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Cambridge University Press978-1-107-17447-4 — African Perspectives on Trade and the WTOEdited by Patrick Low , Chiedu Osakwe , Maika Oshikawa FrontmatterMore Information

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A F R I C AN P E R S P E C T I V E S ON T R AD E

AND TH E WTO

Twenty-first century Africa is in a process of economic transformation,but challenges remain in areas such as structural reform, governance,commodity pricing and geopolitics. This book looks into key questionsfacing the continent, such as how Africa can achieve deeper integrationinto the rules-based multilateral trading system and the global economy.It provides a range of perspectives on the future of the multilateraltrading system and Africa’s participation in global trade. It alsounderlines the supportive roles that can be played by multilateral andregional institutions during such a rapid and uncertain transition.This volume is based on contributions to the Fourth China Round

Table on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System, whichtook place just before theWTO’s TenthMinisterial Conference in Nairobiin December 2015.

patrick low is a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong anda fellow at the Asian Global Institute. He was formerly Chief Economist atthe World Trade Organization and previously worked at the GATTSecretariat.

ambassador chiedu osakwe is Trade Advisor to the HonorableMinister and Chief Negotiator for the Federal Ministry of Industry,Trade and Investment, Nigeria, while he is on special leave from theWTO. In the WTO, he has worked as director of various divisions formany years, including most recently as Director of the AccessionsDivision.

maika oshikawa is Officer in Charge of the Accessions Division of theWTO, having served in various divisions within the WTO Secretariat,including most recently as Head of the Asia and Pacific Desk in theInstitute for Training and Technical Cooperation.

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A F R I C AN P E R S P E C T I V E S

ON T R AD E AND TH E WTO

Domestic Reforms, Structural Transformation

and Global Economic Integration

Edited by

PATRICK LOWUniversity of Hong Kong

CHIEDU OSAKWEWorld Trade Organization

MAIKA OSHIKAWAWorld Trade Organization


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www.cambridge.orgInformation on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107174474

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© World Trade Organization 2016

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First published 2016

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A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataNames: World Trade Organization. China Round Table (4th : 2015 : Nairobi,

Kenya), author. | Low, Patrick, 1949– editor. | Osakwe, Chiedu I. (Chiedu Igwebuike),editor. | Oshikawa, Maika, editor. | World Trade Organization. Ministerial Conference

(10rh : 2015 : Nairobi, Kenya)Title: African perspectives on trade and the WTO : domestic reforms,

structural transformation, and global economic integration / edited by Patrick Low,Chiedu Osakwe, Maika Oshikawa.

Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2016. | “This volume, the workof over twenty authors, grew out of the Fourth China Round Table and the WTO’s Tenth

Ministerial Conference, two seminal events held back-to-back in Nairobi, Kenya, inDecember 2015” – Introduction. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016038551 | ISBN 9781107174474 (alk. paper)Subjects: LCSH: Africa – Foreign economic relations – Congresses. | Africa – Commerce –

21st century – Congresses. | Free trade – Africa – Congresses. | International trade –Congresses. | World Trade Organization – Africa – Congresses. | Globalization – Economic

aspects – Africa – Congresses. | Economic development – Africa – Congresses.Classification: LCC HF1611 .W67 2015 | DDC 337.6–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038551

ISBN 978-1-107-17447-4 HardbackISBN 978-1-316-62652-8 Paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy ofURLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publicationand does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain,

accurate or appropriate.


