WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/AFT/W/21 
21 June 2006 
 (06-3037) 
Aid for Trade Task Force Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BENIN ON BEHALF OF THE AFRICAN GROUP 
  
 The following communication, dated 9 June 2006, is being circulated to the Aid for Trade Task Force at the request of the Permanent Delega tion of Benin, on behalf of the African Group.  
 
 
_______________ 
  
CONCEPT PAPER 
 
AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE ON AID FOR TRADE:  SCOPE AND GAPS 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. The WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration states that Aid for Trade should aim to help 
developing countries, particularly, LDCs, to build the supply-side capacity and infrastructure that they need to assist them to implement and benefit from WTO Agreements and, more broadly, to expand 
their trade and to integrate into the multilateral trading system.  It is important to underscore that 
African countries first need a development-rela ted outcome including in key areas such as 
Agriculture, NAMA, Services and Trade Facilitati on.  A comprehensive programme to bolster 
capacity and enhance competitiveness must complement  such a package.  Such capacity enhancement 
requires significant investments in assisting African countries to improve productivity and competitiveness of their economies, in infrastructure, training, and institutional development.  If the 
Doha Round is to meet the developm ent aspirations of African countri es, core capacity building issues 
must be adequately addressed.  However, Aid for Tr ade should be a complement to – not a substitute 
for – development initiatives that can help bene ficiaries meet their development objectives and 
ultimately reduce poverty.  Further, it should a ddress the specific development challenges identified 
by beneficiaries. 
II. THE URGENCY OF FULFILLING THE MANDATE 
2. The argument of an aid-for-trade facility has been proven and accepted through a range of 
initiatives that include:  work by NEPAD, the Monte rrey Consensus, the report on Social Impact of 
Globalization, the report on Commission for Africa,  and the reports on Mid-Term Evaluation of the 
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The thrust  of these reports highlight the widening divide 
between the rich and the poor and Africa's wor sening position and that the world can address this 
problem with available resources. 
3. It is worthwhile reiterating the African position leading into the WTO's Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference in December 2005. WT/AFT/W/21 
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  We reiterate the centrality of ade quate and predictable development 
assistance for trade capacity building for African countries.  We emphasize the need for a firm commitment to expand development assistance for trade capacity building in all African countries.  The 
proposed Aid for Trade Initiative should focus not only on the 
capacity to negotiate, adjust, produce a nd trade, but also lead to better 
market access, improved infrastructure and address supply-side constraints.  Such aid should come in grant form without compromising on Members' negotiating positions.  (AU Arusha Trade Ministers' statement, 22-24 November 2005) 
III. DEFINITION 
4. It has become clear that "aid for trade" (A FT) is an umbrella term comprising various 
activities.  It is not a toally new concept.  The following section forwards a "pillar"-based approach of 
defining how the term of AFT might be categorized in order to help envision what it could include. 
Pillar 1: Capacity building to address supply constraints 
 
