To directly deliver on-the-spot authoritative advice on trade and development issues to policymakers and all stakeholders in Africa, UNCTAD has opened a regional office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Regional Office for Africa will be headed by Ms. Joy Kategekwa, a Ugandan former official with the World Trade Organization. The inauguration of the office was marked by an official ceremony at the Hilton Addis Ababa hotel on 22 July.
The first UNCTAD office of its kind, the Africa branch will, in the words of UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi, help "make trade work for Africa".
Trade among African countries is very low relative to the continent’s total trade. Over the past decade, the share of intra-African trade in Africa’s total trade was about 11 per cent, as compared to 21 per cent for Latin America and the Caribbean, 50 per cent for developing Asia and 70 per cent for Europe.
"Africa is at a crossroads in its trade agenda," Dr. Kituyi said. "Never has the political momentum and support for deeper trade integration been higher on the continent."
"Having UNCTAD on the ground provides Africa the opportunity to use UNCTAD's extensive technical and analytical resources," Dr. Kituyi added. By providing the "missing link" between recommendations and actions "the Regional Office for Africa will play a leading role in coordinating the delivery of UNCTAD's advisory services in support of implementation of the post-2015 agenda for African countries".
The office will help African governments to accelerate regional economic integration in Africa, Dr. Kituyi said. This will contribute to bringing prosperity to Africans by embedding their companies into regional value chains and making their economies more productive.
"UNCTAD has the necessary tool kit to support Africa in these processes," Dr. Kituyi said.
UNCTAD – the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – was formed in 1964 to help poor countries adopt policies that would integrate them into the world economy and boost prosperity. UNCTAD is based at the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, and has a representative office at the United Nations in New York. It works at the behest of 194 member States and employs roughly 500 people.