Description

Background

Following similar meetings in Latin America and Asia, under the aegis of the joint UNCTAD/UNDP Programme on Globalisation, Liberalisation and Sustainable Human Development, ICTSD convened its African policy dialogue in Windhoek, Namibia, from 10-12 May, 2000. The participants, included high-level government officials, and representatives of academia, civil society and the private sector.

Programme Overview

The ICTSD African Policy Dialogue explored the effects that several topical aspects of globalisation are likely to have on sustainable human development in Africa, including foreign direct investment, regional integration, special and differential treatment in the multilateral trading system, and export-led growth. Of particular importance to African societies today is the changing pattern of FDI in Africa, shifting as it is from natural resources to the servicing and manufacturing sectors, opening up new possibilities but also raising new concerns. Regional integration is expected to experience a further boom as African countries prepare for the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that are slated to gradually replace the Lomé Convention between the European Union and ACP countries after 2008. The EPAs will eventually lead to reciprocal trade concessions between the EU and African countries instead of the market access preferences the EU has unilaterally offered under the Lomé Convention.  African economies also need to assess how the WTO’s special and differential treatment provisions can assist their sustainable human development goals, including through attracting larger foreign direct investment flows. The participants in the ICTSD African Policy Dialogue looked at the scope special and differential treatment could offer to infant industry protection and trade restrictions imposed for balance of payment reasons. While some African countries, such as Senegal and Mauritius, have succesfully established and exploited export-processing zones, a roundtable session examined the linkages between export-led growth, human capital development and female employment, as well as potential inconsistencies with the WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.