“We hold at a central moment, which marks a deep passage to consider these nations as isolated and constrained by geography to recognize them as economies linked to dynamic land at the heart of the socio-economic resurgence of Africa,” said Samuel Doe, a resident representative of the United Nations Program for the Development of the United Nations (Predict) in Ethiopia.
A new UNDP position paper – Economies linked to the terms of Africa: paths of prosperity and development – explores the new account of African LLDCs, “rewrite the history of one of the geographic limits to strategic advantage”.
Mr. Doe, speaking on behalf of the UNDP in Africa, presented the document at a press conference on the margins of the third United Nations Conference on the LLDC (LLDC3), which has been underway since Tuesday in Awaza, Turkmenistan.
“For decades, African LLDCs have been defined by their lack of direct access to the sea, often perceived as a drawback that limits trade, growth and development,” he said.
“Today, African LLDCs take advantage of their strategic centrality and their regional connectivity to become vital centers of economic, trade and innovation activity.”
He cited, among others, the Kigali logistics platform of Rwanda of 130,000 hectares-a lively regional center, connecting Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi to the coastal economies of Kenya and Tanzania.
In addition, Ethiopia facilitates the crucial commercial roads of South Sudan in Djibouti – including the shortening of public transport by rail from 72 hours to 12 hours – and operates its national airline, emerging as a vital vital air transport connector that is breeding Africa with international markets.
Meanwhile, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe anchor the North-South Pivot corridor, connecting southern Africa to the wider continental markets.
Globally, the LLDC represent seven% of the world’s population but contribute only about 1.1% of world trade.
The UNDP notes that although the contribution of African LLDCs to world trade can be minimal, they provide regional and continental markets with strategic goods and services, including diamonds, copper, gold, coffee, sugar, as well as textiles and clothes.
“Linkled moves the story”
An essential element of the quarter-work on the continent is the African continental free trade area (AFCFTA), which entered into force in January 2021 and represents the largest free trade area in the world with a market of 1.2 billion people.
Most African LLDCs are members of the AFCFTA, which already reduce commercial obstacles, unlocking large opportunities for LLDCs to participate actively and to benefit from intra-African and global trade, according to the UNDP.
“The land link returns the story: the domestic countries become bridges, not obstacles. With AFCFTA, the LLDC can transform geography into a competitive advantage-goods, services, services and data faster and more affordable across Africa and beyond, “said Doe.
The change also requires coordinated political reforms, as well as to take advantage of innovation, inclusive governance, resilience and financing to stimulate sustainable and inclusive growth.
The document also cites digital connectivity as a “transformative path” for African LLDCs to transcend geographic constraints and establish direct links with regional and global markets.
According to the 2024 International Telecommunication Union (Itu) Facts and figures, 39% of the LLDCS population is online, with Internet access in African LLDCs reaching up to 20%.
The current digital landscape, although difficult, demonstrates that African LLDCs are positioned to take advantage of innovative connectivity solutions that bypass traditional dependencies on neighboring coastal countries, according to the PUDP Paper. Despite these LLDCs continue to count on neighboring coastal countries for access to submarine cables.
“We are also concerned about the fact that developing countries without coastline do not easily have access to submarine cables” Cosmason Zavazava, director of the ITU telecommunications development office, told journalists in Awaza.
“And for those who are doubly landlocked, it is a biggest challenge because you must have good relations with your neighbors so that you can communicate.”
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Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
