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The ninth edition of the annual “International single window Conference” concluded in Djibouti in recent days, organized in partnership between the Republic of Djibouti, the African Alliance and the European Union (EU) to highlight investment opportunities and ongoing developments across the African continent that will improve the efficiency of trade globally.
According to a note from the EU’s external diplomatic service, Brussels supports efforts in the region that will strengthen regional economic integration and facilitate regional trade in line with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA).
A key action under this partnership is the EU’s support for the Horn of Africa Initiative strategy, in collaboration with the governments of Djibouti and Ethiopia. The EU has allocated 32 million euros for a program dedicated to “Promoting regional economic integration in the Horn of Africa through the development of the Djibouti corridor” implemented by the French Development Agency (Afd) and the aid organization to TradeMark Africa (Tma) trade. The program aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of one of the most active economic corridors in Africa, while promoting inclusive trade, which is achieved “through the digitalisation of trade processes in government agencies to reduce the time needed to obtain commercial documents and speed up the transit of goods along the corridor” from the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa. Examples of such digital interventions are electronic one-stop windows and goods tracking systems.
To organize strategic partnerships that ensure success, TMA, the implementing partner through this EU programme, has signed partnerships with the Ministry of Trade and Tourism of Djibouti to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) along the Djibouti corridor and align Djibouti’s national trade policy to the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement and the AfCFTA. This is expected to deepen trade integration with Ethiopia through the harmonization of trade regimes and the domestication of common trade and customs rules and regulations. The goal is to contribute to a 10% decrease in the cost of trade, a 15% reduction in the time needed to trade and a 30% decrease in the time to clear goods at selected border crossings. The EU-backed program will also increase exports in the targeted subsectors by 15% and enable a 15% growth in the income of affected vulnerable groups, in particular women in business.
The port of Djibouti now handles approximately 90% of Ethiopia’s international trade. However, the corridor is limited by difficulties, such as high customs clearance fees for traders. This, in turn, increases trade costs and raw material prices, thus making EU intervention timely.
Noting the progress made and recognizing the long but rewarding journey ahead, Sylvie Tabesse, European Union Ambassador to Djibouti and Igad, said: “I hope that the work we are doing here will contribute to reducing time and costs of trade. Furthermore, I look forward to seeing the full value of our interventions in improving the region’s attractiveness to investors and, more importantly, for the people of Ethiopia and Djibouti to be able to access assets on time and at affordable prices. competitive. This conference is the most relevant in today’s context and the variety and quality of stakeholders here make me confident in the future of our common ambitions.”
TradeMark Africa Djibouti Country Representative, Achaa Abdillahi Ahmed, said: “This global forum is an opportune time for us to promote discussions and knowledge exchange on digital trade initiatives such as the single window system concept, which we as TradeMark Africa we have successfully implemented in East Africa. We hope to create greater awareness of such efforts as we build collaborations that will address trade barriers and catalyze increased trade in the Horn of Africa region and in particular the Djibouti-Addis corridor. So far we have done the initial groundwork of corridor mapping, stakeholder consultations and identified the systems to be implemented. Numerous other critical elements are underway, including the automation of certificates of origin, the implementation of electronic cargo tracking, the implementation of a fleet management system and the e-phyto sanitary and phytosanitary system.” [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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