NAIROBI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank on Wednesday urged African countries to embrace global value chains in order to boost their national incomes.
Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, vice president of development economics and chief economist with World Bank Group told journalists in Nairobi that so far Africa has largely not benefited from international trade because it has concentrated on exports of agriculture and other commodities.
"When African firms engage more in exporting and importing, they tend to create jobs and this translates into poverty reduction," Goldberg said during a policy forum on the importance of global value chains in Africa's development.
"In principle, global value chains make it easier to engage in import or export activities because the manufacturing of parts does not require the full range of capabilities of producing a finished product," she observed.
She added that Africa's greater participation in global trade will also lead to technology transfer especially through imports.
According to the World Bank official, one challenge Africa will face in integrating into global markets is the rising protectionism in some advanced economies.
