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Having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

Example:  North Korea is considered a xenophobic country.

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Xenophobia is rising in the ex-communist east of Germany and risks tarnishing its reputation as a place to do business, the government said on Wednesday as it published its annual report on the state of German unification.

Far-right violence and attacks on migrants rose dramatically last year, with riots and arson attacks on refugee shelters in the towns of Heidenau and Freital in Saxony state. More than one million, mainly Muslim migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia streamed into Germany over the course of 2015.

"Right-wing extremism in all its forms poses a very serious threat for the social and economic development of the new states," Iris Gleicke, the federal government's commissioner for eastern German affairs, said, referring to the five states that comprised Communist East Germany from 1945 to 1990.

Germany recorded 1,408 violent acts carried out by rightist supporters last year, a rise of more than 42 percent from 2014, and 75 arson attacks on refugee shelters, up from five a year earlier, according to an annual report by the BfV domestic intelligence agency published in June.

Attacks were more frequent in east German states. There were 58.7 cases of far right-motivated violence per 1 million inhabitants in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern last year, compared to the average of 10.5 cases in west German states, the report said.

Gleicke said the vast majority of east Germans were not xenophobic. But she urged civil society groups and businesses to speak out more loudly against far-right extremism.

"Society should not look away when people are attacked or refugee shelters are set on fire. A lot is on the line for east Germany," said Gleicke, who is from the east.

Heidenau in Saxony became infamous when anti-refugee riots broke out and Chancellor Angela Merkel - who grew up in East Germany - was heckled by far-right activists as an alleged traitor for her open-door policy towards refugees.

Germany's acceptance of more than one million refugees last year boosted popular support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is now represented in all of the eastern federal states.

On trips abroad to Japan and California to try and drum up investment into east Germany, Gleicke said her interlocutors had cited concern about whether their foreign staff would be welcome and whether their investments would be safe.

"It's quite clear that a location that doesn't show itself to be liberal-minded will face economic disadvantages," she told a news conference.

More than 25 years after reunification, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in east German states still lags that of west German states by more than 25 percent, hindered by a population decline and a lack of major employers.

Not a single company in Germany's blue-chip DAX index is headquartered in the east.

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German Government Fears Xenophobia Will Do Economic Harm

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Xenophobia is rising in the ex-communist east of Germany and risks tarnishing its reputation as a place to do business, the government said on Wednesday as it published its annual report on the state of German unification.

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A general vote by the electorate on a single political question that has been referred to them for a direct decision. (voters get to choose yes or no to a question like spending money on a new school)

Example: The Wauwatosa School Board might have a referendum.

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Rafael Behr ( Opinion, 21 September) and senior Liberal Democrats who question the wisdom of Tim Farron's commitment to a second referendum once the terms of Brexit are settled, assume present attitudes will persist. They ignore the likelihood that negotiations will end in "a hard Brexit".

Continued membership of the single market and of the EU customs union is the least likely outcome. Outside both, the prospect of an easy conclusion of favourable new free trade agreements (FTAs) with the rest of the world is a pipe dream. We would not only need a new FTA with the EU, likely to be a protracted negotiation as it has to be agreed by all 27 members, but also with some 50 countries with which the EU now has FTAs, as well as those with which it is now negotiating, principally China and the US. We would also have to re-enter the World Trade Organisation, which involves making a number of commitments that have to be approved by all 164 WTO members.

London's survival as the financial centre of Europe would also be in doubt. Outside the single market financial institutions would be unlikely to obtain the passports they need for doing business in the single market.

The obstacles to a swift solution that would benefit our world trade are numerous and formidable.

