A new report has been published today by McKinsey, titled “Reimagining economic growth in Africa: Turning diversity into opportunity”. As suggested by the title, it tries to imagine the economic growth path that Africa will follow in the next years based on the strengths and assets that the Continent has, compared with other regions in the world. Two findings in the report seem particularly interesting.

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This is the first review since Liberia accessed to the World Trade Organization (WTO), on 14 July 2016. All the WTO members have their trade policy reviewed by the Organization, the frequency of which varies depending on a country’s share of world trade in goods and services. Reviews highlight the extent to each WTO member implements basic WTO principles concerning: (i) transparency of trade policies; (ii) non-discrimination in treatment of trading partners; (iii) degree of stability and predictability of trade policies; (iv) pattern of protection and extent to which tariffs only are used as measures of protection in trade in goods; (iv) restrictions used in trade in services; (v) record of adherence to the multilateral trading system, and participation in dispute settlement. Trade Policy Reviews are based on two documents: a report prepared independently by the WTO Secretariat and a policy statement by the Member under review. The report by the secretariat typically covers: (i) the economic environment, such as trade patterns and evolution of foreign investment; (ii) the institutional framework, including domestic policies and participation in trade agreements; (iii) trade policies and practices by measure (e.g. customs procedures, licensing, anti-dumping, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), subsidies, etc.); and (iv) trade policies and practices by sector, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, manufacturing, services etc.

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