• About Us
  • Contact Us
Account
GTB
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
Account
Ghana Talks Business
No Result
View All Result

PAFTRAC challenges WTO to hear Africa’s voice

14/09/2020
Reading Time: 3 mins read
PAFTRAC and WTO
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp

  • Communiqué sets out a road map for WTO reform
  • Communiqué calls for development to be at the centre of WTO reform
  • Agriculture subsidies and non-tariff barriers highlighted as a specific hindrance to development

Following a meeting convened by the Pan-African Private Sector Trade and Investment Committee (PAFTRAC) and hosted by the Afreximbank, a communiqué addressed to members of the WTO and the eight candidates who have been shortlisted as the institution’s next Director General was released recently calling for a wide range of reforms.
The communiqué was formulated following numerous consultations with PAFTRAC members, its institutional partners, and through a comprehensive survey of the African private sector. Within it, the Committee have highlighted a number of recommendations to ensure the institution is more effective in growing global trade but doing so in a manner that is fair to all.

The communiqué stated that “ignoring the voice of Africa and other emerging economies will have dramatic consequences for and undermine the relevance of the WTO and the rules-based system at a time when multilateralism is already under threat.”

In the opening remarks at the meeting, the President of the Afreximbank stated that “Africa has played an important but largely under-valued role in the global economy.” He cited that Africa’s global share of trade has fallen from 4.4% in 1970 to 2.5% today, whilst the share of Asia has risen from 7.7% to 20% over that same period. “Whilst this is the result of numerous factors, including fragmented markets and persistent supply-side constraints,” he said, “tariff escalations and stringent standards on final goods in developed economies have limited Africa’s potential to move up value chains.”

The communiqué called for the WTO to ensure “that development issues are front and centre of its reform agenda.” They specifically called for African countries to be afforded Special and Differential Treatment that will allow flexibilities and sufficient policy space to support local industries and advance development. The African private sector also emphasised the importance of addressing subsidises and state-aid in developed economies which continue to confine Africa to the bottom of global value chains.

With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) coming into effect in 2021, they also requested that African integration under the AfCFTA and the establishment of an African Common Market is not undermined by multilateral negotiations.

The organisers called for the voice of the African private sector be “heard and considered under the multilateral framework,” so that the private sector can not only compete fairly but also grow. Trade, they said, is vital to generate the volume and quality of jobs required to absorb over 17 million young Africans who are entering the labour market every year.

ALSO READ: African private sector upbeat about future, demands fairer and more transparent global trading system

You can read the whole communiqué here (https://bit.ly/3bSVzSk).

About PAFTRAC:

THE PAN-AFRICAN PRIVATE SECTOR TRADE AND INVESTMENT COMMITTEE (PAFTRAC)

PAFTRAC unites African leaders from the private sector and provides a unique advocacy platform bringing together the African private sector and African policymakers to support extra and intra-African trade, investment and pan-African enterprise.

The platform drives pan-African results by providing a framework for private sector engagement in trade and investment issues in Africa, including policy formulation and trade negotiations to support African economies in line with the ambitions of Agenda 2063: “The Africa We Want”.

PAFTRAC enhances advocacy and supports policy actions and recommendations of the private sector on trade; and investment issues at the national, trade corridor, regional and multilateral levels.

Source : African Media Agency (AMA)

Previous Post

African private sector upbeat about future, demands fairer and more transparent global trading system

Next Post

The newly introduced business resource centers must work

Related Posts

carbon emissions

Ghana Begins Receiving Payments for Reducing Carbon Emissions in Forest Landscapes

30/01/2023
Employers and employees

The silent war between employers and employees will have no winner 

27/01/2023
Electric cars in Africa, ghanatalksbusiness.com

Africa’s push for electric vehicles

24/01/2023
Functioning dddress system, ghanatalksbusiness.com

The next “AMAZON” in Africa will need a Functioning Address System

23/01/2023
Catalyst fund, ghanatalksbusiness.com

Catalyst Fund announces $2 million investment into 10 startups accelerating Africa’s adaptation and resilience to climate change

20/01/2023
shifts in globalisation

Globalisation Redefined as Manufacturing Moves Closer to Home

20/01/2023
Next Post
Business resource sentres

The newly introduced business resource centers must work

okada business in ghana

Should ‘okada’ be legalized? Rwanda taxi-motor may be a benchmark

  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
  • Login

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In