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CONTENTS

List of Figures page viiiList of Plates xList of Contributors xiiiMessage xviuhuru kenyatta

Joint Foreword xxroberto azevedo, amina mohamed and gao

hucheng

Acknowledgements xxvList of Abbreviations xxviDisclaimer xxx

1 Introduction and Overview 1

patrick low, chiedu osakwe and maika

oshikawa

PART I The Future of the Multilateral Trading

System: Perspectives from African Policy-

Makers and Partners 13

2 African Union Priorities at the WTO 15

fatima haram acyl

3 Economic Diversification in Africa’s Number OneEconomy 18

okechukwu e. enelamah

4 Trade, Investment and Development 24rob davies

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5 Integration into Global and Regional Value Chains – HowIs It Done? The Experience of Lesotho in the Textiles andApparel Sector 30

joshua setipa

6 From Marrakesh to Nairobi: Africa – A Force for theWorld Trading System: From the Past Twenty Years to theNext Twenty Years 35

moulay hafid elalamy

7 Building Capacity in Africa to Facilitate Integration intoGlobal Value Chains: Contributions from the ITC 43

arancha gonzalez

8 Investment and Trade Rules: Increasing the Stock ofAfrican Foreign Direct Investment Flows 52

joakim reiter

9 Deepening African Integration: Intra-African Trade forDevelopment and Poverty Reduction 59

anabel gonzalez

PART II Africa’s Participation in the Rules-Based

Multilateral Trading System 67

10 Rising Africa in World Trade? A Story of TraditionalCommodities and New Products 69

michael finger

11 Trade Policy Trends in Africa: Empirical Evidence fromTwenty Years of WTO Trade Policy Reviews 105

maika oshikawa, ukamaka anaedu and vicky

chemutai

12 Preferential Trade Agreements in Africa: Lessons from theTripartite Free Trade Agreements and an AfricanContinent-Wide FTA 230

stephen n. karingi , ottavia pesce and simon

mevel

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13 African Trade Integration and International ProductionNetworks 269

bernard m. hoekman

14 Implementing Trade Facilitation Reform in Africa 295marcus bartley johns, christina busch and

gerard mclinden

PART III Selected Development Experiences and

Perspectives 315

15 Trade Rules, Industrial Policy and Competitiveness:Implications for Africa’s Development 317

chiedu osakwe

16 WTO Accessions Reforms and Competitiveness – Lessonsfor Africa 369

alexei p. kireyev

17 Driving Economic Growth through Trade Policy Reformsand Investment Attraction in the Open World Economy:The Experience of China 406

yuan yuan

18 Conclusions 438patrick low, chiedu osakwe and maika

oshikawa

Annex: Contributor Biographies 441Index 454

Colour plates are to be found between pp. 242 and 243.

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FIGURES

10.1 Share of Africa in world trade, 1995–2014 page 7310.2 Shift in Africa’s merchandise exports by destination,

2000–14 8211.1 Evolution of applied tariffs in Africa, 2002–14, based on

available data 12211.2 Evolution of simple averages of applied tariffs – North and Sub-

Saharan Africa, 2002–14, based on available data 12311.3 Evolution of simple averages of applied tariffs of regional groups in

Africa, 2002–14, based on available data 12411.4 Tariff profiles of 43 African members in 2014 – tariff overhang

(latest available year) 13311.5 Services profile of African members 14812.1 Labour force allocation among main economic sectors in Africa,

2000 versus 2013 23212.2 Africa excluding North Africa, value added to GDP by sector in

percentage over time 23412.3 Africa’s exports by main product category, 1995–2014 23512.4 African LDCs’ exports to five main partners by main category of

goods, 2004–06 average versus 2012–14 average 24112.5 Exports of selected AGOA-eligible African countries to the United

States by preference used 24212.6 Regional trade agreements worldwide, 1949–2014 24612.7 EU trade with North African countries which have signed EU-

Mediterranean Association Agreements, billionsof Euros, 2013 249

12.8 Percentage of intra-regional exports across various regionaleconomic communities, 2014 253

12.9 Africa’s imports from Africa and from the rest of theworld, 2014 253

12.10 Share of trade conducted within Africa, 2012–14 average, tenhighest and lowest shares 254

12.11 Shares of intra-regional imports by area, 2014 258

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12.12 Expected change in intra-African trade by main sectors followingEPAs vs. EPAs+CFTA vs. EPAs+CFTA+Trade Facilitation (TF),2040, US$ billion 263

