ECA research reveals trade diversification taking root in Africa ECA

Abstract

At a two-day meeting of Experts discussing Metrology, Export Diversification and Intra-Industry Trade in Africa a senior UN official this week said, that there is increasing evidence that African countries are engaging in more diversification in trade and that this process is taking root. Citing analysis by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. Stephen Karingi, Director at the Regional Integration and Trade Division at the ECA said that the level of intra-African trade in manufactured goods is more than twice the level observed for agriculture or primary products. The fact that some countries are witnessing increasing intra-African trade in value-added products presents an opportunity to foster intra-industry trade, he added. Karingi noted that recent efforts to deepen regional integration in Africa and to help enhance intra-African trade serve as an opportunity to exploit economies of scale in similar but differentiated products, increasing both export diversification and intra industry trade.