The Commission for Africa on Friday called for rich countries to dismantle barriers against African goods, particularly in agriculture, and for trade-distorting agricultural subsidies to be abolished.
In a report released simultaneously in London and Addis Ababa, the commission said these barriers hurt citizens in both rich and poor countries.
It said Africa faces two major constraints on trade. It does not produce enough goods, of the right quality or price, to enable it to break into world markets. It also faces indefensible trade barriers that, directly or indirectly, tax its goods as they enter the markets of developed countries.
“To improve its capacity to trade, Africa needs to make changes internally. It must improve its transport infrastructure to make goods cheaper to move. It must reduce and simplify the tariff systems between one African country and another. It must reform excessive bureaucracy, cumbersome customs procedures, and corruption by public servants, wherever these exist.
“It must make it easier to set up businesses. It must improve economic integration within the continent’s regional economic communities. Donors can help fund these changes,” the commission stated.
But it said the rich nations must also dismantle the barriers they have erected against African goods, particularly in agriculture, adding that they hurt citizens in both rich and poor countries.
“They must abolish trade-distorting subsidies to their agriculture and agribusiness, which give them an unfair advantage over poor African farmers. They must lower tariffs and other non-tariff barriers to African products, including stopping the bureaucratic application of rules of origin which excludes African goods from preferences to which they are entitled.
“And they must show this ambition by completing the current Doha round of world trade talks in a way which does not demand reciprocal concessions from poor African nations,” the commission asserted.
It added that careful attention must be given to ensure that the poorest people were helped to take advantage of the new opportunities and to cope with the impacts of a more open system of world trade.
“Africa must be provided with the funds that can help it adjust to the new opportunities of a changed world trading regime,” the commission said.
World must support Nepad
The Commission for Africa also said in its report that the developed world must support the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) programme to help create a stronger climate for growth, investment and jobs in Africa.
Massive investment in infrastructure is also needed to break down the internal barriers holding the continent back, it said.
“Africa is poor, ultimately, because its economy has not grown. The public and private sectors need to work together to create a climate which unleashes the entrepreneurship of the peoples of Africa, generates employment and encourages individuals and firms, domestic and foreign, to invest,” the commission stated.
It conceded that changes in governance are needed to make the investment climate stronger. But it said the developed world must support the Nepad programme to build public/private partnerships in order to create a stronger climate for growth, investment and jobs.
“Growth will also require a massive investment in infrastructure to break down the internal barriers that hold Africa back,” it said. “Donors should fund a doubling of spending on infrastructure — from rural roads and small-scale irrigation to regional highways, railways, larger power projects and information and communications technology.”
Investment must include both rural development and slum upgrading, without which the poor people in Africa will not be able to participate in growth.
“And policies for growth must actively include — and take care not to exclude — the poorest groups. There should be particular emphasis on agriculture and on helping small enterprises, with a particular focus on women and young people.
“For growth to be sustainable, safeguarding the environment and addressing the risks of climate change should be integral to donor and government programmes. This programme for growth takes over a third of the total additional resources we propose,” the commission said. — I-Net Bridge