Top > Regional Affairs > Africa > TICAD > Illustrative List Of Ongoing and Pipeline Projects/Programs For African Development As a Reference Document for TICAD II > II. Economic Development : Promoting Private Sector (2.1 Private Sector Development) > Cross-Border Initiative to facilitate regional trade, investment and payments in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (CBI).

Cross-Border Initiatives to Facilitate Regional Trade, Investment and Payments in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean
Programme Summary

I. Basic data

Sector(s): Support for regional economic integration.
Title: Cross-Border Initiative to facilitate regional trade, investment and payments in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (CBI).
Donor involved: African Development Bank, EU, IMF and World Bank.
Beneficiary countries / regions: Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa that are members of COMESA, SADC or IOC. The countries participating in the initiative are: Burundi, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The initiative is open to other countries in the region that are willing to implement the policy programme on the basis of a sound macroeconomic policy environment.
Implementing agencies in beneficiary countries / regions: the technical assistance component is implemented by a regional consultant in collaboration with national consultants.
Duration: no specific duration is foreseen.
Starting Date: 1992
Programme budget: approximately 2 MECU for technical assistance, organisation of meetings and studies; in addition, balance of payments support implemented at country level (extra tranche of structural adjustment support).
Finance / Type: grant

II. programme description

  1. Objectives

    The Cross-Border Initiative (CBI) is primarily aimed at creating conditions for more beneficial integration of the countries of Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean into the world economy by dismantling barriers to the cross-border flow of goods, persons and capital between the countries in the context of country-specific programmes. The initiative specifically addresses effective implementation of agreed measures at the national level.
  2. Activities

    Most of the work is carried out through national Technical Working Groups (TWGs) comprising representatives of both the public and private sector. The regional organisations are also involved in working out and implementing the CBI policy agenda.

    The CBI calls for acceleration and deepening of reforms in the following areas:
    • trade liberalisation and facilitation;
    • deregulation of and clarification of the investment regime;
    • facilitation of movement of persons;
    • liberalisation of the exchange system (current account convertibility);
    • strengthening of financial intermediation.
    At a first ministerial meeting (Kampala, August 1993) a core policy programme was endorsed. A timetable for removing intra-regional tariffs as well as harmonising external tariffs was agreed at the second ministerial meeting (Mauritius, March 1995). The third ministerial meeting (Harare, February 1998) agreed to continue and broaden the CBI.

    The co-sponsors jointly assume responsibility for helping the countries to effectively implement CBI-supported reforms, with each individual institution focusing on its respective area of competence. In countries that are under adjustment, the general policy provisions related to the CBI reform agenda are incorporated as appropriate into the Policy Framework Paper (PFP), as the "regional dimension of adjustment".

    The external support provided to the countries participating in the CBI can be divided into three categories:
    • technical assistance for capacity building at national and regional level;
    • balance of payments or budget support to contribute to covering the transitional cost for the governments implementing the policy package and
    • assistance to the private sector to help with restructuring so as to enable it to take advantage of the wider regional and world markets.
  3. Expected outcomes
    • enhanced capacity at the level of the public and private sector to deal with regional economic integration issues;
    • effective implementation of regional integration policy measures in coherence with general macroeconomic reform.
  4. Features in line with the Agenda for Action

    Effective regional integration is generally recognised as a component of a strategy to improve economic growth in Africa. The initiative addresses some of the weaknesses of previous regional initiatives by emphasising outward-orientation, national and regional policy complementarity and direct involvement of the private sector. The initiative promotes a strategy of integration into the world economy combining where appropriate unilateral reform, regional reform and membership of the WTO.

III. Contact point:

European Commission, Directorate-General for Development, Unit B/2.

(End)

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