The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) Discusses Africa’s Expectations from Aid for Trade at Workshop in Bonn
ECA Press Release No. 40/2008
Addis Ababa - 1 December 2008 – A representative of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC), which is based at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently attended a workshop in Bonn, Germany to discuss African (member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs)) expectations from the Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative.
The workshop was jointly organized on 1-2 December 2008 by the German Development Institute (DIE) and the Consumer Unity and Trust Society International (CUTS). It was aimed at discussing latest developments in the AfT agenda at the international and national levels and examining ways of mainstreaming trade in ongoing sectoral support provided by Germany and other donors.
The workshop, which was opened by Mr. Dirk Messner, Director of DIE, and Mr. Gideon Rabinowitz, Centre Manager of CUTS (London), brought together the perspectives of trade and other sector specialists as well as those of donors and recipient countries. It is envisaged that the outcome of the workshop will be channeled into the German as well as international AfT agenda.
Participants at the event reflected on the broad definition of AfT, and, within that context, identified a number of priority areas, including, enhancing the economic infrastructure of developing countries, notably regional transit transport corridors, ports infrastructure, farm to market roads, and storage facilities for goods. In that regard, it was noted that support by the donor community could include assistance in project preparation. Other AfT priority areas identified included trade facilitation, industrial policy support, and improving product quality including by establishing standards laboratories.
In addition to exploring the broader definition of AfT, the workshop also examined various thematic areas such as regional cooperation and governance; national economic development; as well as agriculture, fishery and natural resources. For each of these areas, working groups elaborated special challenges and opportunities, lessons learned from past experiences, the role of key actors, and the way forward.
Furthermore, participants exchanged views on issues related to monitoring the Aid for Trade initiative. This was preceded by a presentation by the International Trade Centre (ITC) on the subject. GTZ (German Gesellschaft fur Tecnische Zusammenarbeit), the International Lawyers and Economists against poverty (ILEAP) and the Nordic Consulting Group also made presentations at the workshop.
ECA was invited to the workshop in Bonn because of the leading role it plays in the implementation of AfT related activities in Africa. For instance, the Commission is part of a Working Group comprising of representatives of the African Development Bank (AfDB), ECA and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) established to undertake the following tasks:
Identify bankable regional and national projects in the priority areas of infrastructure, trade facilitation and standards (SPS) related issues;
Coordinate with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and individual countries to agree on which among the identified bankable projects are ready for support, including their implementation time frame;
Establish an African AFT network, comprising of AfDB, ECA, WTO, major donors, representatives of beneficiary governments and RECs; and
Contribute to the review of and development of monitoring and evaluation indicators for the implementation and effectiveness of the AFT.
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Addis Ababa - Ethiopia For more information contact:
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