Africa must embrace global value chains to boost national incomes – World Bank

The World Bank Group on Wednesday urged African countries to embrace global value chains to boost their national incomes.

Pinelopi Goldberg, Vice President of development economics and chief economist with World Bank Group, said that Africa had largely not benefited from international trade because of its concentrated on exports of agriculture and other commodities.

“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,” Goldberg said.

She added that Africa’s greater participation in global trade will also lead to technology transfer, especially through imports.

According to her, the challenge Africa will face in integrating into global markets is the rising protectionism in some advanced economies.