UN report calls for intra-Africa investment during downturn

A report by the UN has stressed the importance of regional integration in Africa during the economic downturn.  Economic Development in Africa 2009: Strengthening regional economic integration for Africa's Development, produced by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), makes the case for better regional integration in order to address the structural weaknesses of African economies. ÔÇ£Better links between countries, ranging from paved roads to banking cooperation, are needed to spur mutual economic growth,ÔÇØ UNCTAD said in a news release. ÔÇ£Indeed, weak physical and institutional infrastructure is the key obstacle to increasing intra-African trade and investment.ÔÇØ The report estimates that a $32 billion investment in improvements to the continentÔÇÖs cross-border roads could generate $250 billion of trade over a period of 15 years. Africa should take the opportunity of the global downturn, the report says, to strengthen its own economic integration, which would then promote economic diversification, structural changes and technological development throughout the continent. ÔÇ£Weak physical institutional infrastructure is a key obstacle to increasing inter-African trade and investment,ÔÇØ said the director of UNCTAD's Africa division, Habib Ouane. ÔÇ£Africa currently has the world's lowest shares of regional trade and investment.ÔÇØ  The report does acknowledge the progress Africa has made on a sub-regional basis, but says this has not substantially increased intra-African trade. It then went on to stress the importance of services such as construction, telecommunications and tourism to successful integration. According to UNCTAD, trade between African economies represents only nine per cent of their total exports ÔÇô half of what is achieved in Latin America and less than a fifth of what can be found in Europe. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *