Geneva: The World Trade Organization has launched the first online Regional Trade Policy Course for Africa, which is being attended by a total of 26 government officials from 16 WTO member countries and observers. The course for English-speaking African countries has been taking place from May 17 to August 20, 2021.
Organised by the ITTC and the University of Mauritius, the course is specifically designed for government officials from WTO members and observers working on trade-related issues who have completed an introductory WTO training course. It seeks to ensure that trade-related technical assistance continues to be made available despite the COVID-19 pandemic and replicates most of the training components offered by face-to-face regional trade policy courses. It is the first online regional trade policy course organised by the WTO with a partner institution.
The WTO today said the objective of the online course is to extend participants’ expertise on the multilateral trading system and the work of the WTO. The WTO members and observers represented are Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Uganda and Zambia.
“This affirms your commitment to the multilateral trading system. … This course takes place at a critical moment for global trade,” Jorge Castro, the Training Section Head of the WTO’s Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC), said on behalf of the ITTC Director, Bridget Chilala, told the participants. He said the course offers an opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities that the multilateral trading system and WTO agreements provide.
The curriculum covers the WTO agreements, the organization’s functions, rules and procedures and trade policy issues related to the African region. The course will consist of self-learning, interactive case studies and exercises and webinars by WTO experts and trade-policy academics and practitioners from the region.
– global bihari bureau
