- More than 314 million Africans live on less than $1 a day – nearly twice
as many as in 1981.
- Removal of all cotton subsidies and import tariffs would boost global
economic welfare by $283 million per year, providing a large benefit to
Sub-Saharan Africa, of $147 million per year.
- DFID is providing £3.22 million to Lesotho for tax reforms that
have already resulted in a 204% increase in revenue collection.
- In Southern Sudan DFID has provided £10 million to rehabilitate road networks to encourage links between
regions and neighbouring countries.
- Support to US, EU and Chinese cotton farmers is estimated to reduce
world prices by 10-15%, costing farmers in West Africa $75-$100 million a
year alone.
- Lesotho faces 42 obstacles to trading its goods and services
including poor roads and slow border crossings.
- Trade in Fisheries products accounts for a large proportion of the
GDP of many developing countries. Fish export values are greater than
combined values of tea, coffee, cocoa, bananas,
rubber and sugar (FAO, 2004).
- Bangladesh faces tariffs of up to 58% on its footwear exports to the US.
- The generalised system of preferences (GSP) rules mean that Cambodia’s
garment industry cannot export clothes to the EU. Instead they face a range of EU
tariffs.
- Opening up telecoms services in Botswana led to a doubling of
landline coverage, while the numbers using mobile phones leapt from none in
1998 to 250,000 in 2001 – around 16% of the population.
- When 1 in 10 people gets access to a mobile phone in a developing
country, it’s estimated that national earnings rise by 0.6%.
- In Mozambique an overhaul of customs management has led to a rise
in tax revenue from US$86 million in 1996 to a record US$236 million in 2000 despite tax
rate reductions. Imports increased by 4% in the first two
years.
- In Thailand, the introduction of generic competition reduced the cost of
drugs for the treatment of meningitis by a factor of 14.
- Asia was the poorest continent on the planet 40 years ago – twice as
poor as Africa is today. It now has the fastest growing economy and is
twice as rich as Africa.
- The share of world exports of sub-Saharan
Africa with 689 million people, is less than one half that of Belgium, with
10 million people
- More than two-thirds of all people surviving on less than $1 a day live
and work in rural areas either as small holder farmers or as
agricultural labourers.
- Every
$1 lost through unfair agricultural trade policies costs more than $1 in
rural communities because lost purchasing power means less income for
investment and employment.
- Over 70% of the poor in developing countries live in rural areas.
-
Agriculture is the largest employer in low-income countries, accounting for
about 60% of the labour force and producing about 25% of GDP.
- Whole economies are being destabilised by world cotton market
distortions, with poor countries bearing the brunt. Cotton exports are of
marginal relevance for the United States. For Burkina Faso, by contrast,
cotton represents 50% of the value of exports and is a mainstay of the
national economy.
- A pound of cotton can be produced for 12 pence in
Burkina Faso compared with 42 pence in the US.
- Rules of origin specify how much value must be added to any inputs used
to produce exports that are entitled to preferences. They are often deployed
as protectionist trade barriers.
- A vegetable exporter in Uganda who uses imported packaging from Kenya
would not be eligible for duty-free access under the EU 'Everything but Arms'
scheme because of the value of the imported items.
|
More than 314 million Africans live on less than $1 a day.
Increase in Lesotho tax collection revenues as a result of DFID
funded reforms.
Bangladesh faces tariffs of up to 58% on its footwear exports to the US.
Asia was the poorest continent on the planet 40 years ago – twice as
poor as Africa is today – it now has the fastest growing economy and is
twice as rich as Africa.
Over 70% of the poor in developing countries live in rural areas.
A pound of cotton can be produced for 12 pence in Burkina Faso compared
with 42 pence in the US. |
