Addis Ababa, 26 March 2015 (ECA) - The 2015 edition of the Economic Report on Africa, “Industrialising through Trade”, will be launched during the Conference of African Ministers of Finance and Economic Development in Addis Ababa, on 29 March 2015.
This year’s report builds on the key messages of the previous editions of ERA and focuses on industrialisation and structural transformation. Both ERA 2013 and ERA 2014 emphasised the role of trade in fostering industrialisation, both at the regional and the global level, and underlined the importance of implementing trade policies in Africa, mainly aimed at overcoming market and institutional failures that hinder export competitiveness.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Mr. Hopestone Chavula, Economist in the Macroeconomic Policy Division at the ECA highlighted how the 2015 report further explores the question of how trade can serve as an instrument for accelerating industrialisation and structural transformation in Africa. “The report places emphasis on the important role services play in economic development, given how critical they are direct contributors to growth and job creation. Effective service delivery also attracts Foreign Direct Investment and is important for value addition along global value chains” he said, adding that “the report also focuses on the importance of strategic and sequenced use of trade policies for boosting intra-African trade and the need to build up regional value chains in order to strengthen the potential and capabilities of African industries”. The importance of complementary social policies for inclusive growth and structural transformation are also emphasised in the report.
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