13.1 Services input intensity, selected African LDCs 28413.2 Services Trade Restrictiveness Index, 2009 28514.1 Logistics Performance Index 2014, overall score, regional

comparisons 29814.2 Trade costs in manufacturing by region, 1996 and 2010 29916.1 WTOArticle XII members (Duration of accession negotiations and

membership in years) 37316.2 Article XII members: evolution of price competitiveness (real

effective exchange rate, year of accession = 100) 37716.3 Article XII members: evolution of non-price competitiveness

(change in ranking, 2006–15) 37916.4 Difference-in-difference 38016.5 Test variables flow chart 38316.6 Impact of WTO accessions (percentage of Article XII

members) 38716.7 Impact of accessions by Article XII member (score) 38916.8 Africa’s relative competitiveness 390

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PLATES

Message

H.E. Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, President, Republic of Kenya(© Office of the President, Nairobi, Kenya)

Joint foreword

Mr Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organization(© WTO)H.E. Mrs Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs andInternational Trade, Republic of Kenya (©Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Nairobi, Kenya)

H.E.MrGaoHucheng,Minister of Commerce, People’s Republic of China(©Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website –www.dfat.gov.au)

Inside photo plates

Forecourt of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi,Kenya, venue for the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference from 15 to18 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and H. E. Mr Shouwen Wang,Vice Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, openthe Fourth China Round Table, which took place on 13–14 December2015. The Government of China pledged at the Round Table to con-tribute a further USD 500,000 (CHF 494,636) to the China Programmefor 2016.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)

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H.E. Mr Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce of the People’sRepublic of China, delivering one of the opening addresses during theFourth China Round Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, gives a keynote speech atthe Opening Ceremony of the High Level Session of the Fourth ChinaRound Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)Mr Roberto Azevêdo,WTODirector-General, at the Opening Ceremonyof the High Level Session of the Nairobi Fourth China Round Table on14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mrs Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs andInternational Trade of Kenya, speaking at the High Level Session of theFourth China Round Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)Mr Chiedu Osakwe, Director of the Accessions Division of the WTO,speaking at the High Level Session of the Fourth China Round Tableon 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Ms Fatima Haram Acyl, Commissioner for Trade and Industry,African Union Commission, speaks at the Nairobi Fourth ChinaRound Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mr Okechukwu E. Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade andInvestment of Nigeria, speaks at the Nairobi Fourth China RoundTable on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa,speaking at the High Level Session of the Fourth China Round Tableon 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mr Joshua Setipa, Minister of Trade and Industry of Lesotho,speaking at the High Level Session of the Fourth China Round Tableon 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)Ms Arancha González, Executive Director of the International TradeCentre, speaking at the High Level Session of the Fourth China RoundTable on 14 December 2015.


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Mr Joakim Reiter, Deputy Secretary-General at the United NationsConference on Trade and Development, speaking at the High LevelSession of the Fourth China Round Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)Ms Anabel González, Senior Director of the Global Practice on Trade andCompetitiveness of the World Bank Group, during the High LevelSession of the Fourth China Round Table on 14 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, meeting with H.E.Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, during the Tenth WTOMinisterial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, on 15 December 2015.

(© WTO/Admedia Communication)H.E. Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, and WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, accompanied by other participants in theHigh Level Session of the Fourth China Round Table on 14 December2015.


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CONTRIBUTORS

Editors

patrick low is a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong anda Fellow at the Asian Global Institute.

ambassador chiedu osakwe is Trade Advisor to the HonorableMinister and Chief Negotiator for the Federal Ministry of Industry,Trade and Investment, Nigeria, and an Adjunct Professor at theInternational University in Geneva.

maika oshikawa is Officer in Charge of the Accessions Division ofthe WTO.

Contributors

fatima haram acyl is the Commissioner for Trade and Industry at theAfrican Union Commission.

ukamaka anaedu is a research assistant in the Accessions Division ofthe WTO.

roberto azevedo is the Director-General of the WTO.

christina busch works in the Trade and Competitiveness GlobalPractice of the World Bank Group.

vicky chemutai is an Economic Affairs Officer in the AccessionsDivision of the WTO.

rob davies is the Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa.

