Following a meeting convened by the Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee and hosted by the Afreximbank, a communiqué addressed to members of the World Trade Organisation and the eight candidates who have been shortlisted as the institution’s next director general was released on Thursday calling for a wide range of reforms.
The communiqué was formulated following numerous consultations with PAFTRAC members, its institutional partners, and through a comprehensive survey of the African private sector.
Within it, the committee highlighted a number of recommendations to ensure the institution is more effective in growing global trade but doing so in a manner that is fair to all.
The communiqué stated that “ignoring the voice of Africa and other emerging economies will have dramatic consequences for and undermine the relevance of the WTO and the rules-based system at a time when multilateralism is already under threat.”
In the opening remarks at the meeting, the President of the Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah, stated that “Africa has played an important but largely under-valued role in the global economy.”
He cited that Africa’s global share of trade had fallen from 4.4 per cent in 1970 to 2.5 per cent today, while the share of Asia had risen from 7.7 per cent to 20 per cent over that same period.
“Whilst this is the result of numerous factors, including fragmented markets and persistent supply-side constraints,” he said, “tariff escalations and stringent standards on final goods in developed economies have limited Africa’s potential to move up value chains.”
The communiqué called for the WTO to ensure “that development issues are front and centre of its reform agenda,” specifically calling for African countries to be afforded ‘Special and Differential Treatment’ that will allow flexibility and sufficient policy space to support local industries and advance development.
The African private sector also emphasised the importance of addressing subsidies and state-aid in developed economies that continue to confine Africa to the bottom of global value chains.
With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement coming into effect in 2021, they also requested that African integration under the AfCFTA and the establishment of an ‘African Common Market’ is not undermined by multilateral negotiations.
The organisers called for the voice of the African private sector to be “heard and considered under the multilateral framework,” so that the private sector can not only compete fairly but also grow.
Trade, according to them, is vital to generate the volume and quality of jobs required to absorb over 17m young Africans who are entering the labour market every year.