5. Building productive capacities
:  Under this pillar there is a need of enha ncing productive 
capacities through increased productivity, address ing the necessary regulatory reforms, human 
resource and physical infrastructure that businesses need to produce goods competitively, and to move 
and export them efficiently.  It can be broadly gro uped into three categories;  the first deals with 
improving productivity and competitiveness of African economies, the second with investments in 
infrastructure more broadly, and the th ird with private sector development. 
6. A key challenge that faces most African ec onomies is how to improve productivity and 
competitiveness of their economies in an increasingly globalized production and trading system.  The 
modern global economy is a maze of complex production structures and interlinkages between 
production, distribution and marketing.  African countries need to be rapidly and effectively 
integrated in the global economy and the multilateral trading system.  Consequently, there is urgent 
need to support through adequate technical assistance and capacity  building in its broadest sense in 
coping with the global production trade and economic systems which, inter alia , requires immediate 
improvement of their productivity and competitiven ess in an environment which is witnessing rapid 
technological and communication changes.  It is v ital to ensure an efficient functioning of supply 
chains on the one hand, and bridge th e digital divide on the other hand. 
7. There is also need for removing impediments to  business that drive up costs for exporters.  
These include costly and inefficient transit and bord er crossings, customs delays, delivery uncertainty, 
lack of export and market analysis skills, weak in stitutional support, standards compliance, excessive 
business regulations, and lack of access to capital a nd finance.  Assistance towards helping countries 
diversify away from primary products would also fall into this category.  Value chain analysis is one 
mechanism that could be used to help prioritize actions to remove constraints encountered in the 
production, marketing, distribution and transport (PMDT) chain. 
8. Infrastructure :  Investments in infrastructure are cr ucial for the trade and development of 
African countries.  For example, improved road ne tworks will facilitate efficient transportation, 
storage and distribution of products to local, region al and international markets.  Costs related to 
improvements in, inter alia , energy, transport, information technology and communications 
infrastructure would fall under this category.  Infr astructure has been identified by NEPAD and the 
African Union as an essential component of trade development at national and regional levels.  
Development of infrastructure, by fostering the African Economic Community, will provide a guaranteed mechanism for smooth integra tion in the multilateral trading system.  WT/AFT/W/21 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Pillar 2: Trade system costs:  adjustment and implementation 
 
9. Under this pillar, it is important to ensure the alleviation of costs incurred as a result of trade 
reforms, for instance those taken pursuant to the implementation of WTO agreements.  While trade 
reforms may bring long-term benefits, they typically  generate winners and losers in the short-run.  
Grouped under this category are costs incurred fro m implementation of trade rules, food price 
increases to net food-importers;  preference erosi on; reductions in tariff revenues;  and other 
economic and social costs related to  adjustment in specific sectors. 
10. Implementation costs are an essential element for Africa.  The costs of implementing 
multilateral commitments include the macroeconomic adjustment costs to governments, and technical 
requirements, obligations to accept new standards,  rules systems, and reporting obligations which 
governments must comply with in order to implement their new commitments.  Implementing these commitments may require the creation of new institu tions and the employment or redeployment of 
scarce skilled personnel, all of which are costly to governments. 
11. Liberalization of agricultural trade through phasing out of export subsidies and the substantial 
reduction of domestic support leads to an increase in  the price of food imports.  Loss of market access 
is a key concern especially for those countries that have relied on preferential markets.  If the Doha 
Round succeeds in its aspirations for non-discriminator y reduction of tariffs in developed countries, a 
number of African countries will suffer significant lo sses from the erosion of preferences that they 
previously enjoyed. 
12. Trade liberalization typically involves a reduction in customs and tariff revenues.  In African 
countries, especially in the least developed, cu stoms and tariff revenues constitute a significant 
proportion of total fiscal revenue.  In such countries, it is costly – and for many simply not feasible – to develop alternative sources of fiscal revenue.  In  most countries, these immediate or short-run costs 
may exceed the (discounted present valu e of) potential long-run benefits. 
Pillar 3: Trade policy development and participation in rules-making 
 
