WT/ACC/30, WT/GC/185  
WT/MIN(17)/2, WT/COMTD/95  
WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
11 September  2017 
(17-4770) Page: 1/7 
  Original: English  
 
REGIONAL DIALOGUE ON  WTO ACCESSIONS FOR T HE GREATER HORN OF A FRICA  
NAIROBI OUTCOME: FOS TERING SYNERGIES AND  COHERENCE BETWEEN RE GIONAL 
INTEGRATION AND THE MULTILATERAL TRADING  SYSTEM THROUGH WTO A CCESSIONS  
Nairobi, Kenya , 28-30 August  2017 
 
The following communication, dated 1 September  2017, addressed to the Director -General, 
is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Kenya . 
 
 
_______________  
 WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  Communication from Ambassador (Dr) Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary , addressed to 
Mr. Roberto Azevê do, WTO Director -General, on 1 September  2017  
 
I have the honour to inform you that the Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the 
Greater Horn of Africa was successfully held on 28 -30 August 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya.  
 
The discussions at the Regional Dialo gue enabled participants to engage in informative and 
interactive discussions on WTO accession reforms and regional integration including on 
experiences form ongoing, as well as concluded  African accessions.  
 
The Dialogue also invited acceding governments in the region, Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia 
and the Sudan to provide participants on the state of play in their accession processes, and to 
present their nee ds for technical assistance and  capacity building.  The Dialogue also provided a 
useful platform for exchanges on available support  and appealed to the development partners 
present to step up their support for the accession processes in the region.  
 
All participants welcomed the recent progress registered in the accessions of Comoros, 
Ethiopia, Somalia an d the Sudan, and, in particular, pledged their full support for the conclusion of 
the accession of Comoros by the Eleventh WTO Min isterial Conference.  All participants also 
expressed their full support to South Sudan for its intention to submit an applica tion for accession 
to the WTO in the very near future.  
 
Please find enclosed herewith the Nairobi Outcome "Fostering Synergies and Coherence 
between Regional Integration and the Multilateral Trading System through WTO Accessions".  
At the request of the Di alogue participants, I would be grateful i f you could circulate th e Outcome 
as a document of the Sub -Committee on L east-Developed Countries , the Committee on Trade and 
Development, the General Council and the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  
 
I commend  your Secretariat Team for its excellent  work in process and substance to ensure 
that the Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa was a success.  
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kenya, I would like to underline tha t we are 
prepared to hold the Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions on an annual basis, until the 
completion of the remaining accessions in the region.  
 
Please accept, Director -General, the assurances of my highest considerations.  
 
 
 
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 WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  1  INTRODUCTION  
1. The Regional Dialogue  on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of Africa took place in 
Nairobi, Kenya from 28 to 30 August 2017.  This first-of-its-kind event was organized by the WTO 
Secretariat in partnership with the Government of Kenya and the University of Nairobi.   The 
Regional Dialogue was opened by H.E. Ambassador ( Dr.) Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs  of the Republic of Kenya, Professor Peter Mbithi, Vice -Chancellor  of the University 
of Nairobi and Ms. Maika Oshikawa, Of ficer-in-Charge of the Accessions Division of the WTO.  
2. Opening statements1 acknowledged the critical contribution that WTO accessions have 
made in strengthening the rules -based multilateral trading system and the values that it has 
upheld since  the establi shment of the WTO.  Africa has become an increasingly important player in 
the WTO with 44 Members, representing over one quarter of the current 164 membership.  It was 
recognized that this role could be even more significant if the eight African countries in the process 
of accession accede to the WTO.  
3. The region of the Greater Horn of Africa represents one of the largest concentrations of 
countries remaining outside of the WTO, with Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan in the 
process of WTO accession.  In a ddition, South Sudan has recently expressed its interest to join the 
WTO.  This region is currently also one of the most active in terms of substantive accession 
activities, which have intensified since the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Nairobi,  in 
December, 2015 - the first Ministerial Conference held in Africa - where Members concluded the 
accessions of Afghanistan and Liberia.  
4. The Regional Dialogue gathered  high-level government officials, including at the levels of 
Minister/ State Minister and  Chief Negotiator from four acceding governments (Comoros, Ethiopia, 
Somalia and Sudan), and South Sudan (non -WTO observer); representatives from five Article XII 
Members (China, Liberia, Oman, Seychelles and Yemen); and representatives from  seven  
developm ent partners and international organizations (African Development Bank (AfDB), 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), 
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) , UK Department for International Development (DFID), United 
Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Bank).  
5. Participants engaged in a rich, informative and interactive dialogue across several  sessions 
over three days, b ased on presentations, which were followed by open discussion2. 
2  WTO MEMB ERSHIP: STRUCTURAL R EFORMS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION  
6. The Dialogue started off by presentation s on Africa and the Multilateral Trading System by 
Ambassador  Dr. Stephen Ndung’u Karau  (Kenya)  and on WTO accession reforms and regional 
integration  by Ms. Maika Oshikawa (WTO) .  These presentations were followed by a Davos -style 
panel discussion, moderated by Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen (China) with leading experts from 
key regional and multilateral institutions, namely by Mr.  Paul Brenton (WB), Mr. Joseph Rwanshot e 
(IGAD ), Mr.  Gabriel Negatu (AfDB) and Ms.  Mina Mashayekhi (UNCTAD),  on the topics of "f ostering 
synergies and coherence between structural r eforms, the WTO and regional integration in Africa ". 
7. Participants  also benefited from presentations  by former Chie f Negotiators and expert 
officials who had been directly engaged in successfully concluded a ccessions , namely, of China 
(2001) by Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen , Yemen (2014) by Mr. Nagib Hamim, Seychelles (2015) 
by Ms. Cillia Mangroo and Liberia (2016) by Min ister Axel Addy.  Different p erspectives on WTO 
accessions - from a Working Party Chairperson, an original member, a development partner and a 
regional academic institution - were also shared , respectively  by Ms. Hilda Al Hinai (Oman), former 
Chairperson  on the accession of the Seychelles , Ambassador Nelson Ndirangu (Kenya), Mr. Simon 
Hess (EIF) and Dr. Mary Mbithi (University of Nairobi).  
8. The Regional Dialogue reaffirmed  the central role of WTO accessio ns in instituting domestic 
structural reforms .  It provided not only a set of rules but also the framework to establish 
                                                
1 All statements and presentations are made publicly available on th e WTO website 
(https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/dialogue0817_e/programme_e.htm ). 
2 The Regional Dialogue was followed by a specialized training on WTO Acces sions for Somalia and 
South Sudan on 31 August – 1 September 2017.  WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  commercial policy and fost er economic integration.  For African acceding governments, it also 
served as a disciplinary instrument to lock -in necessary reforms that would have been difficult to 
implement otherwise.  Thus, it was important to align accession -related domestic reforms into a 
broader national development agenda including, inter alia, economic diversification, modernization 
and transformation, attracting foreign direct investment a nd re-branding strategies.  
9. Participants acknowledged that r egional integration ha s emerged as one of the major 
objective s of African policy -makers and a driving force for economic development of the African 
continent, as well as for job creation.  A large and growing youth population and their needs and 
aspirations had to be taken into account in policy -making, including in the WTO accession 
negotiations.  
10. At the same time, participants also noted that despite an increasing trend of intra -regional 
trade, the re is still considerable room for improvement in the areas of interconnectivity and the 
movement of goods, services, capital and people.  These improvements are essential for fully 
realizing economic potential of the on -going regional integration efforts.  Moreover, supply side 
capacity constraints would also need to be addressed if one were to improve competitiveness in 
regional markets.  
11. Discussions also revolved around the sequencing of WTO accession and deepening regional 
integration i.e. liberalization at the multilateral and regional levels.  It was suggested that the 
opening efforts at the regional level, especially on market access, could serve as a benchmark or 
ceiling for the multilateral commitments by an acceding government, although each case had  to be 
assessed in its own merit, especially on rules.  Consultations between the acceding government 
and partners within regional arrangements were strongly encouraged during the accession 
negotiations, so as to ensure the integrity of these preferential arrangements.  
3  ACCESSION TO THE WTO  
12. The Regional Dialogue welcomed the progress registered in the accessions of the four 
acceding countries in the region.   Ministers  and Chief Negotiators of Comoros, Ethiopia, Somalia  
and Sudan provided the state -of-play of  their respective accession process es and the ir visions on 
the way forward.  In addition, South Sudan provided the state of its expression of interest to join 
the WTO . 
13. Mr. Abdou Nassur Madi, Director -General of Economy and Foreign Trade of Comoros,  
stated that since mid-2016, there has been a strong political commitment, from the highest 
political level, to advance its accession, following a long dormancy after  the establishment of the 
Working Party in 2007.  Since then, two Working Party meetings  held in D ecember 2016 and June 
2017, combined with a visit to Moroni in March by the Working Party Chairman Ambassador Luis 
Enrique Chávez Basagoitia (Peru), have generated the momentum to advance the technical work.  
An important milestone was crossed in July, whe n all but one bilateral market access negotiations 
were concluded.  Comoros was fully committed to constructively engag ing with WTO Members to 
close outstanding issues in the coming weeks, so that it could becom e the 165th Member of the 
WTO by the Eleventh  Ministerial Conference (MC11) . 
14. H.E. Dr. Bekele Bulado Bukana, Minister of Trade of Ethiopia stated that, for his 
Government, WTO accession ha s always been a priority , despite the dormancy in the process since 
the third Working Party meeting in 2012.  Curr ently, efforts have been underway to reactivate the 
accession process, with the preparation of updated documentation for the fourth Working Party 
meeting.  Recently, the Government reviewed and revised the WTO accession negotiation 
structure , which had bee n approved by the Council of Ministers.   Moreover, t he Government had 
been undertaking necessary reforms to make its trade regime WTO compliant  and to reduce all 
forms of trade barriers  through , inter alia , an Ease-of-Doing-Business Initiative and improvin g 
customs procedures.  
15. H.E. Ms. Khadra Ahmed Dualeh, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Somalia , stated 
that since the establishment of Somalia's accession Working Party in December 2016, the political 
landscape had changed considerably with the election of new President Mohamed Abdullahi 
Mohamed Farmaajo in February 2017.  The President had pledged full support for WTO accession 
and its related reforms, in order to rebuild its economy which had suffered long conflict s.  The new WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  administration was ready to  work closely with all key domestic stakeholders to actively pursue the 
accession process.  The technical team is currently preparing a Memorandum on the Foreign Trade 
Regime (MFTR) to kick -start the fact -finding stage of the  accession process.  
16. H.E. Mr. Elsadig Mohamed Ali, State Minister of Trade of Sudan  and Dr. Hassan Ahmed 
Taha, National Chief Negotiator stated that while Sudan's accession had started in 1994 , 
the process had reached a standstill after its second Working Party meeting in 2004  due to a lack 
of political commitment and internal issues.  Since 2016, the Government had made serious efforts 
towards reactivating the accession process with a renewed strong political commitment.  
Two working party meetings had been  held in 2017 and progress had been made on several 
bilateral market access negotiations.  Sudan remained fully committed to engage  constructively 
with Members to achieve its objective of conclud ing its accession process as early as possible.  
17. H.E. Mr. Moses Hassan Ayet Tiel , Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment of South 
Sudan, stated that as the youngest country in the international community, the integration into 
the global economy was a priority for South Sudan.  In particular, South Sudan understood the 
critical importance of th e multilateral trading system and was ready to undertake the required 
reforms to promote economic development and re -brand its country .  For this reason, South 
Sudan would shortly submit an application for WTO accession  for consideration by Members.  
South  Sudan's membership in the East African Community since 2016 had already helped 
familiarize itself with some of the requirements of the WTO.  The participation in this Regional 
Dialogue, which was supported by the EIF, was instrumental for the Government t o take final 
decision on the application, as it provided useful information, insight and advice.  
18. In the session Mobilizing Support for WTO Accession, chai red by Professor Tabitha 
Kiriti-Nganga (University of Nairobi/WTO Chair), t he acceding governments als o made 
presentations on their accession specific technical assistance and capacity building needs.  
Technical assistance and capacity building were recognized as an essential pillar in the WTO 
accession process.  The importance of clear identification of t heir needs was stressed in order to 
facilitate the accession process and maximize the benefits they could derive from accession -related 
reforms.  In response, development partners presented the specific support available from their 
institutions for accedin g governments in their WTO accession processes, namely Mr.  Paul Brenton 
(World Bank), Mr.  Pete Vowles (DFID), Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen  (China) , Mr.  Joseph 
Rwanshote (IGAD), Mr.  Patrick Kanyimbo  (AfDB), Ms.  Mina Mashayekhi (U NCTAD ) and 
Ambassador Ali Ibn Talib Abdelrahman Mahmoud Elgindi (IDB).  
4  EMERGING BEST PRACTI CES ON WTO ACCESSION S: ADDITIONAL L ESSONS  
19. Participants shared lessons learned from their accession experiences, and offered advice 
and tips on various aspects of the accession process, building on the LDC accession acquis  and the 
Emerging Best Practices on LDC accessions (in document WT/ACC/29)  presented by Ms. Mariam 
Soumaré and Mr. Stefan Almehagen Sandstad (WTO Secretariat).  While it was clear that the 
commitments undertaken by the acceding L DCs were significantly broader and deeper than those 
undertaken by the original Members.  Each accession outcome reflected specificities linked to 
national situations.  
20. Participants underlined the importance of support of different types of stakeholders  which 
were instrumental in facilitating the accession process.  These included , inter alia,  the Working 
Party Chairperson; a network of "friends of accession" of WTO Members; the African Group and the 
LDC Group; partners in regional integration arrangements; the WTO Secretariat; and bilateral, 
regional and multilateral development partners.  In this regard, the human aspect of accession 
negotiations was emphasized, as WTO accession ultimately was about people.  Good working 
relationships within the negotiating  team and with all stakeholders  could greatly facilitate the often 
complex accession process.  Participants agreed that a clear and realistic roadmap could help align 
the expectations of all stakeholders involved, both dome stically and internationally.  
21. Participants discussed the relevance of the 2002/2012  LDC Accession Guidelines.  
The Guidelines were useful in providing overall guidance on LDC accessions, such as seeking 
restraint from WTO Members whose demands were deemed to be too excessive.  However, 
acceding governments would always need to find negotiated solutions with WTO Members in order 
to finalize the accession negotiations.  WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  22. Other advice and tips shared included , inter alia , the need to communicate, coordinate, 
and cooperate with negotiating partn ers (3Cs); compiling and monitoring accession specific 
questions; conducting bilateral market access negotiations in the capital; conducting informal 
negotiations before negotiations; and keeping record of all meetings, including info rmal and 
bilateral mee tings.  
5  CONCLUSIONS AND RECO MMENDATIONS  
23. Participants welcomed this first Regional Dialogue focused on WTO Accessions in the 
Greater Horn of Africa.  The Dialogue provided a useful platform for exchange of experience on 
WTO accessions, based on recently conc luded and on -going accessions in Africa.  Different 
perspectives provided by the Chief Negotiators, Working Party Chairpersons and various partners 
helped participants establish holistic views of various aspect s of the accession process.  
In particular, th e discussions on the linkages between regional integration in Africa and WTO 
accession generated a rich exchange of policy options and negotiating strategies.  Overall, the 
three -day discussions were open, honest and interactive, in addition to be being in formative.  
Participants appreciated experience sharing as one of the most effective ways to build accession 
knowledge and negotiating capacity.  In this regard, they welcomed the upcoming Sixth China 
Round Table, to be held on the margins of the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference, which would 
focus on the development of a network of accession negotiators to s upport the on -going 
accessions.  
24. Participants welcomed the recent progress registered in the accessions of Comoros, 
Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan, and urged WTO Members to work constructively with acceding 
governments to advanc e their accession negotiations.  In particular, they pledged their full support 
for conclusion of the accession of Comoros by the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos 
Aires, Argentina  and they urged WTO Members to accelerate and facilitate the finalization of the 
negotiations in the coming weeks.  It was noted that the accession of Comoros would send a 
strong signal to the international community of the WTO's ability to del iver on negotiated 
outcomes and its contributions to economic development of LDCs.   Participants also urged Sudan 
to accelerate its accession towards early conclusion in 2018 and encouraged Ethiopia for 
reactivation of its accession process as early as pos sible.  Somalia was encouraged to submit its 
MFTR before MC11 so that its accession process could advance in early 2018.  
25. Participants expressed their full support to South Sudan for its intention to submit an 
application for accession to the WTO, pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement 
Establishing the WTO.  They called on WTO Members to consider the application positively , as 
encouragement to promote peace and stability in the region, when it would be submitted by the  
Government o f the Republic of South Sudan for consideration by the General Council at its 
meeting in October 2017.  
26. Dialogue participants reiterated strong appreciation to Kenya for its support to the 
accession efforts of its neighboring countries, and requested Kenya to hold the Reg ional Dialogue 
on WTO Accessions for the Greater Horn of African on an annual basis, until the completion of the 
remai ning accessions in the region.  
27. Participants agreed on the urgent needs to enhance trade policy knowledge, capacity and 
resources in the re gion, including for analysis, strategies and negotiations, covering both the legal 
and economic aspects.  In this regard, they welcomed the offer from the Government of Kenya to 
hold a WTO Trade Policy Course in partnership with the University of Nairobi.  In addition, the 
University of Nairobi was encouraged to develop partnerships with universities in the region to help 
them build trade expertise through academic collaboration and cooperation.  
28. Participants acknowledged the ongoing support provided by deve lopment partners in 
technical assistance, capacity building, trade infrastructure, to enable African countries tap on the 
benefits of their Membership s in regional trading arrangements and the WTO.  In this regard, they 
appealed to development partners pre sent (AfDB, DFID, EIF, IDB, IGAD, UNCTAD, WBG and the 
WTO Secretariat) to step up support for the accession process and subsequent implementation.  WT/ACC/30 • WT/GC/185 • WT/MIN(17)/2 • WT/COMTD/95 • WT/COMTD/LDC/26  
 
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  29. Participants expressed their appreciation to the Government of Kenya for hosting the 
Regional Dialogue, in pa rtnership with the University of Nairobi, and warm hospitality provided to 
the participants.  They also expressed their appreciation to the WTO Secretariat for the excellent 
arrangements.  
30. Dialogue participants requested that this "Nairobi Outcome" be circu lated as a document of 
the Committee on Trade and Development, the Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries, the 
General Council and the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference . 
 
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