Okonjo- Iweala Says Trump’s Tariffs Will Have Minimal Impact On Africa

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO,  Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says that tariffs imposed on goods and services by the United States President, Donald Trump would only have minimal impact on Africa. 
Okonjo-Iweala spoke during an interview with reporters at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank in Washington D.C. on Friday.
According to her, only 6.5 per cent of Africa’s exports go to the USA, while 4.4 per cent of its imports come from the U.S., meaning that the impact on the continent would be minimal.
Her words, “The trade of the continent is very limited with the USA. We have done the analysis, and the impact on the continent as a whole is not significant...
“We cannot trade more externally, where our trade is only 3 per cent of world trade, or internally, where intra-Africa trade is 16 to 20 per cent at most."
She, however, noted that Africa’s limited trade with the USA was also not ideal, as it hindered economic growth.
Okonjo- Iweala further emphasised that Africa needed to focus on utilising its own resources to reach its full potentials, as aid was declining, even as the continent required more investments, and then called for the strengthening of internal trade, citing Lesotho as an example.
She stressed that in spite of Lesotho exporting 200 million dollars’ worth of textiles to the USA, the country faced challenges due to the shrinking U.S. market.
She also, noted that Africa spent $7 billion dollars annually on importing textiles, suggesting that Lesotho should instead focus on selling textiles within African markets, and then urged the USA to consider the effects of tariffs on least-developed countries, calling for a reassessment of the reciprocal tariffs in poorer nations.