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moulay hafid elalamy is the Minister of Industry, Trade and NewTechnologies of Morocco.

okechukwu e. enelamah is the Minister of Industry, Trade andInvestment of Nigeria.

michael finger worked as an international economist in the ResearchDivision of the GATT/WTO.

anabel gonzalez is Senior Director of the Global Practice on Trade andCompetitiveness of the World Bank Group.

arancha gonzalez is Executive Director of the International TradeCentre.

bernard m. hoekman is the Director of the Research strand ‘GlobalEconomics: Multilateral Cooperation and Policy Spillovers’ at theEuropean University Institute.

marcus bartley johns is a Trade Specialist in the World Bank GroupGeneva Office.

stephen n. karingi is the Director of the Regional Integration,Infrastructure and Trade Division of the United Nations EconomicCommission for Africa.

uhuru kenyatta is the President of Kenya.

alexei p. kireyev is a Senior Economist at the International MonetaryFund.

gerard mclinden is Senior Trade Facilitation Specialist in the GlobalPractice on Trade and Competitiveness of the World Bank Group.

simon mevel is an Economic Affairs Officer at the United NationsEconomic Commission for Africa.

amina mohamed is Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs andInternational Trade of Kenya.

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ottavia pesce is an Economist at the United Nations EconomicCommission for Africa.

joakim reiter is Deputy Secretary-General at the United NationsConference on Trade and Development.

joshua setipa is the Minister of Trade and Industry of Lesotho.

yuan yuan is Director of the Division of Trade Policy Review andNotification, Department of WTO Affairs of the Ministry of Commerceof China.

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MESSAGE

uhuru kenyatta

President of Kenya

This volume celebrates two important events that took place in Nairobiin December 2015. The World Trade Organization held its TenthMinisterial Conference in Kenya, and we took advantage of that occasionto host the Fourth China Round Table back-to-back with the Conference.The people and Government of Kenya are honoured to have beenaccorded the opportunity to provide the location for these meetings.

The choice of an African venue conveys a message I cherish as much asthe events themselves and their substantive outcomes. The WTO wasestablished in Marrakesh some two decades ago with a sense of noveltyand optimism that marked a deepening of multilateral, non-discrimina-tory trade cooperation across the globe.

H.E. Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, President, Republic of Kenya

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Twenty years on from the entry into force of the WTO in 1995, theWTO came back to Africa, holding its first ministerial conference on thecontinent. This time Africa was hosting not a birth, but an institution thathas made a valuable contribution over the years to open trade, policypredictability, the rule of law and enhanced economic welfare. Yet theWTO that came to Nairobi also confronts serious challenges, havingstruggled with an unfinished negotiating agenda since the turn of thecentury.

The Nairobi meeting confronted these challenges with determination,tenacity and political will that yielded as positive an outcome as anyonecould have hoped for. In addition to specific gains in such areas asagriculture, better trade opportunities for least-developed countries,and a new deal on trade in information technology products, theNairobi Package has potentially broken a logjam that has frustratedprogress in the Doha Round. It has also created an opportunity to addressother issues that many believe are ripe for multilateral negotiation.E-commerce could be one such issue of interest for Africa, consideringthe growing role of the digital economy across the continent. Even more,in Nairobi, decisions were taken to enlarge the WTO with the member-ship of Afghanistan and Liberia, hence advancing ever closer to thestrategic objective of universality of membership.

The WTO success complements a good year for multilateral coopera-tion. In July 2015, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we had a successful ThirdInternational Conference for Financing for Development, arising fromthe Monterrey Consensus. This was followed by the adoption of the 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015, in NewYork, by world leaders. Subsequently, at a meeting of the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change, in Paris, France, we reachedan historic agreement to combat climate change.