13. This pillar covers assistance needed to addr ess the human and institutional resource capacity 
constraints encountered in trade-policy making and trade negotiations.  Technical assistance is also 
needed to help African countries in  their efforts to integrate trade policy in their overall development 
strategies and create strong public-private sector part nerships to engineer change and development.  
This also includes training of trade negotiators, legal and economic experts, and officials based in 
capitals and in relevant regional bodies.  Assistance  in this area also involves the establishment of a 
consensus-building process that enab les trade officials, including Geneva-based negotiators and their 
capital-based counterparts to regularly meet to cons olidate trade positions and identify the trade-offs 
that would promote the trade and develo pment objectives of beneficiary countries. 
IV. IDENTIFYING GAPS 
14. There are existing initiatives with the aim of helping poorer countries better exploit trade 
opportunities and deal with some of their constrai nts;  the Integrated Framework (IF) and Trade 
Integration Mechanism are two examples.  The emergi ng view is that an Aid-for-Trade facility should 
address poverty reduction concerns of African countries.   The implications are that it should primarily 
target supply-side constraints.  The facility shou ld also have critical minimum, front-loaded and 
predictable resources whose magnitudes reflect re commendations from various recent reports.  These 
resources should be incremental, rather th an diversification of existing resources. WT/AFT/W/21 
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  15. Gaps could use the above three-category grou ping.  Aid-for-trade policy development and 
participation in rules making is covered in sev eral multilateral programmes that need to be 
streamlined and built on. 
16. There is need for more focus on the supply side agenda.  This has been identified by various 
continental initiatives.  However, the IF's financi ng remit only involves the coordination of funds to 
diagnose the main trade-related constraints in-count ry, produce an action list and in some cases kick-
start its implementation.  There is a disconnect between this process and the current funding mechanism consisting of donor roundtables and cons ultative groups.  The initiative on aid for trade 
shall ensure that the beneficiary countries are effe ctively supported in their efforts to remove supply-
side constraints.  In short, this is an opportunity to make the whole more coherent and effective.  For 
example, Module 4 of JITAP also addresses trade capacity building. 
17. Generally, training has been surface-level, rather  than in-depth.  Wher e capacity building has 
been forthcoming, it often is in the form of international bodies (e.g., multinational companies or 
inter-governmental agencies) training local affiliate s;  often based on models where most African 
countries are either not covered or are lumped all together in one he terogeneous category. 
18. To be effective, aid for trade must be coherent  and have a long-term pe rspective:  quick-fix ad 
hoc solutions will not work.  Aid for trade should address the design flaws and incoherence in these 
programmes, ensure adequate and predictable long-te rm funding, and the partic ipation of all relevant 
stakeholders. 
19. It is important to stress that trade policy development should build on the problems perceived 
and analysed by the beneficiaries.  There is a n eed for ownership and implantation of this agenda. 
V. CONCLUSION 
20. The guiding principles in the design and formulation of the Aid-for-Trade Package should be 
the following: 
• Aid for trade should not be used as a substitute  for the objectives of the Doha Development 
Round;  it is a complement in fulfilling the entir e developmental dimensi ons in this round. 
• Aid for trade should not be seen as coming as  a repackaging of the facilities and existing 
initiatives in or outside WTO.  The funds fo r this new initiative should be additional and 
should be sustainable and adequate. 
• Aid for trade should not be subject to any conditionality. 
• Aid for trade should not be in grant form. 
 21. The African Group considers that the traditional form  of assistance so far has not been able to 
help African countries to meet their full trade and development needs and priorities.  Urgent action 
should be taken to correct these deficiencies;  fi nancially, and through targeted institutional capacity 
building and human resources development. 
22. Keeping in view the mandate given in Hong Kong in relation to Aid for Trade, the African 
Group is calling upon development pa rtners to ensure that this initiative is expeditiously and 
effectively implemented in a sustainable and meani ngful manner so that African countries are able to 
benefit from the multilateral trading system and ac hieve their growth and development objectives in 
line with the MDGs.  WT/AFT/W/21 
 Page 5 
 
 
  ANNEX 
 
 
Report of the Retreat of African Ambassadors and Stakeholders  
on the WTO Aid for Trade Initiative  
 
