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Insights into a draft @ECA_OFFICIAL report on African urbanization: Cities as gateways for Africa’s regional economic integration https://www.uneca.org/egm-state-urbanization-africa
"AfCFTA is expected to increase trade between African countries by 50-69%, and boost African GDP by up to $44bn. Implementing #AfCFTA components related to non-tariff barriers and traded services could more than double the boost to GDP."
"Lowering freight costs on traded goods to match an international benchmark would result in a 46.4% reduction in the average price index for staple grains, with welfare gains equivalent to 2.17% of GDP."
Lower food costs could play major role in the cost of living in African cities, which tends to be disproportionately high by a margin of 31% above comparator countries. This would impact the competitiveness of African traded manufactures, which suffer from high production costs.
EGM aide-memoire: Urbanization patterns at the regional level, including the emergence of city regions, urban corridors, and mega urban regions, are creating new physical and economic reconfigurations that constitute the backbone of regional integration.
