Moderator
Laura Paez, Chief, Investment Policy Section, United Nations Economic Commission for AfricaLaunch of Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) VII and the Africa Regional Integration Index (ARII)
Why do African economies perform poorly on all available measures of innovation and what can be done about it? These are the questions that are discussed in ARIA VII: Innovation Competitiveness and Regional Integration.
The ARII tracks and compares each African country's progress in integrating with the rest of the continent, in terms of goods trade, free movement of persons, cross-border flows of finance, regional value chains and cross-border infrastructure, recognizing which countries are leading in efforts to implement their commitments and which are lagging behind. Published for the first time in 2016 as an annual report, it is expected that over time, the Index will incentivise African countries to make greater efforts in implementing their integration commitments.
The session will include presentations of both reports and related discussions.