Addis Ababa, December 7, 2021 (ECA) – The joint virtual launch event of the 10th Edition of the Report on “Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) X Theme “Africa’s Services trade liberalization and integration under the AfCFTA” and the Report on “Governing the Interface between the AfCFTA and RECs,” took place on 7 December 2021. The launch was on the theme, “Services Trade Liberations and integration within the AfCFTA”.
ARIA X, contains the blueprint for accelerated integration if Africa can take advantage of the promises of services trade on the continent. This point was made when the report was virtually launched on the margins of the 2nd Session of the Committee on Private Sector Development, Regional Integration, Trade, Infrastructure, Industry and Technology.
The launch was attended by the collaborative partners of the ECA, namely the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) who contributed input to the report.
Mr. Francis Ikome, Chief of the Regional Integration Section of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the ECA, who moderated the event, read a statement on behalf of Mr. Stephen Karingi, Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division (RITD) of ECA.
“Globally, services are playing an increasingly important role in shaping countries’ economies and performance. Overall, the services sector is a major contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), trade, employment, poverty reduction and even Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and manufacturing, In the specific case of Africa, services have grown tremendously over the recent years and now accounts for significant proportion of economic activities and output,” the statement read on behalf of Mr Karingi said.
Mr Karingi noted that the services sector is still very much overlooked in Africa owing to the fact that the sector is largely informal and fragmented.
The ARIA X report revealed that in 30 of the 54 countries in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) the services sector contributes 53% of the GDP. However, in spite of this growth and potential, many countries in Africa still face difficulties in taking full advantage of the sector.
Ms Miho Shirotori, Officer-in-Charge at UNCTAD’s Division on International Trade and Commodities (UNCTAD-DITC), noted that ARIA X is essential as digitalisation and diversification become central to integration efforts.
“There is a very good reason why this report focuses on services and it is not only about the importance of services negotiation in the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). This is because the services development policy is an essential element industrialisation policy and economic diversification”, she said.
The ARIA X report has ten (10) chapters under three (3) main sections that discuss conceptual overviews on trade, themes and development of value chains. The last chapter makes recommendations for the financial, transport, communication, tourism and business services.
Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) X Theme “Africa’s Services trade liberalization and integration under the AfCFTA
https://repository.uneca.org/handle/10855/46739
Report: Governing the Interface between the AfCFTA and RECs https://repository.uneca.org//handle/10855/46717