Economic development in Africa: Strengthening regional economic integration for Africa’s development

The Trade and Development Board

1. Expresses its appreciation for the quality of the 2009 report by theUNCTAD secretariat entitled Economic Development in Africa: StrengtheningRegional Economic Integration for Africa’s Development, and encourages thesecretariat to continue its research and analysis on Africa’s development challenges;
   
   
2. Notes that the report’s key message — that regional integration should beused to address Africa’s long-standing structural weaknesses, which have loweredthe long-term growth performance of many countries, increased their economicvulnerability and undermined their efforts to reduce poverty — indicates that theneed to refocus on regional integration is made more pressing by the currentfinancial and economic crises;
   
   
3. Acknowledges that Africa has made progress in integrating its economiesover the last 50 years and that the impetus for regional integration is now strongerthan ever before, as evidenced by the constant efforts of the African Union todeepen the continent’s integration agenda, but notes with concern that regionalefforts have not generated the expected increase in intra-African trade, investmentand labour mobility;
   
   
4. Recognizes that building and maintaining hard infrastructure includingroads, railways, ports and telecommunications, and soft infrastructure such asimprovements in the policy and regulatory environment and in customs and borderprocedures, as well as other trade facilitation measures, should be a priority inpromoting regional economic integration;
   
   
5. Considers that deeper regional financial integration can help to promoteintra-African investment flows;
   
   
6. Reaffirms that free movement of persons across Africa is a centralcomponent of regional integration and urges regional bodies to put in placemechanisms that will ensure that labour mobility benefits both host and sendingcountries, in order to encourage all countries to implement existing provisionsgoverning labour mobility, tailored to countries’ specific contexts;
   
   
7. Recognizes that, for each African country, regional integration is apriority, and emphasizes that integration can be most effectively achieved as part ofa broader long-term development strategy and countries should commit toimplementing all the provisions governing regional integration as appropriate,privileging dialogue at the regional level;
   
   
8. Urges Africa’s development and economic partners to help sustain thecontinent’s economic development by supporting its regional integration priorities,including in the area of trade, with a particular emphasis on the development ofinfrastructure and of human capacity to manage and maintain it, as provided in theinfrastructure development strategy of the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD) and through Aid for Trade;
   
   
9. Recognizes the importance of South-South cooperation in contributing toregional cooperation, and the importance of all development partners supportingAfrica’s regional economic integration agenda and integrating this agenda in theircooperation programmes with Africa; and requests UNCTAD, through the concertedapplication of its three pillars, to conduct further work in this regard;
   
   
10. Encourages the African Union as well as its regional economiccommunities and the African Development Bank to strengthen their role inpromoting African integration;
    
    
11. Requests UNCTAD to produce a report on the feasibility of creating aweb-based network linking the various African regional economic communities anddedicated to promoting intraregional investment and trade;
    
    
12. Encourages UNCTAD, within its mandate and as agreed in the AccraAccord, to continue to undertake insightful and critical analysis with respect toAfrica and to widen the dissemination of its research findings;
    
    
13. Requests the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to review the humanresource requirements of the Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries andSpecial Programmes, in light of its mandates and activities, and to report to the nextregular session of the Trade and Development Board with a plan to provide theDivision for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes withadequate resources, while respecting UNCTAD’s agreed overall budget level.