Regulatory and policy shortcomings stifle Africa’s capacity to capitalize on the potential of its services sector, the UNCTAD Economic Development in Africa Report 2015 argues.
The report, subtitled “Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Services Trade for Growth and Development”, argues that because Africa’s infrastructure provision remains suboptimal and costly, the services sector, though a dynamic driver of growth in Africa in recent years, has not been able to deliver the kind of structural transformation required to address the continent’s development needs. Infrastructure services are critical to achieving the sustainable development goals being set by the United Nations for 2016–2030 and creating a platform for broad-based growth in Africa, the report argues, adding that some infrastructure services such as water and sanitation are directly linked to sustainable development goals targets central to achieving social development outcomes. In addition, while services such as electricity, telecommunications and transport contribute to productivity, they also determine the competitiveness of African firms.