Addressing the policy disconnect in Africa’s services trade

A review of economic trends, the contribution of services to the economy (chapter 1), and critical regulatory policy issues concerning the services sector (chapter 2) is followed by a discussion of the policy dimension of services trade. To assess the extent to which services trade forms part of Africa’s development strategies, this chapter undertakes a non-exhaustive mapping exercise of existing policies that pertain to services trade at the national, regional and global levels to determine how well such policies reflect the potential contribution of the sector to overarching development goals of African Governments. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the policy disconnect between existing national, regional and global policies that pertain to services trade and offers recommendations as to how African countries, regional economic communities and the African Union can bridge this divide so that such trade can be better harnessed to address inclusive growth and economic development priorities on the continent.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development