Development assistance and debt relief are critical to jump starting Africa's development, but African countries want the opportunity to earn their own resources for fighting poverty and growing their economies. But instead of earning more money to invest in improving the lives of its people, Africa has been earning less and less. In 1980, Africa had a 6% share of world trade. By 2005, this had dropped to less than 2%. If Africa could regain just an additional 1% share of global trade, it would earn $70 billion more in exports each year - more than double what the region currently receives in development assistance.
Africa faces inherent trade problems. The lack of infrastructure, high concentration of land-locked nations and reliance on the export of primary commodities, such as minerals and agricultural products, present significant challenges to expanding trade on the continent.
African exports also face trade barriers, such as high tariffs and taxes, that make it difficult for their products to compete in important markets in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Making matters worse, wealthy nations pay their richest farmers to overproduce, which artificially lowers prices. As a result, African farmers cannot compete and therefore do not earn enough to meet their basic needs.
In order to create more opportunities for Africa to trade, donors need to reduce or eliminate artificial trade barriers and provide assistance that helps Africa to trade - this means constructing roads and ports that bring African products into markets and helping African farmers and entrepreneurs find buyers for their products. African countries must also prioritize trade as part of a comprehensive strategy to fight poverty and take steps to encourage trading relationships among African countries.
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