The likely result within a few years is a "Brexit recession", caused by reduced foreign investment, even disinvestment, by those who once saw Britain as the gateway to the single market - Japanese carmakers, for example - as well as an exodus of British companies to the continent. By the time negotiations conclude, there is likely to be a major shift in public opinion against our leaving the EU.
Dick Taverne
House of Lords

Polly Toynbee ( Get serious, Labour rebels, your country needs you, 20 September) makes the valid point that these 172 MPs should be standard bearers for the nation's pro-EU 48%. In this context, I think it should also be borne in mind that less than 35% of the electorate voted for Brexit. Surely our elected representatives must take account of the 65% who, for whatever reasons, did not vote for the UK to leave the EU. It is another good reason for parliament, and not solely the prime minister, to decide whether to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon treaty.
Mike Pender
Cardiff

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Plenty of reasons for a second EU referendum | Letters

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Rafael Behr ( Opinion, 21 September) and senior Liberal Democrats who question the wisdom of Tim Farron's commitment to a second referendum once the terms of Brexit are settled, assume present attitudes will persist. They ignore the likelihood that negotiations will end in "a hard Brexit".

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The improvement or fixing of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc.

Example: The U.S helped to reform the government in some middle eastern countries.

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Facing international pressure for failing to stop human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all shrimp processing in-house.

That hasn't always happened. Instead, some formerly enslaved shrimp peelers have been deported. And some shrimp peeling sheds are being inspected and authorized to keep operating.

Tin Nyo Win, who escaped slavery and alerted police to abuses, was deported to Myanmar this month, along with his pregnant wife and a half-dozen others, after being held almost a year in a Thai government shelter. Authorities said that although the couple were victims of modern-day slavery, they had illegally entered Thailand to begin with.

"They don't treat us like humans. They treat us like dogs," Tin Nyo Win said hours before Thai authorities took them away. "They just try to bully those of us who are victims already."

Nattamon Punbhochar at the Thai foreign ministry said the couple never requested compensation and were deported in accordance with a memorandum of understanding Thailand has with Myanmar.

"They don't want any wages from their employer," he said. "They just want to return to their home."

Win denies this. He said he is broke, tried to get compensated, and would have actually appreciated a decent job processing seafood in Thailand.

The Associated Press also found that while some Thai companies that export shrimp to the U.S. have given formerly entrapped workers better jobs in-house, others still use middlemen who employ laborers in remote, guarded warehouses. That's despite industry vows to end outside shrimp processing by the end of last year after human trafficking was exposed in the sheds.

Shed owners frequently break environmental, labor or safety laws. Seventy-five percent of the 109 inspected so far this year were cited for violations, and 24 were ordered to close.

Human-rights and media reports documenting abuse in Thailand's $7 billion annual seafood export industry have brought international pressure. Last year, the AP reported on fishermen locked in a cage on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina and traced their catch to Thailand, then on to the U.S., leading to more than 2,000 slaves being freed .

AP also focused on slavery inside the Gig Peeling shed outside Bangkok in Samut Sakhon, where Tin Nyo Win, 22, and his wife were locked inside and forced to work 16 hours a day, ripping guts, heads and tails off shrimp that entered supply chains of most major U.S. supermarkets and companies including Red Lobster, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart.

Win was a whistleblower - he ran away and told police, who raided the factory and rescued more than 100 people.

In response, the Thai government said victims and witnesses of human trafficking could stay and work in Thailand for up to one year while their cases were investigated. This year the U.S. State Department commended Thailand for reforms and took the country off a global human trafficking blacklist .

Those Thai reforms - on paper - include paying whistleblowers like Win as much as $2,800, and providing victims compensation, education, employment and other assistance. Empty promises, said Win, who said he and his wife weren't even given food sometimes.

Col. Prasert Siriphanapitat, Samut Sakhon deputy police commander, said five people including a shed owner have been charged in Tin Nyo Win's case. All are out on bail.

Last year, facing a boycott over abuses, major seafood groups and certifiers decided to protect workers by moving all labor in-house, banning outsourcing of shrimp pre-processing. Yet dozens of pre-processing sheds continue to operate, doing work for at least some of those exporters.

The shrimp-peeling sheds are hidden in plain sight. Some are large factories, others nothing more than a large garage. Labor advocates say workers can become mired in debt by paying for the jobs in the first place and then being charged room and board. There's little oversight to ensure they're not being forced to work.

The AP recently visited a handful of Samut Sakhon shrimp sheds - some now rebranded as shrimp factories - buzzing with workers hand-peeling truckloads of shrimp on residential streets or behind walls.

"We prepare many tons of shrimp here every day," said Boonchai Seafood director Taweesak Suralertrungson. "We're following rules 100 percent."

