Africa continues to remain vastly unexplored, and making Africa’s most remote regions accessible for trade will not only promote prosperity in those regions, but also elevate the continent’s continued growth path, according to The Role of Trade in Ending Poverty report recently released by the World Bank Group and World Trade Organisation. 

It is important that leaders on the continent understand the role that international trade plays in development and poverty reduction in Africa. The value of trade is measured by the extent to which it delivers better livelihoods, measured through higher incomes, greater variety of choice and a more sustainable future, among others, the report indicates.

While countries need to continue to establish better trade relations with international partners, enabling trade routes within the continent can yield numerous benefits for the region and its people.

Since 1978, when DHL entered the African market, there has been a degree of transformation both economically and socially, simply due to access to new services. If we look at Cape Verde, for instance, a small country consisting of 10 islands, the quickest and most reliable way of transporting goods to and from the country is by air. 

Currently, there are three commercial airlines operating in the area and given that commercial airlines offer priority to passenger baggage, offloading of cargo from these planes was a regular occurrence. In order to better service the area, we introduced a DHL flight which operates between Senegal and Cape Verde weekly. This dedicated flight route provides various trade opportunities and greatly improves connectivity in the region. 

So to effectively reduce poverty, growth needs to be inclusive, and poor people are not often located where growth takes place. The World Bank and the World Trade Organisation estimate that one billion 15 per cent of the world’s population remains in extreme poverty, and that of this number, 415 million are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. The report states that extreme poverty in many countries is predominately a rural phenomenon, and that an estimated 75 per cent of the extreme poor in Africa live in rural areas.

Dr Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank Group president, says that beyond expanding trade, more must be done, such as building roads that connect farmers to markets: "We must always connect the poorest to trade opportunities.” 

That is why connecting rural areas to trade opportunities should be a key focus for any government and business on the continent. "We have made great progress in making the global market and the world at large more accessible and connected by increasing the number of points where customers can access DHL and our global network. We now have over 4,500 retail outlets across sub-Saharan Africa. This allows anyone - from a student to a small business – access over 220 countries and destinations that we serve.

The report paints trade as a key enabler of facilitating growth in developing countries and highlights that lower trade costs and fewer barriers between countries is vital to eliminating extreme poverty.

Dr Kim said trade plays an essential role in driving private sector-led growth and job-creation and can be a powerful force in reducing poverty and increasing incomes. 

Therefore, there should be a collaborative effort between the public and private sector to work together to ease doing business across borders. We work very closely with the government and custom authorities in each country on solutions to make doing business easier. There is ongoing progress with a number of successful trade blocs in place focusing on better connecting the region, and we look forward to seeing Africa continue on its growth path in years to come.

The author is the managing director of DHL Express for sub-Saharan Africa.

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