Cities: Gateways for Africa’s Regional Economic Integration

ECA has been working on a report and a policy toolkit to support its member States utilize the unstoppable force of urbanization to support regional trade, in the light of AfCFTA. While African urbanization and African trade integration each have an extensive literature and ongoing policy dialogue, the linkage between the two does not; bridging this gap is the subject of this event. This linkage is critical for maximizing the benefits of regional trade, as the majority of value-added tradables are produced and consumed in cities. And, the emerging opportunities of regional trade are vitally important for African cities, where large shares of the urban population are trapped in non-tradable sectors and facing underemployment, low-wages and precarious work, and could benefit from lower-cost and better-matched regionally traded goods and services. ECA is responding to the growing number of requests by its member States for support in order to maximize gains from the enhanced volume of intra-regional trade. These demands have resulted in a report entitled ‘Cities: Gateways for Africa’s Regional Economic Integration’ and a corresponding technical policy toolkit. These both take into account the different needs and potential of different cities in the region, as well as the type of products that are being traded to deliver tailored solutions to member States.