News / Africa
Trade policy analysis training for Member States and Secretariat
04 Sep 2015 at 07:50hrs | Views
COMESA Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) jointly organized one week training for staff and officials from Member States in trade policy analysis with application of Computable General Equilibrium Model.
Comesa reported that the training which took place on 13-17 July 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya involved a synopsis of theoretical illustration, model construction, scenarios, analysis and interpretation of results. It also covered the implication to trade policy decisions of Member States both at the Free Trade Area, the Customs Union and Continental Free Trade Area level.
Sixty participants drawn from 16 COMESA Member States, namely Burundi, DR Congo, Comoros, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe took part in the training in addition to officials from the COMESA and UNECA.
The training introduced the participants to the various data sources and computation of indexes such as export diversification and Revealed Comparative Advantage. The training covered structures of trade policy analysis, namely, the ex-ante and ex-post analysis (the before and after analysis of trade policy effective on a given sector or the economy as a whole).
In appreciation of the training the participants pledged to appeal to the respective governments to procure the necessary software that will enable them utilize the skills acquired from the training in enhancing their policy decision-making on regional integrated related issues based on evidence.
The training was conducted within the framework of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and COMESA through a funding agreement signed in 2013 to assist in enhancing the capacity of COMESA in economic and trade policy analysis and research.
The specific sectors covered by the capacity building intervention is to provide institutional strengthening and enhance the capacity of the COMESA Secretariat in economic and trade policy analysis and research, as well as to enhance the capacity of the Member States in trade negotiations.
Comesa reported that the training which took place on 13-17 July 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya involved a synopsis of theoretical illustration, model construction, scenarios, analysis and interpretation of results. It also covered the implication to trade policy decisions of Member States both at the Free Trade Area, the Customs Union and Continental Free Trade Area level.
Sixty participants drawn from 16 COMESA Member States, namely Burundi, DR Congo, Comoros, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe took part in the training in addition to officials from the COMESA and UNECA.
The training introduced the participants to the various data sources and computation of indexes such as export diversification and Revealed Comparative Advantage. The training covered structures of trade policy analysis, namely, the ex-ante and ex-post analysis (the before and after analysis of trade policy effective on a given sector or the economy as a whole).
In appreciation of the training the participants pledged to appeal to the respective governments to procure the necessary software that will enable them utilize the skills acquired from the training in enhancing their policy decision-making on regional integrated related issues based on evidence.
The training was conducted within the framework of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and COMESA through a funding agreement signed in 2013 to assist in enhancing the capacity of COMESA in economic and trade policy analysis and research.
The specific sectors covered by the capacity building intervention is to provide institutional strengthening and enhance the capacity of the COMESA Secretariat in economic and trade policy analysis and research, as well as to enhance the capacity of the Member States in trade negotiations.
Source - Comesa
