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Joseph Inokotong, Abuja
The World Bank has called on African countries to embrace global value chains to boost their national incomes.
The Vice President of development economics and chief economist with World Bank Group, Pinelopi Goldberg, yesterday said that Africa had largely not benefited from international trade because of its concentration on exports of agriculture and other commodities.
Goldberg said: “When African firms engage more in exporting and importing, they tend to create jobs and this translates into poverty reduction.
“It will go a long way in improving global value chains in Africa’s development.
“In principle, global value chains make it easier to engage in import or export activities because the manufacturing of parts does not require the full range of capabilities of producing a finished product.”
She added that Africa’s greater participation in global trade will also lead to technology transfer, especially through imports.
The World BANK boss added that the challenge Africa will face in integrating into global markets is the rising protectionism in some advanced economies.
