ICBT data collection critical in monitoring intra-African Trade: ECA

Addis Ababa, April 29, 2023 (FBC) – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says that harmonized methods for Informal Cross-Border Trade (ICBT) Data Collection critical in monitoring intra-African Trade.

Informal cross border trade in Africa is known to be large and an important contributor to the livelihoods of millions of Africans but there are no agreed methods to accurately measure it, experts said at the first physical meeting of the Task Force on developing a harmonized methodology for Informal Cross-Border Trade Data Collection.

“Understanding the scale, magnitude and characteristics of Informal Cross-Border Trade  (ICBT) will be instrumental in accurately monitoring intra-African trade, as well as the development of appropriate economic policy,” said Melaku Geboye Desta, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), at the opening of the meeting of the Task Force in Kampala, Uganda.

Speaking at the opening of the Taskforce meeting, Antony Coleman, Principal Research Economist with the Afreximbank underscored the need for consistency in the definition, approach, scope and data collection to arrive at a harmonized ICBT data collection framework.

The Task Force was established by the African Union Commission (AUC), in collaboration with ECA and Afreximbank, with a mandate to provide political and technical guidance to the process of developing the Continental Methodology for ICBT Data Collection and overseeing its implementation.

The four day meeting of the Taskforce is expected to finalize the deliberations on the definition and key components of the methodology, by interrogating the existing ICBT methodologies. It will identify the similarities, differences and gaps that can be addressed in the harmonized continental methodology. In addition, the meeting will prepare the first draft of the Continental Methodology for ICBT Data Collection in Africa that will be submitted to the African Union Policy Organs for their considerations.