African MPs call for better business environment
19 March 2012
Business Live - March 18, 2012
Over 100 Members of Parliament from 40 African countries have agreed to step up efforts to improve the business environment on the continent by reviewing legislation linked to governance, trade barriers, and regional infrastructure in a bid to strengthen sustainable private sector development.
They met during a conference on private sector development in Africa as a cornerstone for sustainable growth held in Kigali, Rwanda, from March 14 to 16.
A World Bank report last month showed how African countries were losing out on billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighbouring countries, and that it was easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself.
According to the report - De-Fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services - regional fragmentation could become even more costly for the continent with new World Bank forecasts suggesting that economic slowdown in the eurozone could shave Africa's growth by up to 1.3 percentage points this year.
Read more...
Category: General