The coronavirus pandemic has deepened challenges faced by landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), particularly those in Africa, Francis Ikome, Chief of the Regional Integration Section in the Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) Regional Integration and Trade Division has said.
Before the outbreak of the health crisis, these countries already faced great challenges as a result of their geographical locations – they are remote, have no direct access to the sea and face high transport and transit costs, impacting their speed of development, Ikome said.
He said the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014–2024 was a holistic framework to address the challenges facing these countries.
Mr. Ikome said Africa has the biggest stake in the Programme because the continent is home to the largest number of landlocked countries in the world.
Of the world’s 32 landlocked countries, 16 are in Africa, and 13 of these are also least developed countries (LDCs).
The Vienna programme of action was adopted by the international community in recognition of the complex challenges facing LLDCs and their special development needs.
According to Mr. Ikome, with COVID-19 prompting border closures, the pandemic had further isolated African LLDCs from world trade, disproportionately affecting them with high exposure to commodities trade.
He said well-functioning transit transport services and procedures were essential to ensure people in LLDCs have timely access to essentials such as medical products and basic goods during and after the health and economic crisis triggered by COVID-19.
He also stated that LLDCs in Africa have performed poorly compared to LLDCs in other regions, with their growth declining from 5.1 per cent from 1998 to 4.0 per cent in 2019.
Even though there has been growth in digitalization for instance, Mr. Ikome said LLCDs in Africa had recorded lower growth in mobile telephony numbers and digitized facilities like the Internet, compared to other LLCDs.
When it comes to energy, the African LLDCs also have lower access to electricity compared to other LLDCs and the global average.
He said increasing electricity and Internet access in Africa’s LLDCs was key to their economic recovery from COVID-19.
MG/abj/APA