“We stand at a pivotal second, one which marks a profound shift from viewing these nations as remoted and constrained by geography to recognizing them as dynamic land-linked economies on the coronary heart of Africa’s socio-economic resurgence,” stated Samuel Doe, Resident Consultant of the United Nations Improvement Programme (UNDP) in Ethiopia.
A brand new UNDP place paper – Africa’s Land-Linked Economies: Pathways to Prosperity and Improvement – explores the brand new narrative for African LLDCs, “rewriting the story from considered one of geographic limitation to strategic benefit”.
Mr. Doe, talking on behalf of UNDP in Africa, offered the paper at a information convention on the margins of the Third UN Convention on LLDCs (LLDC3), which has been below approach since Tuesday in Awaza, Turkmenistan.
“For many years, Africa’s LLDCs have been outlined by their lack of direct entry to the ocean, usually perceived as a drawback that limits commerce, development and improvement,” he stated.
“At present, Africa’s LLDCs are leveraging their strategic centrality and regional connectivity to turn out to be important hubs of financial exercise, commerce and innovation.”
He cited, amongst others, Rwanda’s 130,000-hectare Kigali Logistics Platform – a bustling regional hub, connecting Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi with the coastal economies of Kenya and Tanzania.
As well as, Ethiopia facilitates essential commerce routes from South Sudan to Djibouti – together with shortening freight transit by rail from 72 hours to 12 hours – and leverages its nationwide airline, rising as a significant world air transport connector that bridges Africa with worldwide markets.
In the meantime, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe anchor the pivotal North-South hall, linking southern Africa to broader continental markets.
Globally, LLDCs account for seven per cent of the world’s inhabitants however contribute to solely about 1.1 per cent of world commerce.
UNDP notes that though African LLDCs’ contribution to world commerce could also be minimal, they provide regional and continental markets with strategic items and providers, together with diamonds, copper, gold, espresso, sugar, in addition to textiles and attire.
‘Land-linked shifts the narrative’
A essential component of the shift happening on the continent is the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA), which got here into impact in January 2021 and represents the world’s largest free-trade space with a market of 1.2 billion individuals.
Most African LLDCs are members of the AfCFTA, which is already decreasing commerce obstacles, unlocking huge alternatives for LLDCs to actively take part in and profit from intra-African and world commerce, in line with UNDP.
“Land-linked flips the narrative: inland international locations turn out to be bridges, not obstacles. With AfCFTA, LLDCs can flip geography right into a aggressive edge – shifting items, providers, and information sooner and extra affordably throughout Africa and past,” stated Mr. Doe.
The shift additionally requires coordinated coverage reforms, in addition to leveraging innovation, inclusive governance, resilience and financing to drive sustainable and inclusive development.
The paper additionally cites digital connectivity as a “transformative pathway” for African LLDCs to transcend geographic constraints and set up direct linkages with regional and world markets.
In keeping with the 2024 Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU) Info and Figures, 39 per cent of the inhabitants in LLDCs is on-line, with web entry in African LLDCs reaching as much as 20 per cent.
The present digital panorama, although difficult, demonstrates that African LLDCs are positioned to leverage progressive connectivity options that bypass conventional dependencies on coastal neighbouring international locations, in line with the UNDP paper. These however, LLDCs proceed to depend on neighbouring coastal international locations for undersea cable entry.
“We’re additionally involved that landlocked growing international locations should not have quick access to submarine cables” Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Improvement Bureau, informed reporters in Awaza.
“And for these which might be doubly landlocked, it’s a larger problem since you will need to have good relations together with your neighbours for you to have the ability to talk.”
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