Documents at Boonchai show it processes shrimp for May Ao Food Co., one of Thailand's leading exporters to the U.S. May Ao touts major U.S. importers as customers, including Aqua Star and H&N Foods International. May Ao's own "May Brand" shrimp has been sold at Kroger and other supermarkets.

Boonchai on this day had 107 shrimp peelers who were gutting, deveining and tearing heads off shrimp in icy buckets; Taweesak said each is paid the daily minimum wage of 300 baht ($8.50). Standing in a cooled warehouse, workers in gloves, aprons and boots worked at stainless-steel tables.

With new government oversight, Boonchai's workers this year got insurance, housing support and hourly pay, Taweesak said. But a colleague complained that once workers get legitimate papers, most leave.

"They don't want to work in this wet and smelly place if they don't have to," said assistant Jamras Goyari.

While Boonchai's operations passed a government inspection, the industry had vowed to eliminate middlemen.

Shrimp peeled by Boonchai which enters the supply chains of seafood exported by May Ao carries the Global Aquaculture Alliance's Best Aquaculture Practices certification - which says "peeling and heading of shrimp must occur in facilities owned by and completely controlled by" the processing plants. May Ao is also a member of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, which promised last year "to eradicate third-party pre-processing."

Officials at May Ao and TFFA initially insisted that all shrimp peeling is in-house. When pressed, TFFA President Poj Aramwattananont said May Ao's factory is too small to handle all the labor. He said there's nothing illegal about pre-processing in independent warehouses, and that the media has unfairly singled out his industry.

"We are not 100 percent clean. You will always find some problems, but those are rare," he said.

Global Aquaculture Alliance president George Chamberlain said his organization is gravely concerned and asked for more details for further investigation.

"Clearly, this is a difficult long-term issue, but we take it very seriously, and we are working hard on it," he said.

At May Ao, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media said that while Boonchai isn't "in-house," they are allowed to do business with each other because they are part of the same association. Boonchai officials said they weren't yet TFFA members but were taking steps to join.

Clearly some Thai seafood exporters have improved working conditions. One of the biggest, Thai Union, opened a large, clean peeling warehouse at its packing and exporting facility. The 1,200 workers get subsidized meals and opportunities for bonuses.

"I have more rights. I like it," said Thet Paing Oo, 23, a migrant from Myanmar having lunch in Thai Union's cafeteria. He said he spent six years working 15-hour shifts at shrimp sheds without a day off.

Now his salary has increased, and he gets one day off a week.

Yu Wa, 35, also from Myanmar, teared up at the memory of her previous shed, where she was locked inside and paid by the kilogram no matter how long the work took. Now she gets a daily wage.

"Workers don't need to buy our gloves and uniforms. We have a shuttle pick us up for work," she said. "I am treated well and the boss is good. It's much better."

Thai Union was among the companies found last year to be getting their shrimp peeled at Gig Peeling shed, where Tin Nyo Win and others were enslaved.

Thai Union spokeswoman Whitney Small said Thai Union offered everyone at Gig positions, accommodations, food and money. She said none of those workers ended up at Thai Union. She didn't know why.

Tin Nyo Win, reached by phone back in Myanmar, said life is difficult. They have no money, and his wife is about to give birth.

When AP tried to call him back, a woman answered. She said he had pawned the cellphone to her. She didn't know where he had gone.

___

AP writers Esther Htusan in Yangon, Myanmar, and Natnicha Chuwiruch, Jason Corben and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Promises unmet as Thailand tries to reform shrimp industry

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Facing international pressure for failing to stop human trafficking in its seafood sector, Thailand promised almost a year ago to compensate victims of slavery and industry leaders vowed to bring all shrimp processing in-house. That hasn't always happened. Instead, some formerly enslaved shrimp peelers have been deported.

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A procedure that allows citizens to remove and replace a public official before the end of a term of office

Example: At one point there was a recall for governor Walker.

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After weeks of investigation, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a formal recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in conjunction with Samsung today. The move outlines the problems with the phone's exploding battery and puts in place a path for consumers to return or replace the device. The news should come as source of relief for Samsung customers, many of whom have been grappling with the company's mixed messaging and sometimes confusing responses to the Note 7's ongoing issues. The formal recall covers about 1 million devices.

