“Most African countries have made a great deal of progress in general trade facilitation reforms but overall progress in the area of digitalization or paperless trade facilitation is more limited,” said Mr. David Luke, the coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre at the Economic Commission for Africa.

During his keynote address at the 1^st African Union Forum on Trade Facilitation for Customs Experts that was held in Congo, Brazzaville on 19-21 August 2015, Mr. Luke reported on the findings of a 2015 ECA survey, highlighting that “while no evidence of resistance to the utilization of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) was found, African countries are however prioritizing institutional reforms and putting physical infrastructure in place”.

Mr. Luke stressed that “Africa needs good trade facilitation policies and good operational measures”. The survey identified a lack of infrastructure, such as risk-management technology and scanners, and the incapacity of authorized operators such as freight carriers for fulfilling various procedural requirements. It also categorised financing constraints for institutional support, equipment, as another challenge, followed by insufficient coordination between government agencies and effective political oversight.

This first ever trade facilitation forum for customs experts is very timely, considering that the negotiations for the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) were officially launched in June 2015. Mr. Luke pointed out that trade facilitation and the removal of non-tariff barriers will be critical for the success of the CFTA in boosting intra-African trade.

Despite encouraging progress in formalities such basic customs and other border facilitation reforms, there remains much to be done to enhance trade facilitation in Africa, reported Mr. Luke to the forum of customs experts from 30 African countries as well as officials from international agencies including the UN Conference on Trade and Development, World Trade Organization, World Customs Organization and the International Trade Centre.

African states are encouraged to improve procedures for cross-border trading because reforms to customs procedures deliver the most benefits in terms of reducing trade costs. Upgrading transport infrastructure was the next most effective reform, followed by other border agency reforms.

The ECA survey, distributed to African government officials including customs officials, regional economic institutions, transport corridor management agencies, private sector operatives, academia and development partners, also showed that some of the measures needed to fix the problems do not require much resources other than a systematic approach to institutional and procedural reform

To overcome some of the challenges, Mr. Luke indicated, “regular consultations with the private sector were found to help to maintain momentum for policy and institutional reform.” He reminded delegates that regional economic institutions and corridor management institutions have a key role to play in setting regional standards and best practices.

“Given that resource constraints are an important challenge to implementing trade facilitation measures, it seems important to focus scarce resources on implementing those trade facilitation measures that are likely to have the greatest impact. Trade facilitation and investments in infrastructure cannot be separated; improved investment in hard infrastructure is a prerequisite for trade facilitation to succeed.”

Another obstacle to the implementation of trade facilitation measures, such as harmonised documents and regulations, was a lack of coordination between agencies rendering an uneven implementation across countries.

Though infrastructure, customs and border procedures stand out as major challenges for African countries to fully realising their trade potential, progress has been made, said Mr. Luke.