In Nairobi, we also spent a couple of days before theWTO Conferencethinking about trade as a motor for growth and development especiallyfor the least-developed countries (LDCs). Of the forty-eight economiesbearing this designation, thirty-four are in Africa.

The China Round Table was instituted by China in 2011 as part of amechanism to assist LDCs to participate more effectively in the WTOand support those seeking accession to the WTO in negotiating theirmembership. The Fourth meeting of the Round Table provided a valu-able opportunity to discuss the challenges facing LDCs and identify therole of trade and the multilateral trading system in underwriting their

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economic progress. A number of valuable reflections delivered and dis-cussed at the Round Table can be found in this volume.

Returning to the WTO Ministerial Conference, this was not only anoccasion to advance the work of the institution, but also a chance toreflect on the place of Africa in the global community of nations. Nomore than a decade or two ago, Africa was often referred to by theWestern press and other commentators as a bleak continent of basket-case economies. That negative image has been laid to rest.

For the last two decades, Africa’s growth rate has exceeded that of theglobal economy. Africa’s share of world production has expanded by 30per cent and that of trade by more than one-third. Africa’s share offoreign direct investment has doubled. In 2014, six of the ten fastestgrowing economies were African.

All this speaks of a continent on the move. Yet we must not deludeourselves. Our continent faces manifold challenges. Our growth perfor-mance is too narrowly based on primary commodities. Trade opportu-nities within the continent have only started to be tapped. We face anurgent task in tackling poverty, enhancing inclusiveness and fitting thecontinent into a rapidly evolving global digital economy. We have hugeinvestment needs in terms both of physical infrastructure and humancapital. We need to improve our governance.

We know well that trade can be a vital support to the continent’sgrowth and development, as well as a buttress against social and politicalinstability. We also know that the WTO can make a critical contributionto our success. This is why the Nairobi outcome is so welcome. ButNairobi is only a beginning, a harbinger of opportunity – a platform.

Much remains to be done. The progress on export subsidies in agri-culture was a very welcome development. But trade rules in agriculturemust be made fairer still. Trade-distorting domestic support is damagingAfrican agriculture and industry. If we are to industrialize, tariff escala-tion and peak tariffs need to be eliminated. African economies producingcompetitively should not be frustrated by defensive trade remedies.Standards should not be the next frontier of protectionism.

The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) struck at the NinthMinisterial Conference in Bali in 2013 was a welcome development.Now we need more governments to ratify the TFA, as Kenya did in therun-up to the Nairobi Conference. The TFA will permit goods andservices to flow more freely amongst countries with all the benefits thatbrings in terms of jobs, growth and development.

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What does Africa itself need to do in order to take maximum advan-tage of opportunities offered by intensified engagement in the worldeconomy? I believe we face four major tasks.

First, we must build on recent growth successes in Africa to undertakea profound structural transformation. This is a multifaceted undertaking,with industrial development, diversification, and high-quality job crea-tion at the core of our efforts.

Second, we must address poverty and enhance opportunities for themillions of individuals and families presently on the periphery of Africandevelopment.

Third, as individual states and as a continent, we must integrate betterinto the global economy in order to benefit more from international tradeand investment. The first step is to develop the enormous untappedopportunities for intensified intra-African integration. This will providea natural springboard for deeper engagement in the global economy.

Fourth, we must improve the quality of governance across thecontinent.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and Kenya’s CabinetSecretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Amina Mohameddemonstrated exemplary leadership in working with ministers.

In closing, I have no hesitation in recommending this volume for whatit tells us about how international trade and theWTOmesh with Africa’sdevelopment priorities and aspirations.

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JOINT FOREWORD

The Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015achieved successful outcomes of historic proportions. This success builton the foundations laid at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali inDecember 2013. A WTO that regularly delivers will be a more robustinstitution that responds to the growth and development requirements ofits members. Now, collectively, we must forge ahead to consolidate oursuccesses, build on them and advance the organization to respond to thetrade and economic challenges that members face.

