The Director-General (D-G) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated that Africa would be minimally impacted by the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump of the United States of America.
She made the remark during an interview with Nigerian journalists at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank in Washington D.C. on Friday.
Okonjo-Iweala explained that only 6.5 percent of Africa’s exports go to the US, while 4.4 percent of its imports come from the US, meaning that the impact on the continent would be minimal.
She said: “The trade of the continent is very limited with the USA.
“We have done the analysis, and the impact on the continent as a whole is not significant.”
However, she noted that Africa’s limited trade with the USA was also not ideal, as it hindered economic growth.
The D-G emphasised that Africa needed to focus on utilising its own resources to reach its full potential, as aid was declining, and the continent required more investment.
Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that Africa must strengthen internal trade, citing Lesotho as an example.
In spite of Lesotho exporting 200 million dollars’ worth of textiles to the USA, the country faced challenges due to the shrinking US market.
She noted that Africa spent $7 billion annually on importing textiles, suggesting that Lesotho should instead focus on selling textiles within African markets.
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She also urged the USA to consider the effects of tariffs on least-developed countries, calling for a reassessment of the reciprocal tariffs in poorer nations.
Okonjo-Iweala concluded that Africa needed more investments and should work towards boosting intra-Africa trade, which remained underdeveloped.
“We cannot trade more externally, where our trade is only 3 percent of world trade, or internally, where intra-Africa trade is 16 to 20 percent at most,” she said.
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