Addis Ababa, 27 October 2020, ECA – The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has today hosted the fourth in a series of five virtual experts group review meetings on innovative new research on preferential trade arrangements in Africa. The project is in partnership with the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
The study assesses the options presented for overcoming the challenges of Informal Cross Border Traders (ICBT) and in particular policies for extending the benefits of free trade to informal traders. Two key areas are the focus of this study: i) systems for more structured ICBT, including the potential for a simplified trade regime in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region; and ii) institutionalising ICBT data collection for policymaking.
David Luke, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre, in his opening, emphasized the importance of the ICBT topic for which ECA has been involved in building up policy analysis and research in this area. The ECOWAS Acting Director thanked ECA for spearheading ICBT research in the region and highlighted the timeliness and importance of the study.
The expert group meeting virtually brought together a small group of specially selected experts including academia, the private sector, regional economic communities and international organizations. The meeting presented the main findings and recommendations of the study, discussed feedback and comments from experts and institutions in attendance, and shared best practices from those involved in negotiations.
Carmine Soprano, trade expert leading the study, presented on the potential for a simplified trading regime in ECOWAS. This focused on findings and learnings from the simplified trading regimes operated in the East African Economic Community (EAC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region, and how similar ideas could be transposed to the ECOWAS region. On his part Christopher Okafor, trade expert, presented on how data collection on ICBT can be improved, including practical steps to improve technical coordination between statistics agencies in the ECOWAS region and suggestions for moving towards anchoring this in a common ECOWAS ICBT definition.
The meeting involved critical feedback and discussion on the research findings. Suggestions were made around the importance of complementary initiatives, such as simplifying related documentation online and in accessible languages for informal traders and access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
In terms of ICBT data collection, it was acknowledged that currently this area is donor-led and sustainability requires a transition to greater national responsibility by customs agencies, but that a breadth of important institutions already operate in this area and can be leveraged and strengthened.
The interaction of human mobility and immigration with ICBT was also raised, with the suggestion that immigration data could be improved to capture ICBT flows but that caution has to be taken to ensure that data collected on informal traders isn’t used against them or scares them away from formalizing their activities.
The insightful comments would be incorporated into the finalization of the study over the next month and will be translated into e-training courses for the public and private sector in Africa.
The study reviewed at this expert group meeting is part of a broader project aimed at contributing to the enhancement of intra-African trade and Africa’s share in global trade through inclusive, sustainable and development-friendly trade reforms. Financially supported by the European Union, TradeCom II – ACP Trade Capacity Building Programme, ECA works in partnership with the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (trapca) and the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (tralac) on capacity building and training workshops.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org