Bali culminated in the landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA),which will lower trade costs and support trade expansion, and resulted indecisions on agriculture, food security and development. The welfareeffects for individual economies, when fully implemented and withappropriate companion policies, are very significant indeed.

The contributions from Nairobi were also extremely significant. Inagriculture, the Ministerial Conference ended decades of struggle overthe issue of export subsidies on agricultural products. These have beenbanned once and for all. This is an historic achievement that furtherlevels the agricultural playing field at a stroke. This was overdue and wasan indispensable step for development in the right direction. Moreover, it

Mr Roberto Azevêdo H.E. Mrs Amina Mohamed H.E. Mr Gao Hucheng

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means that theWTO is delivering on a key target of the UN’s SustainableDevelopment Goals, which were set just three months before.

Other achievements in agriculture dealt with food aid and addressedaspects of food security, including public stockholding and a specialsafeguard mechanism. A long-standing issue regarding the negativeeffects of cotton subsidies on poorer cotton producers was alsoaddressed, through the elimination of export subsidies and the provisionof duty-free, quota-free market access in major markets. In addition, apackage for least-developed countries (LDCs) included revised rules oforigin requirements for those suppliers under preferential trade agree-ments. Further work was done on securing preferential access for servicestraded by LDCs.

The Ministerial Conference also concluded negotiations aimed atremoving tariffs on a range of information technology products, amount-ing to the removal of tariffs on 10 per cent of global merchandise trade,building on an early agreement reached in 1996.

During the Nairobi Ministerial Conference, the terms of WTO entryfor Afghanistan and Liberia were approved and the WTO welcomed theaccessions of Yemen, Seychelles and Kazakhstan, all of which hadbecome WTO members since the Bali Ministerial Conference. TheWTO now covers 98 per cent of world trade and is well on its way toattaining universal membership.

Nairobi opened a window on the future of the WTO. It opened up thepossibility of adopting new and creative ways of carrying issues forward.Moreover, it confirmed the collective understanding that trade plays avital role in sustaining economies, promoting jobs, facilitating growthand fostering development.

The WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference was made more substan-tive and symbolically significant because it was held in Africa, home tomore than one quarter of the entire WTO membership. Africa is acontinent on the move, with tremendous promise and a prominentfuture in global affairs. But because there are many emerging economiesin Africa, the continent faces multi-dimensional challenges on its roadto development. Millions need to be lifted out of poverty. Much must bedone to diversify sources of income and trade and to enhance value-added across a broad range of activities involving both goods andservices. Huge infrastructure deficits must be met. By working moreclosely together, governments can achieve more than when they workalone. Full participation in the multilateral trading system will be anessential ingredient for moving forward.

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Of course the Nairobi Ministerial Conference did not solve all theWTO’s difficulties or address all its challenges. It highlighted differencesthat exist among WTO members regarding the Doha Round. However,in Nairobi, members underlined their commitment to delivering on theremaining Doha Round issues, and they recognized that some membersare keen to discuss other issues as well. Conversations are now underwayabout how we can take all of this work forward – and there is a cleardesire among the membership to deliver more, and to do it more quickly.

2015 was a successful year for multilateralism, marked by the ThirdInternational Conference on Financing for Development, the adoption ofthe Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations and thefinalization of the Paris Agreement on climate change (COP21) justbefore the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. Nairobi formedpart of the success of multilateralism in 2015 – and it was particularlysatisfying to do so on the occasion of the WTO’s 20th anniversary.

Ultimately, decision-makers are well aware that all economies needtrade and that trade needs a framework of global rules. The WTOprovides the core underpinning for trade relations. Its role shall remaincritical for stability, certainty and order in trade relations. The GATT/WTO has made significant contributions to growth and developmentover the decades. It has written and enforced rules, contributed to greatertrade openness, increased market access opportunities, and resolvedhundreds of disputes over the years. We have no doubt that the organiza-tion will go from strength to strength in the years to come.

