Latest content: Trade and economy

News and events from around the Commonwealth this week.

Philda Maiga was deployed as a national trade adviser to Kenya from 2014 until 2019 under the Hub and Spokes Programme. Providing technical support to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, she shares insights from her experience in supporting the development of Kenya’s first ever national strategy to combat illicit trade.

Implementation of international commercial arbitration mechanisms could significantly strengthen and increase trade in the Commonwealth.

Trade wars, protectionism, and nationalist rhetoric are combining to weave the possibility of a nightmare debt crisis that could be worse than any previously experienced. Global borrowing is now at the highest levels since the 1950s – and history suggests we should take this as a warning that a debt crisis could be looming.

Trade ministers from across the Commonwealth today made a commitment to resist all forms of protectionism, and to work urgently together towards reforming the World Trade Organisation, which sets the global rules for international trade.

Consultations opened today in Lilongwe, Malawi on the design of a new strategy to boost the country’s exports in regional and international markets.

Trade ministers and senior officials from 53 Commonwealth countries will gather in London to explore strategies for deepening trade and investment, while supporting a transparent, inclusive, fair, and open rules-based global trading system.

Officials from across the Commonwealth have gathered to discuss how they can boost trade and investment links across the 53 member countries.

The Commonwealth will assist the East African Community (EAC) in implementing the authorised economic operator programme, which will offer easier customs clearance for exporters in the region.

Senior trade officials wrapped up two days of consultations in Singapore, focussing on how Asia-Pacific countries could better harness trade policy to strengthen global trade links and step up participation in regional and global value chains.

Policy makers and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from more than 20 Commonwealth countries are meeting in Nairobi, as trade between member states continues its upward trajectory.

Committed to achieving $2 trillion worth of intra-Commonwealth trade by 2030, policymakers from across the Commonwealth agreed to use good regulatory practices (GRPs) to boost trade and help businesses flourish.

Trade officials have concluded a meeting in London, where they created a roadmap to fully leverage the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA) to boost trade benefits for 2.4 billion people.

Botswana has launched its new five-year export strategy targeted at dynamic and sustainable economic growth, with the help of the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth countries wrapped up two days of deliberations today, with a plan to support micro, small and medium-sized businesses looking to gain a foothold in global markets and supply chains.

Commonwealth countries will gather in Vanuatu this week to explore how small and medium-size businesses can plug into global value chains, and benefit from intra-Commonwealth trade - estimated to reach nearly $2 trillion within 10 years. The activity is part of the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA), adopted by Heads of Government in April 2018 with a view to boosting trade and investment links across the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth has been working alongside two Caribbean agencies on how the region’s business climate can be improved to help entrepreneurs and encourage investment. Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), in partnership with the Commonwealth and the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) held a two-day workshop in Barbados running from 9 – 10 April.

An initiative to boost trade by improving digital connectivity in the Commonwealth has got underway in South Africa.

Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has reaffirmed the Commonwealth’s support for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, while urging deeper collaboration to boost their trade and development potential.

The Gambia is to drive a Commonwealth initiative aimed at ensuring improvements in digital infrastructure underpin economic progress.

Inadequate access to financing, markets and technology are among the hurdles that prevent women from breaking into global trade, which the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda expects to tackle.