São Paulo – The leveraging of services trade in Africa could help create jobs and fuel growth in the continent’s countries. So says the Economic Development in Africa 2015 report released last Thursday (9th) by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
The report also underscores that building continent-wide policy coherence in financial services would boost economic productivity and help reduce poverty.
“Africa must bridge the policy disconnect of services trade in order to unlock the sector’s potential for the continent’s growth and economic transformation,” said Unctad secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi, according to a press release.
“Furthermore, the impact of a continent-wide free trade area will only be meaningful for Africa if services are opened up in parallel with trade in goods. This is because services, such as transport and storage services, are necessary components of trade in goods,” he explained.
According to Unctad’s press release, the establishment of a continental free trade agreement, most recently on the agenda at an African Union summit in June 2015, is in itself a unique opportunity for African countries to align their existing national, regional and global policies on services trade.
At the national level, the report recommends that services trade be adequately mainstreamed into national development plans. At regional level, the report notes that greater coherence could be achieved if a pan-African mechanism is established to allow for the continuous consultation and coordination of a regional agenda and concerns relating to services trade that arise within the regional economic communities and the African Union.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