The contributions in this collection reflect on all of these elements.It will be a lasting record of the Nairobi Ministerial Conference andthe Fourth China Round Table, which was held in Nairobi, back-to-back with the Ministerial Conference. The China Round Table is ajoint activity of the WTO Secretariat, the Government of China andthe WTO member that hosts the Round Table – in this case, Kenya.The Round Table is one of the four pillars of ‘China’s LDCs andAccessions Programme’ – usually known as ‘The China Programme’.This initiative was established in 2011 by a Memorandum ofUnderstanding between the WTO Secretariat and the Governmentof China. The Round Table promotes a process to deliver technicalassistance and capacity-building to LDCs, share experiences based onaccession-related domestic reforms and support a policy dialogue todeepen the integration of LDCs and other developing economies intothe rules-based multilateral trading system. We jointly opened theFourth China Round Table and are very pleased that this volume

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reflects the valuable contribution that this initiative made to a verymemorable week in Nairobi.

The book contains important discussions and analyses of a range ofissues facing the WTO – specifically its African members – and thenumerous challenges facing all members as they struggle to make thingsbetter for their populations. We congratulate the editors and all thecontributors and recommend this book not only as a valuable record ofthe WTO’s success in Nairobi but also as a timely and important con-tribution to the literature on sound policy-making at the internationallevel.

Mr Roberto AzevêdoWTO Director-General

H.E. Mrs Amina MohamedCabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and InternationalTrade of the Republic of Kenya

H.E. Mr Gao HuchengMinister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book project was prepared for the Nairobi Fourth China RoundTable, which was held in the context of the TenthMinisterial Conference,the first gathering of WTOministers to be held on the African continentduring the WTO’s 20th anniversary. These two events offered uniqueopportunities for African trade policy decision-makers and their partnersto reflect and exchange views on the continent’s participation in therules-based multilateral trading system in the twenty-first century. Aseditors of this book, we express our profound appreciation to all theauthors whose contributions feature in this volume. We are immenselygrateful for the time, energy and intellect they have invested in thisproject. The range of perspectives represented in these chapters willhelp to improve understanding of engagement with Africa and contri-bute to the maximization of the continent’s potential as the next growthfrontier. Many colleagues were indispensable in the preparation of thisbook.We received inspiration, strong support and thoughtful reflections,at every stage, from WTO Deputy Director-General David Shark andGraça Andresen-Guimaraes, Senior Advisor in the Office of WTODirector-General Roberto Azevêdo. For their editorial work in preparingthe manuscript and refining it through many stages, we are very gratefulindeed to Souda Tandara-Stenier, AnthonyMartin and Helen Swain. Wereceived research assistance from Vicky Chemutai. We are also gratefulto the Government of China, which provided financial support for theNairobi Fourth China Round Table at which most of the chapters con-tained in this volume were first presented. Last but not least, we aregrateful to Finola O’Sullivan at Cambridge University Press, whose sup-port was indispensable for this book to move ahead in a short period oftime.

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ABBREVIATIONS

ACP African Caribbean and Pacific Group of StatesAEC African Economic CommunityAGOA African Growth and Opportunity ActASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsASYCUDA Automated SYstem for CUstoms DAtaAU African UnionAUC African Union CommissionAVE ad valorem equivalentsBADR Base Automatisée des Douanes en RéseauBCEAO Central Bank of West African StatesCBN Central Bank of NigeriaCEMAC Central African Economic and Monetary CommunityCEN-SAD Community of Sahel–Saharan StatesCET common external tariffCFTA Continental Free Trade AreaCIMA Inter-African Insurance ConferenceCOBAC Bank of Central African StatesCOMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern AfricaCU customs unionCVA WTO Customs Valuation AgreementDCFTA Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade AgreementDDA Doha Development AgendaDID difference-in-differenceDSB WTO Dispute Settlement BodyDSM WTO Dispute Settlement MechanismDSU WTO Dispute Settlement UnderstandingEAC East African CommunityECA UN Economic Commission for AfricaECCAS Economic Community of Central African StatesECO Economic Cooperation OrganizationECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

