COVID-19

22 February 2024 - Salamat Ali Brendan Vickers
• Although the services sector has emerged as a new engine of economic growth, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected services exports from the least developed countries (LDCs), with an approximate loss of almost USD 29 billion in foregone exports over the past three years. • While global services exports have rebounded from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery in the LDCs is lagging, potentially with long-term consequences for achieving the ambitions of the Doha Programme of Action for the LDCs and several Sustainable Development Goals. • Urgent actions by the LDCs and their trading and development partners to improve utilization of the WTO Services Waiver, incentivize foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfer, promote regional trade initiatives, leverage Aid for Trade, and address the digital divide can help reverse this trend, enabling the LDCs to benefit from a services-led transformation.
15 February 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
The World Bank warned that recovery will be slower in low-income countries, especially small, fragile and conflict-affected states. This is due to lower vaccination rates, tighter fiscal and monetary policies, and more persistent scarring from the pandemic.
19 October 2021 - Ratnakar Adhikari
  Originally published by the World Economic Forum on 19 August 2021
27 July 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
In some least developed countries, COVID-19 causing a shift in tourism plans Lake Assal. The Moucha-Maskali Islands. Lake Abbé. Heard of them?
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges Least Developed Countries (LDCs) face in accessing vital trade finance, as many have seen their local dollar liquidity shrink while foreign banks take a dimmer - and not always accurate - view of emerging market risk.
1 June 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Looking ahead to the next decade of action to transform economies Thriving economies produce. What they produce could be export commodities, human enterprises, linkages to supply chains, data innovations, i.e. the whole range of things that generate profit today.
4 May 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Tourism, apparel and sustainable development strategies are covered in new series of policy briefs from the Enhanced Integrated Framework
20 April 2021 - Helen Castell
Trade has a critical role to play in rebuilding developing and least developed countries’ economies, alleviating rising poverty and creating a greener, more inclusive future for all.
17 March 2021 - Helen Castell
A year into Covid-19 being declared a global pandemic, this month’s Aid for Trade stocktaking event, organized by the Development Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), offers a timely opportunity to assess impact on developing and least developed countries’ (LDC) trade needs, discuss how to make the recovery sustainable and mobilize financing where it is needed most.
9 March 2021 - Sofía Baliño
Adopting such standards in LDC production offers promise, but work remains
16 February 2021 - Désirée Van Gorp
Multinationals and governments need to recognize the trade world’s interconnectedness, and its impact
4 February 2021 - Emeline Wuilbercq
Originally published by Thompson Reuters Foundation News on 22 December 2020
12 January 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Country embarking on a new tourism strategy as part of its building of trade sector When one thinks about tourism hotspots, Burundi is not the first that comes to mind. But, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t get there.
2 December 2020 - Jenny Larsen
As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic kick in, hopes for better progress, at least in the short term, appear to be fading.
24 November 2020 - Dr. Karishma Banga
The government of Uganda put containment measures in place to tackle COVID-19. These included quarantines; bans on public gatherings and weekly markets; closures of schools, borders and nonessential retail outlets; and the suspension of international flights.
12 November 2020 - Bruno Casella
The combined and cumulative effect of pre-existing technological, policy and sustainability trends and the current COVID crisis is set to strike a perfect storm in the system of international production and GVCs.
10 November 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Cabo Verde is often described as “off the beaten path”, whatever that means. In reality, the tiny country of 10 islands has been on many paths since the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors first stopped in the uninhabited archipelago.
5 November 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Myanmar was already moving to get its businesses online. With COVID-19, they were able to speed things up.
Companies have a key role to play in building societal resilience to crises, including the current pandemic and climate impacts, across their value chains. 
29 October 2020 - Kim Kampel
With a sharp decline in tourism in 2020, what does the future look like?
21 October 2020 - Dr. Claudia Sobrevila
Originally published by the World Bank on 1st October 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to the global value chain (GVC) world we live in; what happens in one country has profound impacts, intended and unintended, across countries.
15 October 2020 - Bright Simons
Medicine retail and logistics in Africa are a highly fragmented business.
29 September 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Most of Rwanda’s cross border traders are women and rely on cross-border trade as their sole source of income. According to a recent assessment by Pro-Femmes/Twese Hamwe, the Rwandan umbrella organisation for women’s associations, most cross border traders have experienced not only a large loss in revenue due to border closures but also a complete depletion of their savings.
