ECA Boss Says Partnerships Needed to Boost Intra-African Trade

DOHA – In a statement made at a special session for African Ministers of Trade a day before the opening of the UNCTAD XIII quadrennial conference on the theme: Prosperity for All, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Mr. Aboulie Janneh said Africa will need the contribution of its partners to achieve its objective of boosting intra-Africa trade.

Mr. Janneh welcomed UNCTAD’s interest in supporting this process and expressed hope that the UN body would “associate with and support the institutional framework established by Africa’s leadership to promote its trade agenda.”

“UNCTAD can also help by enabling Africa to know more about and learn from the experience of other developing regions and by continuing to put its technical programmes, like the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) at the disposal of African countries and Regional Economic Communities,” he added.

During the session, UNCTAD Secretary-General, Mr, Supachai Panitchpakdi said his organization stands ready to provide practical support to the implementation of the Action Plan agreed at the African Union Heads of State Summit in January 2012 to boost intra-African trade. The Action Plan is accompanied by a Road Map, Framework and Architecture for fast-tracking the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area.

Intended to boost trade between African countries, the Action Plan has several priorities; and UNCTAD offered its expertise in the areas of trade policy, trade facilitation; and productive capacity, which constitutes an economy’s ability to produce a broader range of goods, and goods of greater sophistication.

Mr. Panitchpakdi said that UNCTAD has carried out extensive research in recent years on meeting the practical challenges of improving productive capacity in developing countries. In this regard, the organization is well placed to lend support towards addressing the continent’s needs, which include more modern production facilities, more efficient transport and communication systems, and the establishment of credible certification systems that ensure adherence to international production norms and standards. 

UNCTAD officials said that the organization can offer expansion and upgrading of its Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), already in use in 41 African countries and valuable for reducing delays when goods cross borders; design and implementation of rural logistics centres, which help link farmers and rural cooperatives to production centres and transport systems; and development of regional transport policies, which can smooth the flow of goods through agreed regulations and standardized operating systems.