Africa must use the Doha stalemate to improve intra-African trade, says Janneh

Addis Ababa, 18 August 2006: African countries should use the Doha Round stalemate to increase intra-African trade for the sustainable development of the continent, said UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Abdoulie Janneh.

Addressing a two-day Summit of SADC Heads of state and Government which opened yesterday in Maseru, Mr. Janneh said : "If other countries are reluctant to open up their markets to Africa, let us do it for ourselves. Let neighbouring countries buy more from and sell more to each other. If our RECs remove their respective internal trade barriers, rationalize their operations and dismantle barriers that prevent one REC from trading with another, then they would have made a giant leap in the direction of an African Economic Community"

He said an improved intra-African trade would ensure that initiatives such as the Doha Round "no longer determine Africa's development future".

Janneh recalled that African countries had eagerly participated in Doha in anticipation that it would erase the disappointments associated with the Uruguay Rounds in a new era of fairness.

"In Doha, African countries had expected a leveled playing field and real solutions to the plight of African farmers, who have been suffering from the effects of subsidies given to their counterparts in the rich nations. We were praying for a fair multilateral system where African countries could trade their ways out of poverty," said Mr. Janneh,

He told SADC Heads of State and Government that ECA planned to post a Senior Advisor to Gaborone to liaise between SADC Secretariat, NEPAD and ECA. "This way," he said " we will be able to work more closely with you on a day-to-day basis and respond more quickly to your immediate needs and challenges, including capacity building".
The renewed ECA will, more vigorously, focus on the specific needs of the RECs through a region-specific, multi-year partnership strategy with clear milestones, said Janneh

"We will tangibly increase our technical support to the RECs and member States by increasing the technical capacities of our regional offices and substantially increasing their operational budgets. We will make special efforts to ensure that our sub-regional work programme is directly relevant to the priorities of the RECs," he said.