"Consumers should immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices purchased before September 15th, 2016," reads the CPSC's recommendation. "Contact the wireless carrier, retail outlet, or Samsung.com where you purchased your device to receive free of charge a new Galaxy Note 7 with a different battery, a refund, or a new replacement device." The CPSC has also updated the US incident count, pegging the number of units with overheating batteries at 92, including 26 reports of burns and 55 reports of property damage.
"Immediately stop using and power down the recalled Galaxy Note 7"
The CPSC has had a staggered response to the recall due to delayed communications with Samsung, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The tension there has made it difficult for US carriers to issue new devices, and every Note 7 has needed approval from the CPSC before it can be cleared for consumers. A software update issued to South Korean owners earlier this week caps the battery capacity at 60 percent, supposedly to prevent overheating and eventual battery combustion. The fix is a stopgap, and it's not yet available to Note 7 owners outside South Korea.

T-Mobile, in response to the CPSC recall, released a statement saying it expects Samsung shipments of replacement Note 7's to arrive "no later than September 21st." For those interested in getting a different device, the company says customers will receive a full refund on the Note 7 and any accessories, and the money can put toward any device in T-Mobile's inventory. T-Mobile will also waive any restocking charges and shipping fees, and it's also including a $25 credit on their monthly cell bill. Samsung had previously said its replacement Note 7's will come in boxes with a blue "S" over the barcode sticker.

Likewise, AT&T issued a similar statement saying it will receive inventory of new Galaxy Note 7s from Samsung no later than September 21st. "These devices have been tested by Samsung and approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission," reads the support note. AT&T customers with the original Note 7 "are strongly encouraged to immediately power down and stop using their device and visit their original place of purchase to exchange that device."
Replacement Note 7's will be in stock on September 21st
Samsung first acknowledged problems with the phone's battery on September 2nd, when it issued a recall with a statement telling owners it would "voluntarily replace [users'] current device with a new one over the coming weeks." This lack of clarity, compounded by follow-up statements telling users to power the phone off, has turned the situation into a pressing and financially sensitive situation for Samsung. The company's stock is currently experiencing its largest ever price decline in its 28 years as a public company.

Meanwhile, mobile analytics company Apteligent, which issued a report on the Note 7 this week, claims the "usage rate of the phone among existing users has been almost the exact same since the day of the recall." In other words, Note 7 users are ignoring Samsung's recommendations and continuing to use the phone. According to Recode, only 130,000 Note 7 units have been returned as part of Samsung's exchange program. So this recall, while giving people formal instructions on how to get a replacement or return the Note 7, is also designed to highlight the dangers of continuing to use the device.

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Samsung formally recalls the Note 7 in the US

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After weeks of investigation, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a formal recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in conjunction with Samsung today. The move outlines the problems with the phone's exploding battery and puts in place a path for consumers to return or replace the device.

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To search for and expose real or alleged corruption, scandal, or the like, especially in politics.

Example: Muckrakers can be very annoying to politicians.

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More than 300 journalists and speakers from 30 countries will be attending the second Asian Investigative Journalism Conference, 22-25 September, in Kathmandu, the largest ever-international media conference to be held in Nepal.

The event is organised by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and co-hosted by the Kathmandu-based Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJN), and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany. It is expected to bring together some of Asia's best muckrakers, data journalists and media law and cyber-security experts from around the world.

Recent crackdowns on press freedom across Asia have made it difficult and dangerous for reporters, especially investigative journalists. Media has had to battle censorship, overt state control, harassment, and reporters have been killed even in countries with long traditions of free press such as Philippines and India.

However, Asia has also seen courageous journalists expose corrupt leaders for their ill-gotten wealth, kleptocratic state machineries, investigated cross-border financial crimes, trafficking, illegal logging and has uncovered large-scale plunder of state coffers like the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.

