Overview
Background
The Regional Trade Facilitation Programme (RTFP) was designed by DfID as a strategic response to the challenge of improving trade performance within the southern Africa region. The particular focus has been on supporting measures to facilitate increased trade in Southern Africa for the benefit of the poor.
The contract to implement the RTFP was awarded to Imani Development International Limited (Imani) and implementation started at the beginning of 2004. Following the first annual review of the programme, it has taken a more strategic and innovative approach (rather than administering projects generated by key project partners). It has also now increased the focus on the link between trade and poverty.
Programme Objectives
The overall objective of the RTFP is to benefit the poor and contribute to poverty reduction, both indirectly by increasing economic opportunities in the region, and directly by focusing on trade constraints including those of particular importance to poor producers and small-scale traders. The purpose of the RTFP is to facilitate increased trade in Southern Africa for the benefit of the poor. The goal to which RTFP contributes is sustainable job creation and increased incomes for the poor.
The RTFP has relatively low levels of financial resources available to it and places the emphasis on the following:-
i) To provide incremental assistance to regional organisations and countries in the eastern and southern Africa region to facilitate increased trade for the benefit of the poor. This will be done by providing technical assistance to support programmes initiated by the regional organisations and the countries in the eastern and southern Africa region, either using programme management staff, or long-term technical assistance or short-term technical assistance recruited specifically for the task.
ii) Where possible, programmes will be implemented with another donor or financial institution, such as the EU, USAID, World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, African Development Bank, UN agencies and IMF. This will not only allow a sharing of costs but will also improve donor co-ordination in the region.
iii) To assist regional organisations and ESA countries to identify appropriate sources of finance for programmes on a larger scale which would assist in facilitating increased trade and to also assist eastern and southern Africa regional organisations and countries to access finances through assisting to prepare financing proposals in line with the guidelines of the appropriate financing institution or co-operating partner.
iv) To make available all appropriate information on trade facilitation activities and instruments through one web portal (website) and keep this web portal up-dated for the duration of the RTFP implementation period.
Additional funding amounting to £4.58 million was recently allocated to fund the implementation of a regional infrastructure programme (regional aid for trade pilot programme) which will be implemented under the RTFP.
During the period of the present work programme from November 2007 to October 2008, the programme will focus on supporting activities that will contribute to the realisation of the following outputs:
Output 1 - Streamlined transport, customs/border procedures and common regional transit system
Ouput 2 - Pro-poor trade agreements negotiated at WTO and as part of EPAs
Output 3 - Improved Functioning of Regional Trade Agreements (SADC, SACU, COMESA)
Output 4 - Increased Participation by Local Communities in the Production and Export of Selected Pro-poor Commodities
Output 5 - Improved Trade Policy Capacity