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Paving the way for African trade is essential for the continent to meet the challenges posed by rapidly changing patterns of global trade, UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said in Addis Ababa on 27 November.
Kituyi was in the Ethiopian capital for the first African forum of national trade facilitation committees, which highlights ways to reduce trade barriers on the continent.
The forum, which is being held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), is part of efforts to implement the trade facilitation agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). World Trade Organization (WTO), which came into effect in February 2017 and could help reduce the costs of trade. It is also part of the new impetus given by the African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), a landmark for regional integration signed in March 2018.
"Africa is facing a time when market access gains that have been negotiated over the past two decades can be seriously eroded unless we address the challenges of trade facilitation," he said. said Dr. Kituyi.
He emphasized that Africa's competitive advantage in labor should be accompanied by quality transport platforms, efficiency in the cross-border flow of goods and services, better ports and a predictable logistics management regime.
Africa itself is the safest border for Africa's trade-led growth, he said.
"If Africa is to trade with itself, we need to understand what major roads and railways need to be built to connect African producers and consumers."
Alongside successful trade committees, infrastructure and investment are the main tools for facilitating trade, he said.
Reduce the costs of trade
Trade facilitation is important in Africa as companies and citizens of the continent take an unfair share of the costs of trade.
Overall, the WTO calculates that current trade costs for developing countries equals the imposition of an impressive 219% tariff on their international trade.
the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement could reduce Africa's trade costs.
WTO Director General Roberto Azevêdo said the expected impact of the deal is "striking".
"That could add 2.7 percentage points a year to world trade growth and more than half a percentage point to world GDP. The greatest benefits would accrue to developing countries. "
"In Africa, estimates show that full implementation of the agreement could reduce trade costs by an average of 16.5 percent, potentially potentially boosting the continent's economic momentum," he said. he declares.
This level of trade would open new opportunities for small businesses, especially women-owned businesses and young entrepreneurs, while enhancing transparency and reducing corruption.
African solutions
Solutions, such as the market, should be African, said Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Vice President of the African Union Commission (AUC).
To realize the dream of the African common market, Africa needs vision, he said.
"AfCTA is a continental project to build trade capacity in Africa," said Quartey. "But to trade, you must first produce, and in order to be able to produce and exploit the science and technology in this production, you need training and planning in the field. ;education."
"Intra-African trade, currently between 15 and 18%, is starting to be at the center of all our activities.
"Statisticians tell us that when intra-African trade increases by 2%, GDP is multiplied by 10. AfCTA would halve Africa's trade deficit while boosting GDP growth. It would create jobs for our people, especially for our dynamic young people. "
"But the gains are far from automatic – we must work hard, we must see and strengthen together our efforts and create institutional environments."
In a statement by ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe, Ingrid Cyimana, director of her office, said Africans were doing just that by taking bold steps to integrate their economies with AfCTA's help and setting up Trade Facilitation Committees.
"Our projections show that the value of intra-African trade will be 15% to 25% higher in 2040 compared to a situation without AfCTA. We also find that gains are significantly larger when the Agreement is implemented alongside trade facilitation measures, "she said.
She emphasized the role of the people on the ground who influenced the debate, a sentiment shared by the delegates to the forum. "An integrated Africa will not be possible without advocacy, consultation and consensus."
"Governments need to create a supportive environment, but it is Africa's traders and businesses that are best able to determine what needs to be done to overcome existing trade facilitation issues."
Meeting of the spirits
This forum is the first of the world's events to support the implementation of the WTO Agreement, which, in addition to measures to boost trade, also aims to improve revenue collection, security controls and safety, including for food products, and the rationalization of government agencies.
The reforms aim to help small cross-border traders, often women, to enter the formal sector, to make economic activities more transparent and accountable, to promote good governance, to create better jobs, to build information technology and to modernize society by generating benefits related to: administrative efficiency.
These reforms are a precondition for developing countries to join global value chains and begin to emerge from poverty.
Speaking also at the opening of the forum:
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Fetlework Gebregziabher, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ethiopia
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Brenda Mundia, Deputy Director of the Capacity Building Directorate, World Customs Organization
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Philippe Isler, Director, Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation
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Manuel Henriques, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank Group
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Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
The forum, which runs for three days from 27 to 29 November, is supported by the Commonwealth, the European Union, the Danish Development Agency Danida, the Finnish Government and the Islamic Development Bank.
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