Impacts on Development of Services Trade Restrictions: The Case for Liberalization and Integration

Services, contributing about half of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) and generating about a third of its formal employment, are critical to the continent’s sustainable and inclusive economic development (UNCTAD, 2019). With backward and forward linkages with the primary (mainly agriculture and mining) and the secondary (mainly manufacturing) sectors and linkage with trade, the service sector is indispensable for creating, growing and developing regional value chains and integrating into global value chains (UNCTAD, 2019). An efficient service sector is crucial to the much-needed structural transformation of the continent.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Good Health and Well-Being

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure