The framework for Phase I of the harmonization project was endorsed by the EAC Council of Ministers last November. Developing country officials are increasingly aware of the need to adapt and harmonize legislation to take into account the Internet economy and the potential of both e-commerce and m-commerce for boosting domestic and cross-border business.
UNCTAD supports activities to build the capacities of developing countries in the ICT field. In East Africa and other regions, it has helped lawmakers prepare cyberlaws that protect both consumers and businesses, and encourage economic growth. EAC member countries have taken a number of steps to adapt legislation to the increased use of ICTs, in particular mobile phones, for business and financial operations. The briefing of members of the Kenyan Parliament will cover legal and regulatory issues relating to e-commerce and m-commerce, and review the EAC cyberlaw harmonization process. The briefing, organized by the Commission on Communications of Kenya and UNCTAD, aims not only to accelerate the process of enacting draft cyberlaws, but to ensure proper implementation and subsequent administration of the EAC framework.

The briefing is particularly relevant because delivery of the Government’s development strategy, Vision 2030, depends in great part on ICT platforms. The strategy also includes major targets related to regional trade. The Government has shown strong determination to advance on cyberlaw reforms, given the increasing use of mobile phones within the country forfinancial transactions. Kenya is currently deploying many new mobile money services and applications following the introduction of its M-PESA – a mobile-phone based money transfer service – in 2007. These latest activities on cyberlegislation are being funded by the Government of Finland, which since 2006 has supported EAC efforts to harmonize cyberlaws.

Meet to focus on volatility of mineral, agricultuire markets

Government ministers, heads of international agencies, and experts in the fields of energy, minerals, and agriculture will meet to discuss persistent volatility in commodity markets as energy and food prices have been rising again – food commodity prices have now surpassed the level during the global food crisis two years ago.
UNCTAD’s second Global Commodities Forum (GCF) will feature a packed series of meetings on January 31 and February 1, with sessions occurring simultaneously in separate conference rooms at the Palais des Nations.
The main subjects for discussion are the instability of mineral and agricultural markets and their interconnectedness, the effectiveness of commodity policies for achieving the sustainable production and use of commodities, and ensuring energy and food security, the role of innovation and early warning systems in the commodities sector and Commodity finance, risk management and logistics.
Exports of basic farm products and raw industrial materials such as petroleum, ores and minerals are vital for many developing-country economies. But such commodities have long been subject to sharp rises and falls in prices and demand. The volatility hinders sustainable economic growth and development in poor commodity-producing countries and greatly complicates the investment process, government and corporate planning, and decision-making.
Among high-level officials, participants in GCF 2011 panel discussions will include the deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs of Iraq, the minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, the minister for Mineral Resources and Energy of Mongolia, the minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives of the United Republic of Tanzania, the vice-minister of Economy of Peru; the commissioner of Commodity Futures Trading Commission of the United States, the deputy assistant foreign minister for International Economic Relations of Egypt and the acting chief director of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana.
Corporate leaders participating as moderators and speakers at the Forum include the heads of leading commodity exchanges, representatives of major banks and commodity-producing and trading companies, and providers of commodity trade support services, such as insurance, logistics and advisory services.
The opening session of the Forum will feature addresses by UNCTAD secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi, World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy and International Telecommunication Union secretary-general Hamadoun I Touré.Also speaking will be Luis Manuel Piantini Munnigh, president of the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, secretary-general of the African Caribbean Pacific Group of States Secretariat, Ali Mchumo, managing director of the Common Fund for Commodities and Andrey Vasilyev, deputy executive secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Topics to be discussed in plenary – led by panels of high-level government officials, business leaders and academics – include 'the state of agricultural markets: the drivers of increased volatility', 'commodity markets and their interconnectedness', 'trade and other policy options for modernising agriculture in developing countries' and 'overcoming excessive market volatility through better regulation, data, and transparency'.

GBOT to start live exchange in Mauritius from April

The first multi-asset derivatives exchange is going live in Mauritius from April.
The first of its kind of currency and derivatives exchange in this region – Global Board of Trade (GBOT) – plans to offer eight-currency pairs with the dollar as the base – including Kenyan shilling and Ugandan shilling.
Joseph Bosco, deputy managing director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of GBOT thinks that the region, with all its natural resources and huge potentials, is slowly waking up. “The African region is coming out of its troubled past and realizing its real strength,” he said adding that GBOT offers the region a better platform to exploit its natural resources and commodities like sugar and coffee. “Cocoa and coffee from the African region and Mauritius sugar are the world class,” he added.
It also expects to trade futures contracts in zinc, copper, aluminium, nickel, gold, silver and platinum apart from coffee, sugar and maize as well as crude oil and carbon credits.
The exchange will trade in 14 commodities, such as precious metals, base metals and agricultural commodities and eight dollar-based currency pairs - including the Mauritius rupee, euro, yen and sterling.
A good futures market can also control volatility of currency. “We will offer them the required risk management mechanism to hedge themselves against uncertainty,” Bosco added. “The east African countries like Kenya and Uganda can benefit a lot from it.”
The African continent has lately been on the radar of global powers like China and India. “And Mauritius is the gateway for Africa to the rest of the world,” he said. The Indian Ocean island nation offers every facility for an investor and has a democratic framework with a strong judicial system. “Apart from that its tax structure is very much favourable to the investors,” he said adding that the companies based in Mauritius and trading on other parts of the world would get 80 per cent tax rebate. “On top of that the people of Africa trust Mauritius more than any other.”
GBOT's main promoter is India's Financial Technologies (FT) that is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India.
The exchange that has invested around $20 million was looking to add options contracts in due course, apart from international stocks, bonds and IRFs. “But initially, we are looking at $1 billion to $1.5 billion per trading day for each of the two categories of products (commodities and currencies) from second year trade given a limitations in the region,” Bosco said adding that “though it would definitely go up by the time.”