Services Trade takes center stage in African economies
The dynamic landscape of global trade has been a major force in shaping the economic development of nations and regions alike. One of the key drivers of this phenomenon has been the ever-increasing importance of trade in services. While trade in goods has traditionally dominated the discourse on international trade, services trade has emerged as a potent engine of economic growth and diversification in recent years.
However, the full potential of services trade has often been constrained by a lack of consistent and up-to-date information on regulations and policies. This has hindered effective policymaking and negotiations in this critical sector, and resulted in suboptimal outcomes for both service providers and consumers.
Against this backdrop, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have undertaken a groundbreaking initiative to comprehensively survey services trade policies and regulations in African economies.
This initiative, supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the European Union, and the International Trade Centre, seeks to enhance transparency of services trade policies, inform decisions of policymakers, regulators, and negotiators, and enable further research on the drivers and impacts of measures affecting trade in services.
For the first time, this survey provides a simultaneous quantification of services trade policies and regulations affecting trade in services of all African economies, through the use of the Services Trade Restrictions Indices (STRI). The STRI serves as a powerful tool for policymakers and other stakeholders to assess the extent of services trade restrictions, and to identify areas for reform and improvement.
The fruits of this pioneering initiative will be presented at a landmark conference, which will serve as a platform for public discussion on services trade policy and negotiations in Africa. The conference will bring together a diverse group of experts from national governments, international organizations, and the trade research community, to engage in a broad-ranging dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of services trade in Africa.
Central to the conference’s deliberations is the theme of services trade policy transparency, and ways to enhance it. The survey and the STRI have already made significant contributions in this regard, by providing a wealth of new information and insights on services trade policies in African economies. However, the conference seeks to build on this foundation, by exploring additional initiatives and strategies for improving the availability and accessibility of services trade policy information.
The importance of this conference and its underlying initiatives cannot be overstated. The future of African economies is intimately tied to the ability of policymakers and other stakeholders to harness the full potential of services trade, and to overcome the challenges and obstacles that impede its growth and development.
By enhancing transparency and promoting evidence-based policymaking, this conference represents a critical step in advancing the cause of services trade in Africa, and unlocking the vast opportunities that it holds for the continent’s economic prosperity and well-being.
