From Inequality and Vulnerability
to Prosperity for All

Strengthening services trade policy-making for Africa's integration into regional value chains in support of the 2030 Agenda

Why this project?


Integration into higher value-added activities of global and regional value chains is crucial for development outcomes and realizing the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Services are essential in this endeavour owing to their ability to stimulate trade and to provide comparatively high-value addition. Connecting and integrating into value chains is, however, demanding. A major challenge is to understand how these value chains operate, to measure them and design policies to support a higher degree of integration.

UNCTAD and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) joined forces to support African countries in this regard. Through this project, UNCTAD and UNECA provide support to strengthen the capacities of national and regional policymakers and stakeholders to measure and analyze value chains and design services policies aimed at enabling higher integration into global and regional value chains.

To stimulate knowledge sharing across countries, lessons learned and best practices identified will be disseminated through Regional Economic Communities and an online knowledge-sharing platform.

The project targets three services sectors that are critical for enabling trade and fostering inclusiveness, in particular in relation to women and youth, namely: infrastructure services (transport and energy), financial services and tourism services.

What the project offers (activities)
 

  • Train-the-trainers seminars on measuring and analyzing global and regional value chains
  • Analysis of selected regional value chains
  • Multi-stakeholder workshop to share experiences of value chain analysis
  • Contribution to evidence-based services trade policies
  • Online knowledge-sharing platform on regional value chain analysis
  • Guidebook on the experiences, lessons learned and best practices of services value chain analysis

 

Visit the project Website

 

The Gambia targets African tourists for more sustainable growth

24 May 2019
The West African nation hopes to attract more tourists from the continent and has enlisted UNCTAD and the UN Economic Commission for Africa in the endeavour.

Tapping potential of Kenya's transport services for regional value chains

15 May 2019
Project seeks to enable Kenya to better measure how transport services feed into regional value chains to inform policymaking.

Mission to unlock Africa's services sector

1 Feb 2019

African countries must level up on their ability to measure services trade and use services to grow their economies and value chains.

Project Code

1819I

Partners

UNCTAD and UNECA

Donors

United Nations Development Account

Beneficiaries

Ethiopia, Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, together with their respective Regional Economic Communities 

Duration

2018-2021

Contact

UNCTAD

Junior Davis (Mr.)
Head, Policy Analysis and Research Branch
+41 22 917 20 33
[email protected]

Ali Yedan (Mr.)
Associate Economic Affairs Officer, Africa Section
+41 22 917 32 97
[email protected]

Rostand Ngadjie Siani (Mr.)
Assistant
+41 22 917 53 80
[email protected]

 

UNECA

Laura Paez (Ms.)
Chief, Investment Policy Section
+251 11 544 35 43
[email protected]

Related

Topic

Africa