"Lack of access to trade financing ICT is a major constraint for African entrepreneurs, particularly the Small- and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs), wishing to establish or expand export-oriented businesses," the ministers said at the end of a two-day meeting in the Ugandan capital.

"There is great need by African countries, regional and international organizations and the private sector to find ways of securing appropriate and predictable sources of trade financing," the ministers said.

The meeting, whose theme was: "Mainstreaming Trade Policy in National Development Strategies," was held ahead of a UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) symposium on Monday and the 39th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) group due to open on Tuesday.

"African countries will also need to adopt dynamic trade policies and remove domestic bottlenecks in order to capitalize on such opportunities," the ministers added.

The meeting took note of the importance of new ICTs in the development of Africa and the integration of the continent in world trade, recommending that African countries "should adopt the necessary programmes for the development of this ICT sector."

"We recognize the importance of better trade facilitation processes," they said, warning that "delays at customs points are a major obstacle to trade in Africa."

"We recommend that efforts should be made to ensure that customs bodies make greater use of technology, place greater reliance on post-release audits, and work towards high-levels of professionalism and integrity," the ministers said.

"Such reforms required appropriate technical assistance for capacity-building," they added.

The ministers also said that "trade liberalization in Africa has been a potential source of fiscal instability, as most of our countries depend heavily on trade taxes for public revenue."

"The challenge is how to maintain fiscal stability when liberalizing trade and in this context, we recommend that trade liberalization should be coordinated with measures on the revenue and spending side of the budget, including strengthening tax administration and collection, and improving the effectiveness of public spending," the ministers noted.

SPACE.WIRE