"Now, more than ever, Asia needs powerfully reported stories that uncover wrongdoing by powerful individuals and institutions," says Sheila Coronel of Stabile Centre for Investigative Journalism of Columbia University, whose expose of Philippine President Josef Estrada in 2001 led to his downfall. "The Kathmandu conference is a unique opportunity to foster cross-border collaboration among investigative journalists in the region and elsewhere."

Coronel is a speaker at the conference together with the Pulitzer Prize winning team that investigated the Seafood Slaves story for the Associated Press. Walter V Robinson of the Boston Globe whose investigative story on paedophile priests featured in the Oscar-winning film, Spotlight, will be giving the keynote speech.

Ying Chan who has just finished her tenure as dean of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong, Steven Gan of the independent news portal, Malaysiakini, and strong teams of investigative and data journalists from India and Pakistan will be in attendance.

"We're witnessing an extraordinary response to the Kathmandu conference, not just in the number of investigative journalists participating, but also in the high calibre of speakers," GIJN Director David Kaplan told the Nepali Times. "What happens in Nepal next week will influence Asian journalism for years."

The first Uncovering Asia conference was held in Manila, Philippines in 2014 and got such a positive response that GIJN decided to hold another one, and proposed a partnership with CIJN.

"At a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to uncover the truth and present facts to the public, the conference will provide huge motivation to Nepali journalists, especially investigative reporters," says Namrata Sharma, Chair of CIJN. "At the same time it a matter of pride for Nepal to host an event in which so many globally well-recognised journalists will be participating."

The conference will have more than 60 workshops and panels: from a forum on the Panama Papers to panels on investigating corruption, climate change, health, to a session assessing the state of investigative journalism in Nepal. Journalists from Kantipur, Republica, Annapurna Post, The Kathmandu Post, BBC Nepal, Nagarik, Ujjyalo and other Nepali media portals are expected to participate.

There will also be a demonstration on the use of database managers and a workshop on security for investigative journalists. Advanced mapping, Internet detective, Media Law Clinic, virtual reality and hands-on training in data journalism and digital protection are other aspects that the conference is scheduled to cover.

"The era of the lone wolf is over. An increasingly interconnected world needs journalists who can work across borders to hold power to account," says Sheila Coronel.

There will also be panels on the best cross-border investigative stories on post-disaster reporting, data mining, covering conflict, human trafficking and slavery, organised crime and terrorism.

UNCOVERING ASIA

Some of the notable participants attending the Asian investigative journalism conference:

IndiaSpend, India

Newstapa, Korea

Katadata, Indonesia
Read also: Asia uncovered, Guna Raj Luitel Investigation online The storytellers, CK Lal Investigative journalism competition

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Media muckrakers coming to town | Nation | Nepali Times

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More than 300 journalists and speakers from 30 countries will be attending the second Asian Investigative Journalism Conference, 22-25 September, in Kathmandu, the largest ever-international media conference to be held in Nepal. The event is organised by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and co-hosted by the Kathmandu-based Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJN), and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung of Germany.

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An organized association of workers formed to protect and further their rights and interests; a labor union.

Example: Depending on your job, you could join a worker's union.

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A political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group, commands the support of a group of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts. The machine's power is based on the ability of the workers to get out the vote for their candidates on election day. In many cases illegal actions are taken to control the government for the benefit of that group.

Example: A tyranny could be an example of a political machine.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/syndrome-causing-american-political-dysfunction/

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Conditions relating to public health, especially the provision of clean drinking water, adequate sewage disposal and garbage disposal.

Example:  In school lunchrooms sanitation is very important.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/arts/design/mierle-laderman-ukeles-new-york-city-sanitation-department.html?_r=0

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A run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, especially in a poor section of a large city.

Example: There are many tenements in poorer parts of Detroit.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/146443/Armour_Completes_Transfer_of_Tenements_for_Kincora_Project_in_Surat_Basin

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Becoming more like a city. When populations of people grow, the population of a place may spill over from city to nearby areas. Maybe tall apartment buildings spring up on what had been the outskirts of town, bringing more people there to live and work.

Example:  During the 1900's Urbanization was very popular.

http://www.dmagazine.com/commercial-real-estate/2016/09/scott-beck-millennials-and-rapid-urbanization/

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The right of citizens, outside the legislature (lawmakers), to introduce ideas for legislation (laws).

Example:  If you get enough signatures on a petition you can vote on it to be a new law.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-billion/501047/

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The process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural (farming) to one based on the manufacturing of goods (machines and factories). Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production, and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines.

Example: Industrialization occurred in the Industrial Revolution.

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Africa is growing. Estimates are that the continent's population will double in the next 50 years.

Concomitant to this population boom will be an increase in the total working age population. This increase in the working age population creates a window of opportunity with the possibility of higher growth arising from the "demographic dividend". This "demographic dividend" played a role in the "Asian Miracle", where research shows that from 1965 to 1990, the 23 economies of the East Asia region grew faster than all other regions of the world, in part due to the increased number of the working population.

On the other hand, an increase in the working age population, with scarce employment opportunities, is a recipe for social unrest and tensions. This means that, without any major structural overhaul of African economies, the current social and development challenges being faced by African countries, could significantly worsen. This has led to the renewed calls for Africa's industrialization as well as the push for the structural transformation of the continent's economies. Such structural transformation entails moving from commodity export dependent economies towards industrialized and diversified economies.

The supply side constraints to industrialization and the structural transformation of economies are well known and well documented. However, there is also the "demand" side of the equation which is often neglected: the markets. After products have been transformed, the industrial goods must find markets and consumers. Some of the failures of state interventions for industrialization in the past can be attributed to the lack of attention to market issues. In the present dynamic, this is where the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) comes into play.

The CFTA, launched by African Heads of States in 2015, aims to create a single market for Africa in line with the overall objective of the Abuja Treaty of establishing an African Economic Community, thereby establishing a market of over a billion people with a GDP of over US $3 trillion.

The majority of African markets are small and fragmented, with populations of fewer than 20 million and economies (in terms of GDP) of less than US $10 billion, and cannot develop the economies of scale to enable them produce competitively. This means that most of the firms never grow beyond their markets, and the case for attracting substantial and transformative investment flows becomes more difficult, as the markets are often too small to justify the returns on the investments.

Market size is also a challenge to the traditional approaches to industrialization on the continent. Some of the "infant industries" that are being protected will never grow due to the sizes of the domestic markets they operate in. Protecting an infant industry in a market of about 2 million people is very different from doing the same in a market of 80 million, 300 million or even a billion people. For example, Nigeria, with the largest population on the continent of about 180 million, cannot be compared with China at 1.35 billion and India at 1.25 billion, and Nigeria is by no means the average African country in terms of size as described above.

The establishment of the CFTA, therefore, is an attempt to address this challenge head on, affirming the principle of "One Africa, One market". The CFTA will not, by itself, automatically integrate the entire continent, but it will assist in the facilitation of other continental priorities such as the development of regional infrastructure and the free movement of people, which are necessary to achieve integration.

While substantial progress has been achieved with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), it is clear that the existing RECs are still not large enough to provide the economies of scale necessary to make African products competitive globally.

Studies have also shown that African markets are the major markets for African manufacturers. African exports to other African countries are more diversified and industrialized than exports to the rest of the world. For example, both Nigeria's and South Africa's exports to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), respectively, are much more diversified than their exports to the rest of the world in terms of manufacturers. However, this is also because most of these manufactured products are still not competitive on the global market.

For the CFTA to fulfill its promise in helping Africa to industrialize, some deliberate policy choices have to be made to create a conducive environment for the continent's participation in global value chains, and in particular on rules of origin (RoO) and trade in services.

With regard to the RoO, there must be harmonization of these rules across the entire continent if Africa is to truly have a single market. While there are large areas of overlaps across products, there are some significant differences across some of the RECs, particularly with the SADC RoO. Also, the RoO must be as flexible and pragmatic as possible. Restrictive RoO tend to constitute trade barriers more than they facilitate trade.

As noted by the ARIA VI report, the CFTA RoO must take into account the reality of the continent's dependence on imports, particularly capital and intermediate goods for manufacturing, as well as the major imbalances in development and productive capacity across the continent. The RoO should not simply favour the countries that are larger and which have more productive capacity for producing the components that go into manufactured goods. It must take into account the fact that other than a handful of countries, the vast majority of CFTA members will be countries that have very limited productive capacity. The CFTA RoO cannot afford to have onerous local content and value addition requirements, as that will simply disqualify the majority of African countries from being able to participate meaningfully in the CFTA.