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EDI electronic data interchangeEGA Environmental Goods AgreementEPAs economic partnership agreementsEPZ export processing zoneESA Eastern and Southern AfricaEUROMED Euro-Mediterranean PartnershipFDI foreign direct investmentFIEs foreign-invested enterprisesf.o.b. free-on-boardFOCAC Forum on China-Africa CooperationFTA free trade agreementGAFTA Greater Arab Free Trade AreaGATS General Agreement on Trade in ServicesGATT General Agreement on Tariffs and TradeGNI gross domestic incomeGPT general preferential tariffGSP Generalized System of PreferencesGVCs global value chainsHACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control PointHICs high-income countriesHPAEs High Performing East Asian EconomiesIDB Integrated Data BaseIGAD Intergovernmental Authority on DevelopmentIMF International Monetary FundIPR intellectual property rightsIT information technologyITA WTO Information Technology AgreementITC International Trade CentreLDCs least-developed countriesLICs low-income countriesLMCs lower-middle-income countriesLPI World Bank’s Logistics Performance IndexMFN most-favoured nationMOFCOM China’s Ministry of CommerceMOU Memorandum of UnderstandingMRTAs mega-regional trade agreementsMTS multilateral trading systemNAMA non-agricultural market accessNIRP Nigeria Industrial Revolution PlanNTMs non-tariff measures

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ODCs other duties and chargesOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

DevelopmentPIDA African Development Bank Group’s Programme for

Infrastructure Development in AfricaPSI preshipment inspectionPTAs preferential trade arrangementsQRs quantitative restrictionsRCEP Regional Comprehensive Economic PartnershipRECs Regional Economic CommunitiesREER real effective exchange rateRoO rules of originRTA regional trade agreementRVC regional value chainSACU Southern African Customs UnionSADC Southern African Development CommunitySADCC Southern African Development Coordinating

ConferenceSAPs IMF’s structural adjustment programmesSCM WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing

MeasuresSCT supply chain tradeS&D special and differential treatmentSDGs United Nations Sustainable Development GoalsSDR special drawing rightsSEZ special economic zoneSIDS small-island developing stateSITA Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for AfricaSME small and medium-sized enterpriseSPS sanitary and phytosanitary measuresSSA Sub-Saharan AfricaSTEs state trading enterprisesSTRI World Bank’s Services Trade Restrictiveness IndexTA technical assistanceTBT technical barriers to tradeTDCA Trade, Development and Cooperation AgreementTFA WTO Trade Facilitation AgreementTFTA Tripartite Free Trade Area AgreementTISA Trade in Services AgreementTISI trade and investment support institution

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TiVA OECD-WTO Trade in Value Added databaseTLs tariff linesTPP Trans-Pacific PartnershipTPR WTO Trade Policy ReviewTPRM WTO Trade Policy Review MechanismTRIMs trade-related investment measuresTRIPS WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of

Intellectual Property RightsTRQ tariff rate quotaTTIPA Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment PartnershipUEMOA West African Economic and Monetary UnionUMA Arab Maghreb UnionUMCs upper-middle-income countriesUN United NationsUNCTAD UN Conference on Trade and DevelopmentUNDAP UN Development Assistance PlanUNWTO UN World Tourism OrganizationVAT value-added taxVCS value chainsWAEMU West African Economic and Monetary UnionWCO World Customs OrganizationWFOEs wholly-foreign owned enterprisesWTO World Trade Organization

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DISCLAIMER

The opinions, arguments and conclusions contained in this publicationare the sole responsibility of the individual authors. This includes con-tributions prepared by individual staff of the Secretariat of the WorldTrade Organization. None of the chapters purports to reflect the opi-nions or views ofWTOmembers or the Secretariat, directly or indirectly.Any citation of the chapters should ascribe authorship to the individualswho have written the contributions. This book should not be viewed asadvancing any form of legal interpretation or any policy position, and noviews or analysis in this publication should be attributed to the WTO, itsSecretariat or its members.

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