World Bank’s president, Jim Yong Kim, on April 14, 2016, told the opening press conference of the Spring Meetings taking place in Washington DC, USA, that African nations should focus on reducing trade barriers and opening their markets to their neighbors. “One of the things we’ve learned over the years is that it’s often more difficult for countries that share border in Africa to trade with each other than it is for them to trade with Europe or the United States, and it just makes no sense,” DR. Kim told a journalist from the Zambia Daily Mail.

Technically, economic operations from this region attribute this situation to a weak production in the regional fabric. Given this, it is most logical to see, for some manufactured products, everyone turn to the same suppliers, Europeans, Americans, Chinese and Turkish even.

You know, from our perspective, trade is extremely important for ending poverty

World Bank’s president in response urged African countries to reduce the gap in their industrilization, mentionning foreign direct investments, not only centered on their respective markets, but rather on the whole region. “You know, from our perspective, trade is extremely important for ending poverty. We especially think that reducing trade barriers in Africa will have a very positive impact,” DR. Kim said.

Idriss Linge