World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has called on African nations, including Nigeria, to prioritise adding value to their products to strengthen trade within the continent and beyond.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Okonjo-Iweala noted that Africa’s trade largely consists of raw materials and commodities, with 60 percent of exports to other regions remaining unprocessed. She argued that value addition is critical to expanding intra-African trade, which currently accounts for only 15 to 20 percent of total trade on the continent.
She said, “We need to add value to our products, even for the intra-Africa market, because we are trading even with each other. We have mostly commodities and raw materials that we’re trading. And 60 percent of our exports elsewhere are still raw commodities. And I know it’s changing and African leaders are recognising now that they have to change. So they’re making moves. But we need to accelerate that, add value. That way we can trade different products to each other.”
The WTO chief highlighted opportunities for Nigeria to dominate certain African markets, such as textiles and apparel, given the country’s strong fashion industry. She also pointed to emerging sectors like digital pharmaceuticals and digitally delivered services as areas where African women and youth are already excelling.
She stated, “I’m very excited that Nigeria might be able to take over the African market in textiles and apparel, because we have powerful people in fashion. And if we can scale it and the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment says we’re already working on trying to scale up some of this. We need to scale it so we can capture the African market because we have a strong advantage in that particular area. Digital pharmaceuticals and some other areas that one could talk about. So you can see. And digital trade. Yes. And digitally delivered services trade. Our women and our young people are doing amazing things. Honestly, I have to admire them. If we can capitalise on that, we can capture a big slice of the African market.”
Addressing concerns about the current global trading environment, Okonjo-Iweala dismissed the notion that multilateralism has ended.
She noted, “First, I think there are many opportunities for Africa and Nigeria in the present global trading environment. I know it’s very gloomy. What you hear about trade is very pessimistic, that trade has been destroyed, global trade rules are no longer working. It is true that trade has been severely disrupted. The biggest disruption in 80 years. I just want to say that almost three quarters of world trade is still going on on WTO terms.
So, there’s disruption but the system is resilient and I think we can build into that resilience because what is happening is that many, many countries and many businesses are seeking diversification of trade because you have seen some weaponization of trade in a way or what I would call over-dependence.
“I think many businesses and many suppliers are finding that maybe they are too dependent on certain countries for markets and too dependent on others for supplies. And if you get the vast majority of your supplies from one country and you depend on one country for your markets, then they can rise up one day and say, listen, we no longer want you. So what they are trying to do is diversify. In that context, Nigeria with a large market of 220 million, we are 220 million with a sizable middle class, has a chance to attract some of these supply chains that are trying to diversify in pharmaceuticals, in textiles, agro-processing, so many areas where I think we can have a comparative advantage. So I think this is our time but it will not fall on our laps. We have to work for it and I think this is the direction.”
Melissa Enoch
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