7-8 April 2006 - Montreux   
  1. A Retreat of African Ambassadors in Geneva and Brussels on Aid for Trade, organised by the 
Commission of the African Union, was held on 7 and 8 April 2006, in Montreux, Switzerland. It 
started with a welcome address, by Mrs. Khadija R.  Masri, Permanent Representative of the African 
Union in Geneva. In her statement, Mrs. Masr i stressed the need for Africa to adopt a common 
position on the central issue of Aid for Trade, to ensu re that it is mainstreamed into the integrated 
multilateral framework for the enhancement of production and export capacities and for the 
monitoring its process. 
2. Mrs. Masri’s statement was followed by that of Dr. David Luke, Permanent Representative of 
the UNDP, in Geneva, who stated that the retreat offers a window of opportunity for Africa to 
articulate her position on the Aid for Trade Initiative. In that regard, he pointed out to the following 
five key elements that ought to constitute the guiding principles of the Aid for Trade Initiative. 
• The importance of adjustment costs; 
• Capacity building; 
• The priorities of regional integration; 
• The management of aid along with its availability , based on the Paris principle, (transparency 
and coherence);  and 
• Non-debt creating financing. 
 3. The Representative of the UNDP assured participants of the availability of the continuing 
support of his organisation to the African Group. 
4. In her remarks at the opening session of the Retreat, Mrs. Lakhshmi Puri, Representative of 
UNCTAD commended the Aid for Trade Initiative and pr ovided a historical background to it. She 
gave an overview of the elements pertaining to th e adjustment and implementation costs and capacity 
building requirements, as they relate in particular to  infrastructures, market access, trade facilitation, 
liberalisation, preference erosion, and tariff binding. 
5. She also addressed the following st rategic issues that are of particular interest to African 
countries: 
• What is the actual added value of the Aid for Trade Initiative? 
• How can one appraise the financial needs? 
• Should it be part of the Single Undertaking? 
• Does one contemplate establishing an Advisory Council? 
• How much bargaining power is there in the negotiations and what are the trade-offs? 
 
Session I:  Supply-side Constraints Linked to the Trading Performance of African 
Countries  
 
6. During this session, the Coordinator of the African Group in Geneva, H.E. Samuel 
AMEHOU, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Benin indicated that the Aid for Trade WT/AFT/W/21 
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  Initiative must be at the service of Africa in or der to address the tremendous constraints facing the 
continent, in terms of infrastructures, production a nd supply-side capacity and participation at global 
trade level. 
7. This intervention was followed by a comm unication presented by the Representative of 
UNIDO. The speaker attempted to give an overvie w of the main constraints confronting African 
countries. Highlighting the increase in global trad e volume, he questioned himself on who the main 
beneficiaries really are, along with the reasons for the shortcomings of African countries, despite an 
increasing propensity towards liberalisation and the harmonisation of trade rules. 
8. The speaker also identified other trade barriers,  in particular the establishment of consumer 
protection, security and environment-related standard s, the difficulties linked to the diversification of 
exports, as well as the shortage of investments. 
9. The Representative of UNIDO stated the followi ng necessary conditions for turning the Aid 
for Trade Initiative into an efficient instrument: 
• A quantitative scaling-up of the volume of aid;  
• The rationalisation of aid, chie fly targeting technical assistance, capacity building and the 
WTO trade negotiations; 
• The adoption of a more integrated and global approach; 
• Enhancing the quality of aid (better coordina tion, complementarities between the various 
Agencies, definition of good practices); 
• Adopting product-specific packages (fish eries, cotton, textiles, etc…). 
 10. To this effect, UNIDO will be in a position to offer their technical expertise, particularly by 
way of developing competitiveness, improving co mpliance with standards and promoting exports 
through enhanced market access. 
11. Following this presentation, several participants took the floor, placing particular emphasis on 
the following issues of concern: 
• The need to stress the regional dimension of  Aid for Trade towards an African economic 
integration; 
• Taking into account new players, the private sector and consumers` associations 
(stakeholders) as part of the im plementation of this programme; 
• The importance of placing emphasis on certain commodities of strategic interest for Africa, 
such as cotton, banana and others; 
• The need to make additional resources availabl e towards an effective implementation of Aid 
for Trade and to carry out an assessment of the relevant costs. 
 
Session II:  Evaluation of the Current Capacity Building Initiative :  JITAP and IF  
 12. During the session on the evaluation of the current status of the Capacity Building Initiative, 
oral briefs and presentations were made by the UNDP and the ILEAP. 
13. These presentations analysed the current state of  play in relation to the capacity building 
activities undertaken as part of the Joint Integr ated Technical Assistance Programme for least 
developed and other African countries (JITAP) along with the Integrated Framework Programme. The 
chief components of these programmes were t hus examined, along with the management and 
operation modalities, both at nati onal and international level.  WT/AFT/W/21 
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  14. The general evaluation demonstrates the following: 
• The activities that were conducted promoted a much better understanding of the rules and 
mechanisms of the Multilateral Trade System together with the reinforcement of the human 
and institutional capacities of the beneficiary countries. 
• Financial resources allocated to each country as part of the Integrated Framework, under 
Window II, are quite insufficient; they do not a llow covering country needs in the main areas 
of trading activities that were identified. 
• The countries are undergoing difficulties in terms of the development of sectoral projects and 
programmes following the validation of DTIS docum ents (capital EDIC) as well as the timely 
evaluation of the costs of projects and programmes.   
• Local or regional expertise is hardly util ised whenever elaborating DTIS documents. 
• Local, regional and international coordina tion mechanisms (among donors) could be 
improved. 
• Ownership by the beneficiaries of capacity bui lding activities will need to be promoted. 
• The new Aid for Trade Initiative will need to  come as a complement to the JITAP 
programmes and the Integrated Framework, ensuring a sufficiently broad base for the 
promotion of global trade activities on the part of African countries.  
 
Session III:   
 
15. The third Session, entitled « General considera tion of Aid for Trade», was marked by the 
intervention of the Chair of the Task Force,  H.E. Dr. Mia Horn Af Rantzien, Permanent 
Representative of Sweden in Geneva, who inform ed the African Group on the current state of 
advancement of the work of the «Task Force » as well  as the various consultations carried out to date.  
16. In their respective intervention, ILEAP a nd UNCTAD emphasised the objectives of the Aid 
for Trade initiative, along with its scope and possi ble management mechanisms. With respect to its 
scope, the following aspects were identified: 
• Trade-related human and institutional capacity building policy. 
• Development of trade-related infrastructures.  
• Development of production and supply-side capacities. 
• Costs of the WTO agreements implementation  
  17. During the interactive debate that followed th ese presentations, intervening parties raised the 
following issues: 
• The additional, foreseeable and non-cond itional nature of Aid for Trade; 
• The need to make sure that Aid for Trade does not constitute a debt-contracting factor. 
 18. In strategic terms, the following measures were recommended: 
• 
In the current Task Force level consultations , developing member countries, in particular 
African countries, should make sure that the ma ndate set out in paragraph 57 of the Hong 
Kong Declaration is not construed in a sense that might limit the global objectives of Aid for Trade negotiations.  
• A road map, factoring in the priorities and expectations of African countries in terms of Aid 
for Trade, should be developed for the attention of African Ministers of Trade for the forthcoming meeting in Nairobi. 
• The current work of the Task Force ought to give  rise to an actual commitment, on the part of 
donors, to providing a substantial aid, as part of the Aid for Trade Initiative.  WT/AFT/W/21 
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19. Dr. Kennedy Mbeakini of the UNDP Regional O ffice based in South Africa was the last 
speaker of the session. He emphasised that the AFT had assumed a high political profile and should continue to do so until its full and faithful implem entation. Dr. Mbeakini also  stressed the role of 
UNDP as a key player on this issue, and its  presence on the grounds  as part of the  UN system 
together with  UNCTAD. 
20. Speaking about the Task Force on Aid for Trade, he said that the expectations were high and 
that this body should come up with the following  proposals: 
• To increase the projected financial resources to implement the action matrices of the 
Diagnosis Trade Integration Study (DTIS). 
• To strengthen in-country capacities to manage, implement and monitor the IF process. 
• To enhance IF governance. 
 
21. As regards the AFT objectives themselves he  thought that the initiative should help 
developing countries to use trade as an instrument in their development policies and the following should  be addressed: 
• Enhancing their competitiveness. In this regard it is urgent to address the great number of 
supply-side constraints, including human capacity , compliance with international standards, 
technology transfer, upgrading of energy productio ns and establishment of efficient transport 
system.  
• Addressing the trade negotiations costs including the issues related to fiscal losses, preference 
erosion and implementation costs of existing tr ade agreements and of those that would be 
forthcoming from the Doha Round. 
 
22. Another important issue to be a ddressed is related to the financial implications arising from 
additionality of resources, for example whether the f unding   should be in grant form or concessional 
loans. If the funds are not provided in grant form the problems of indebtedness would become worse; 
funding should generally be in grant form and non- debt creating. In any case there should not be any 
recycling of existing aid initiatives and programmes.  
23. As regards the coverage of the initiative, the sp eaker was of the view that the initiative should 
be extended to both low income and least developed countries. 
24. Finally, he considered that the following c ould be serious concerns for the developing 
countries if they were not addressed properly: 
• Inadequate consultation process. 
• Lack of credibility stemming from the absence of political will on the part of some partners in 
the WTO. 
• Limited ownership of the AFT initiative among beneficiaries. 
• The conditionality of the initiative; it should not  be linked to the negotiating issues under the 
Doha Round. 
• Whether or not it will be part of the Single Undertaking. 
• Where does one draw the line between aid for trade and development aid. 
 25. On the way forward, while it is agreed that there is need to identify home constraints and 
national priorities, it is also necessary to ensure  that aid for trade is not a substitute for the 
development dimensions of the Doha Round but that  it should rather be a complement. Besides, there  WT/AFT/W/21 
 Page 9 
 
 
  is need for coordination between the stakeholders  at home, in particular between each of the 
ministries responsible for Finance, Industry, Trade and Planning.  
26. The speaker concluded by saying that the UNDP would be strengthening its capacity in order 
to cope with its increased role in an enhanced IF  and the Task Force as well as due to its greater 
interaction with members including through a pr esence on the grounds both at country and regional 
levels.  WT/AFT/W/21 
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  RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 
1. The Aid for Trade (AFT) initiative, if properly structured and managed could be one of the 
important vehicles to deliver development to Afri can countries. The mandate for AFT as contained in 
paragraph 57 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declarat ion (HMD) aims at helping developing countries, 
particularly LDCs, to build supply side capacity an d trade-related infrastructure that they need to 
implement and benefit from WTO agreements and more broadly to expand their trade and 
development gains from the international trading sy stem, inter alia, through trade negotiations. The 
African ownership of this initiative is paramount. The genesis for this initia tive derives from Africa 
and its political leadership at the highest level. This present mandate therefore should be brought to 
add value and should be funded with predicta ble resources. The initiative and the funding 
arrangements should be sustainable in the long term a nd be fully implemented. It   should not become 
another missed opportunity.  
2. The initiative should be carefully designed, ad equately funded, efficiently managed and 
effectively implemented and incorporate a number of  guiding principles.  AFT should play a catalytic 
role and become an engine of accelerated grow th, development and poverty reduction in Africa and 
help towards a timely realisation of the Millennium Development Goals.  
3. At this stage of the work on this HMD manda te, the focus should be on identifying the 
guiding principles for the design of the AFT architect ure. An important objective in this phase of the 
work is also to ensure that the African voice is strongly represented in the WTO on this issue so that 
there is no attempt at taking a top-down approach on decision-making, implementation process and in 
fulfilling WTO’s role in its advocacy for the m obilisation of the required resources under this 
initiative. 
4. As part of addressing the capacity constraints and the capacity building needs, the initiative 
should help a development-enhancing trade polic y and regulatory frameworks; meet SPS, TBT and 
standards; accelerate technology transfer; move up th e value chains; improve technical capacity in the 
accession of African countries; incr ease capacities to meet implementa tion costs arising from existing 
WTO Rules and the outcome of the Doha Round incl uding trade facilitation; meet adjustment costs 
arising, inter alia ,  from preference erosion and tariff revenue losses; promote  public-private sector  
partnerships in relevant areas and enhance entr epreneurship development and competitiveness.  
5. In order to ensure an effective and efficien t use of these new resources, it would be necessary 
to identify trade capacity building needs that are already being handled through existing facilities and 
programmes and to focus, on one ha nd, on the gaps in their financi ngs; and, on the other hand, on new 
sources to address the growing needs of meeting challenges and opportunities of liberalisation 
6. Such an approach will allow a clearer tracki ng of resources, commitments and pledges made 
by donors and guard against the potential probl ems of overlapping and duplicating activities, 
inefficient   and costly management of the fina ncings. In this context the following recommendations 
are made: 
(a)  The funds under the AFT initiative should be additional, predictable and sustainable. 
A clear distinction is to be made betwee n existing commitments and pledges and new 
ones under the initiative.  Funding under this initiative should not be at the expense of 
traditional development aid and other programmes and initiatives such as ODA, 
bilateral, sub-regional, regional funding arrangements and should not crowd-out 
funding for social services.  There should be no conditionalities attached.  WT/AFT/W/21 
 Page 11 
 
 
  (b) The Integrated Framework is a special arrangement for the LDCs.  In this context, the 
Hong Kong mandate also provides for an  enhanced Integrated Framework. 
Predictable resources are required of ar ound 300 million dollars over three years 
according to estimates made by UNDP and World Bank for scaling up implementation of the Action Matrices. Country ownership and strengthened in-
country capacity for implementation is required.  There is need to maintain the current 
management and governance arrangements w ith resources to improve efficiencies 
rather than introducing new cha nges to these arrangements.   
(c) The DTIS of the IF serves as an analytical t ool for diagnosis of the constraints   on 
trade competitiveness and increased participa tion in trade. This model could be used 
for developing needs assessment tools for non-LDC African countries for integrating 
trade into development plans and poverty reduction strategies. The DTIS could also serve as a model for multi-stakeholder c onsultations and coordination of trade and 
development priorities. Such an approach  would involve the participation of all 
relevant ministries as well as private sect or and civil society. Co-ordination and 
coherence in decision making at the level of key ministries responsible for trade, 
finance, economic planning, agriculture and industry is crucial. Facilities modelled on 
the   IF and JITAP could be created for the benefit of the non-LDC African countries.     
(d) The funding of the AFT initiative should be  provided in grant form.  The terms and 
conditions should be development friendl y and should not involve high transaction 
costs. Such costs should be limited to maxi mise the use of allocated resources on the 
ground. These fundings shall be aimed at having a positive impact on the 
development of the beneficiary countries. 
(e) There should be a wide stakeholder involv ement in the design and implementation of 
programmes under AFT at the na tional and regional levels. 
(f) It is also recommended that the AFT initiative could draw useful lessons from good 
practices and experiences in those African countries where developmental 
programmes such as the IF, DTIS, JITAP and other bilateral and regional integration 
programmes under regional cooperati on have been implemented.  
(g) While AFT should support national effort s and projects through budget or project 
related assistance it should also be supportiv e of   regional integration initiatives. 
AFT funding should be additional resour ces over and above existing national and 
regional programmes of development and pr oject funding and should not be used as 
an excuse to affect these  initiatives and programmes. Fu rthermore, regional and sub-
regional projects under AFT should be informed by the leading work already accomplished by NEPAD. The NEPAD projects should be given maximum attention. 
(h) AFT should be used to strengthen and develop Trade policy and enhance trade 
negotiation capacity at national, sub-regiona l and regional levels through an effective 
mechanism including, inter alia , JITAP and IF and other mechanisms whether or not 
modelled on these existing mechanisms.  
(i) Aid for Trade should be a complement a nd not a substitute for the development 
promises of the Doha Development Agenda  nor of traditional Aid for Development 
such as ODA and other regional and bilate ral initiatives and programmes (EU’s EDF, 
US Millennium Account, etc.).  WT/AFT/W/21 
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  (j) Extensive work on the requirements and the magnitude of a facility such as the AFT 
has already been identified in major wo rks such as that of the NEPAD and the 
Commission for Africa. It is critical that recommendations from these initiatives are brought to bear on the AFT Task Force work as it relates to African members. 
(k) There should be a proper management syst em of the funds under the initiative that 
promotes transparency, accountability and efficiency. The structure should include a 
monitoring and evaluation mechanism.  
(l) The governance structure of the AFT facility should be designed to ensure that Africa 
has a strong voice in decision-making and implementation activities of the facility. The interface with multi- stakeholders and development partners is crucial for the 
successful operationalisation of the initiative and for ensuring that there is effectively 
a bottom-up approach on decision-making and implementation of the initiative. While 
the creation of an advisory group is being considered it should be an opportunity to 
ensure that African countries are fully represented and own the process of the AFT so that African interests and needs are fully articulated and taken on board.  African 
institutions and programmes such as NEPAD, ECA, ADB and AU should be 
included. 
(m) While it is critical to ensure coherence in trade policy formulation at national level, it 
is equally important to have coherence at the internationa l level and in international 
policy making. In African countries there is need to strengthen coordination between the key Ministries at national level to ensure coherence in particular between 
Ministries of Trade, Industry, Agricultur e and Finance as well as other relevant 
national institutions. 
(n) At a Pan African level, there is a key c oordination role for the AU in collaboration 
with ECA. This coordination role should be  extended in creating an interface between 
Geneva and Brussels processes as well as the Washington based chapters of Africa’s 
representation including African Executive Directors at the IMF and World Bank. 
(o) In addition to the problem of supply side constraints Africa is faced with serious 
challenges under the ongoing liberalization process in terms of preference erosion and adjustment costs. These concerns should be addressed with extreme urgency and adequately. AFT funding should be availa ble to help African countries in the 
transitory period. Particular importance is a ttached to   the role of adjustment costs 
related to commodities (prominent among which is cotton).  
(p) While it is recognised that the AFT initiative is a big gain in the HMD, it is also 
recognised that the development and trade ga ins are not automatic. Hence it has to be 
carefully assessed how much value added will be effectively obtained under the AFT initiative (i) in terms of relief through t echnical assistance, capacity building and 
supply-side constraints (ii) as a bargaining chip under the Single Undertaking of the 
Doha Round. 
(q) AFT should not be linked to the Doha R ound negotiations. The question is how to 
ensure that the funding pledges and commitmen ts will be fulfilled and that there is no 
recycling of existing funds and commitments. It is also important to determine what 
is the leverage that Africa has to pursu e the twin aspects of trade-related and 
development solutions under this mandate; and to determine the point at which the 
balance is achieved in the interest of Africa. Another important question that will  WT/AFT/W/21 
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  need to be addressed by Africa is whethe r it should push for binding commitments or 
not under the initiative. If not, why and with what quid pro quos? 
(r) National and regional expertise and resources available in Africa should be optimally 
used and synergized including in the di agnosis studies and technical cooperation 
programmes. Regional organisations and programs such as NEPAD, the African 
Development Bank, the ECA, and the Regional Economic Communities (such as 
COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS, ECCAS, UMA, UEMOA) could provide an African perspective to the AFT initiative. Tec hnical assistance programmes and their 
deliveries should also look at how to create synergies for south-south cooperation. 
(s) It is recommended that an AFT workshop be urgently held at sub regional and 
regional level. 
(t) In order to ensure coherence between the tr ade and development aspects of Cotton, as 
determined at the WTO workshop held in Cotonou in March 2004 and reaffirmed in 
the 2004 July Framework, the African Group recommends that priority attention be given to Cotton in the implementation of the AFT initiative. 
(u) Given the scant coverage of Africa’s positions in world media the AU Trade        
Commissioner is tasked to take appropria te action to raise the media communication 
profile on this and other trade issues.   
 
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