World trade liberalisation still excludes Africa
By K.Y. Amoako, Published: November 23 2004 02:00

In the era of globalisation, international trade has more than tripled. Yet Africa's share of global exports has declined from nearly 5 per cent in 1980 to under 2 per cent today.

It was that glaring disparity that drove ministers at the World Trade Organisation's meeting in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 to create the Doha Development Agenda, a commitment to reflect the interests of poor countries in the international trading system.

The ministerial declaration emphasised the centrality of agriculture, Africa's most critical sector. It called for substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic support measures, for a phasing-out of export subsidies and for improved access for developing countries to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries' markets. Ministers agreed that "special and differential" treatment for developing countries would be an integral part of talks.

That spirit was evident not only in the WTO but in other trade negotiations like the Economic Partnership Agreements between Europe and Africa. But it is now three years since Doha and development dimensions have largely been ignored in the negotiations. Even the failure to find consensus in Cancún, Mexico, last year, seems not to have concentrated minds.

The latest package to emerge from the WTO talks in July is lacklustre and leaves Africans in deep doubt. Political leaders, especially in developed countries, have turned their attention to other priorities and left technical experts to deal with the day-to-day negotiations. As in previous rounds, the technical negotiation process has quietly detached itself from the political forces that framed the talks. Progress is piecemeal, with negotiators focusing on the formulae at the expense of more substantive issues.

The Economic Commission for Africa has conducted technical studies on the likely impact of a free trade agreement. Regarding agricultural trade, Africa would benefit more from an ambitious package of liberalisation than from the modest steps proposed in the July package. On non-agricultural market access, the July package fails to reflect the special and differential treatment that the Doha Declaration promised to developing countries.

If the WTO talks continue on their present trajectory, they are unlikely to deliver the development benefits prom ised in Doha. But momentum can be re-injected if political leaders, particularly in the European Union, US and Japan, rediscover the spirit of Doha and intervene in the WTO process. The conclusion of US elections and the nomination of a new European Commission provide an opportunity to get the Doha Round back on course. It is time for big ideas that capture the original spirit of the negotiations.

Take the issue of market access. Despite an array of preferential access agreements, including Washington's African Growth and Opportunity Act and the "Everything but Arms" agreement, African exports still lack free access to OECD markets. Granting unrestricted access would contribute significantly towards expanding the trade and growth potential of African countries, boosting their capacity to reduce poverty.

This is a sustainable approach to Africa's development. And research shows that granting unrestricted market access to sub-Saharan African countries would cost OECD countries very little.

Another challenge lies in the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations between African countries and the EU. Studies on the proposed EPAs suggest that if African countries agree to equivalent reciprocity for commitments by the EU, it will be the EU that gains economically, with Africa suffering significant costs. If the EU were to abandon the idea of symmetry in the final agreements to accept "non-reciprocity", it would demonstrate a commitment to a new, pro-development approach to trade.

The spirit of the Doha Declaration is clear: Africa should integrate into and benefit from global trade. Africa is committed to trading its way out of poverty, but cannot do so with international trade arrangements stacked against it.

The ECA, along with the African Union, the African Development Bank, the UN Development Programme and other UN partners, is hosting African trade negotiators and experts in Tunis this week to analyse the WTO's July package and develop strategies to re-engage politicians in the Doha process.

Strong political commitment and leadership is vital. Otherwise, January's WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong risks becoming another Cancún.

The writer is the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and a member of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa