African strategy in the field of international trade and finance including intra-African trade and finance

Abstract

In examining the question of a new African strategy in the field of international trade and finance and in proposing the following draft strategy for the African region as part of the over – all development strategy for Africa for the third development decade, the conference of African ministers of trade in addition to being aware of various declarations and programmes of action subscribed to by developing countries in recent years including the Arusia programme for collective self-reliance and framework for negotiations took into account the following considerations: (a)The African region’s external trade is excessively biased towards the developed world, and in particular, towards the developed market economy countries, with no less than 80% of its total exports and about the same percentage of its imports going to, and originating from this latter group countries; (b)In contrast, intra – African trade accounts only for about 5% of the region’s total trade and is tending to decline.