BRIEFING: AFRICAN UNION TRADE OBSERVATORY
Trade data and statistics are essential to the exchange of goods and services across borders, as differences in price and quality must be sufficient to offset the cost in terms of time and transport. Modern trade information systems across the world provide policymakers, importers, exporters, retailers and investors with timely and lucrative information that helps grease the wheels of globalization.
The absence of timely and reliable trade data and statistics has been recognized as one of the factors contributing to the low level of official intra-African trade (estimated at around 14% for imports and 18% for exports in 2015), as well as Africa's limited share in global exports (around 2.6%) in 2017. There are situations where goods and services, which could be supplied by other African countries, are imported by African countries.