With the increasing fragmentation of production manufacturing value chains, RoO that restrict the possibility of sourcing inputs globally will only work to shut Africa out of the global value chains.

With reference to services, the increasing "servicification of manufacturing", referring to the role of services as inputs in manufacturing, emphasizes the importance of having a competitive services sector as a bedrock for industrialization. Services increasingly make up a larger share of the value of finished manufactured products. Consequently, the need for a competitive services sector is critical to any discussion on value addition on the continent include - both in terms of enabling products to be cost competitive and creating opportunities for value addition.

It is in this regard that the trade in services element of the CFTA negotiations is as important for Africa's industrialization as is the trade in goods negotiations. The CFTA thus offers an opportunity for African countries to develop a more competitive services sector, as well as increase their services exports.

These are just some of the issues for African policy-makers to consider as they negotiate the CFTA. While, undoubtedly, the CFTA sets up a complex and heavy agenda for negotiations; more importantly, it provides an opportunity to address some of the issues that have bedeviled the continent's development in the past decades, and perhaps it offers answers to some of the questions about the industrialization and structural transformation of the continent. The achievement of the CFTA in 2017 and the creation of a single African market will ensure the realization of the benefits of industrialization and Africa's demographic dividend.

Babajide Sodipo is the Senior Trade Adviser to the African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry, working on strategic continental trade and investment issues. He has previously provided advice on trade policy, investment and regional integration issues and policies in East and West Africa, working as an adviser with the Rwandan and Nigerian governments.

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Integration Critical to Industrialization in Africa

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Africa is growing. Estimates are that the continent's population will double in the next 50 years. Concomitant to this population boom will be an increase in the total working age population. This increase in the working age population creates a window of opportunity with the possibility of higher growth arising from the "demographic dividend".

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Coming to live permanently in a foreign country.

Example: Many people have immigrated from Europe to America.

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Donald Trump: Immigration security is national security

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Republican presidential nominee holds campaign rally in High Point, North Carolina

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Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery (giving money for favors).

Example: Large companies are sometimes charged for corruption.

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Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on corruption and money laundering charges over an alleged scheme at the state oil company, Petrobras, a judge has said.

Prosecutors say he accepted 3.7m reais ($1.11m; £867,000) in bribes connected to the multi-billion dollar scheme.

Lula, 70, had already been charged in August with allegedly obstructing investigations.

He denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated.

"I am sad," Lula said. "It is a big farce, a big lie, a big pyrotechnic show.

"What's happening isn't getting me down, but just motivates me to go out and talk more."

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Judge Sergio Moro, who is overseeing Operation Car Wash, the investigation into corruption allegations at Petrobras, said there was "sufficient evidence of [Lula's] responsibility".

The money that the ex-president allegedly received was laundered through the purchase and renovation of a beach apartment, prosecutors say.

The flat was built by a construction company implicated in the scandal.

His wife, Marisa Leticia, and six others have also been indicted.

Lula was accused by prosecutors of being the "boss" of the scheme, estimated to have cost the company more than $2bn (£1.5bn).

Several politicians and Petrobras executives have been arrested and sentenced as a result of the two-year inquiry.

Investigators believe overpriced contracts with Petrobras were given in return for bribes.

Some of the illicitly-obtained money was used to finance the electoral campaign of top Brazilian politicians, they allege.

Lula, who served as president between 2003 and 2011, was one of Brazil's most popular leaders and is seen as a possible candidate for the 2018 presidential elections.

However, the popularity of his Workers' Party plummeted this year and his chosen successor Dilma Rousseff was impeached last month.

A criminal conviction would bar him from running in 2018.

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Brazil's Lula to be tried for corruption

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Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will stand trial on corruption and money laundering charges over an alleged scheme at the state oil company, Petrobras, a judge has said. Prosecutors say he accepted 3.7m reais ($1.11m; £867,000) in bribes connected to the multi-billion dollar scheme.