Publisher: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Copyright: 2008
Publisher Website: http://www.unctad.org
Language: en
Category: Africa, Trade, International Organizations and Africa, Sustainable Development
The objective of this yearīs report is to examine Africaīs export performance after trade liberalization in order to draw relevant lessons that could be used to craft future trade and development strategies. The main message is that the efforts made by African countries in terms of trade liberalization over the last twenty-five years have removed most of the policy-induced barriers considered as the main impediments to these countriesī export performance. Though there has been some improvement in Africaīs export performance, the level and composition of the continentīs exports have not substantially improved. African countries have not diversified their exports towards more dynamic primary commodities and manufacturing goods, which are less prone to the vagaries of international markets. Africa as a whole has even lost its export market share from 6 per cent of world exports in 1980 to about 3 per cent in 2007. Thus, despite the substantial rises in export earnings in recent years, Africa has yet to recover its lost market shares. The report identifies Africaīs weak supply response as the most important impediment to the continentīs export performance, which suggests that future export strategy should focus more on sector specific development strategies to increase production for export.
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