24 September 2020 - Marlynne Hopper
COVID-19 is highlighting the interconnectedness of agri-food trade; and work needs to be done to mobilise action to build safe food systems
Originally published by THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION NEWS on 18 August 2020
17 August 2020 - UNCTAD
Partnerships with development agencies and government efforts to boost the digital economy are helping soften the economic blow of the pandemic.
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 6 July 2020
Food products comprise around 17% of LDC merchandise imports – more than double the world average of 8%.
4 August 2020 - Ratnakar Adhikari
Originally published in OECD-Development Matters on 6 July 2020
3 August 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
As LDCs grapple with ongoing economic fallout from COVID-19, EIF activities have yielded valuable insights for recovery.
31 July 2020
The macroeconomic context for developing country trade in the time of COVID-19
Women’s specific needs and potential as leaders and agents of change must be considered for COVID-19 mitigation and recovery measures.
16 July 2020 - Sophia Gnych
OECD’s Seed Schemes are working to protect food systems globally, with important benefits for least developed countries
15 July 2020 - UNCTAD
An uptick in business, especially in the delivery of food and essential items, is enhancing resilience in the wake of the crisis.
14 July 2020 - Brendan Vickers Salamat Ali
Although LDCs are home to 13.3% of the world’s population, their share of COVID-19-related medical imports is just 1%.
7 July 2020 - Adnan Seric Jostein Hauge
Originally published by UNIDO in May 2020
23 June 2020 - Anna Spenceley
COVID-19 has led to a steep decline in business for operators in protected areas, coupled with a substantial drop in future booking requests.
16 June 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFRPRI) Senior Research Fellow discusses the challenges and opportunities for food security in least developed countries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
11 June 2020
Tourism is the backbone of many developing world economies, and the sector is being drastically affected by COVID-19. How can countries weather and recover this crisis? What lessons can we take from the past?
9 June 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Pandemic response highlights resilience of already-fragile countries
8 June 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Halting of travel devastating sector that is a key driver of growth in the world’s poorest countries
5 June 2020 - Jodie Keane
The world is changing, and so should our support to the world’s poorest countries
2 June 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Supply chains are vulnerable, but there is also promise in new sectors for least developed countries
29 May 2020
Only 5 countries have graduated from LDC status since the category was established in 1971. 12 are set to potentially graduate in the coming years, largely based on economic gains. But with COVID-19 slowing economies and trade, is LDC graduation in peril?
19 May 2020 - Daniel Gay
To get LDC graduation back on track, and to help other LDCs, reform of the international system of support must be fundamental and far-reaching.
How will graduation impact countries in South Asia and the trade support they benefit from? How can they prepare?
Examining the potential impact of tourism disruption in LDCs; developing policy recommendations to limit the damage, initiate recovery and build resilience
13 May 2020
48% of impoverished people today live in fragile and conflict-affected states, and the number is increasing. COVID-19 has the potential to make the situation even worse. What can countries and global institutions do to stem this tide and improve stability?
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 24 April 2020
5 May 2020 - UNCTAD
Trade ministry fast-tracks measures to ease access to essential goods and services during the pandemic.
4 May 2020 - Soo Hyun Kim Yann Duval
COVID-19 is highlighting the need for paperless trade in developing countries; a recent assessment offers recommendations for how to start
29 April 2020 - Dale Honeck Kim Kampel
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s travel impacts, West Africa’s objectives remain valid
28 April 2020 - Jodie Keane
Originally published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) on 1 April 2020
27 April 2020 - Axel Addy
Trade ministers are playing an essential role in the pandemic response
21 April 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
A roundup of recent news on the global pandemic, covering issues facing some of the world’s poorest countries – and what they are doing
15 April 2020 - Duncan Maru Sabitri Sapkota
Originally published in World Economic Forum Agenda on 23 March 2020
9 April 2020 - Trudi Hartzenberg
Poverty, inequality and exclusion are key factors contributing to the devastating effects of COVID-19 on all African countries.
Originally published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 27 March 2020
What are international institutions pledging in the wake of the pandemic?
31 March 2020 - Anabel González
Originally published by Peterson Institute for International Economics on 27 March 2020
24 March 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
A compendium of recent news on the global pandemic and what some of the world’s poorest countries are doing
18 March 2020 - Simon J. Evenett
The right trade policies would help the world combat current pandemic