Telling the trade stories of least developed countries

Burundi is a landlocked East African country of some 13 million people, seated at the northeast corner of Lake Tanganyika, one of Africa’s Great Lakes. The country’s geography is dominated by mountains and plateaus, and it shares a border with Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Burundi’s location and moderate climate provide ideal conditions for growing tea and coffee, which account for 70% of its export revenue. Coffee is mainly grown in the central and northern regions, where volcanic soils and rainfall patterns promote excellent quality produce and high yields. The industry provides employment for as many as 800,000 small-scale growers.

Located in West Africa, Sierra Leone’s population of 8.8 million (2023) is very diverse, with 15 ethnic groups, each with its own language, and a common language, Krio – a combination of English and several local languages. Its main exports are diamonds (63%), cocoa and coffee. A 2024 World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook for Sierra Leone revealed the country’s 2023 poverty rate to be 25.3%. Since 2005, Sierra Leone has developed three Poverty Reduction Strategy documents and is currently implementing its Medium-Term National Development Plan 2024-2030. The EIF’s partnership with Sierra Leone began in 2009 following a 2006 Integrated Framework-supported Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS). This DTIS was conducted by the World Bank and aimed at prioritizing and sequencing policy reforms and other interventions for mainstreaming trade into national poverty reduction and development strategies. Despite considerable constraints, Sierra Leone achieved significant progress in a range of areas specified in that analysis, including legal and regulatory changes to advance the overall business climate and improved institutional capacity for the formulation and implementation of trade policies. A DTIS Update followed in 2013, which was also conducted by the World Bank. This built on the progress made through the initial DTIS and aimed to complement and assist in its full realization.

Kiribati is made up of 33 atolls, which occupy a vast area in the equatorial Pacific. With a population of approximately 123,000, Kiribati is one of the world’s smallest and most isolated countries, posing a number of economic and global trade integration challenges, including the lack of economies of scale and isolation from major markets. It also faces several developmental challenges that are further impacted by climate change and a lack of employment opportunities. Most of the atolls are very low-lying and at elevated risk from climate change-induced sea level rise.

The United Republic of Tanzania, with a population of 64 million, comprises the Tanzania mainland and the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago of islands located in the Indian Ocean. The country is a member of the East African Community and part of the Great Lakes Region. • The Enhanced Integrated Framework’s (EIF’s) partnership with the United Republic of Tanzania has worked towards trade diversification by enabling policies and strategies, institutional arrangements for Aid for Trade (AfT), and investment and enhanced value addition in sectors such as honey, seaweed, anchovies and horticulture. In the seaweed value chain, average productivity per unit acre has almost doubled as a result of using new deep-sea harvesting methods and equipment.

Since 2013, the year after Vanuatu's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) has invested approximately USD 6.5 million in Vanuatu to strengthen institutional capacity for trade, revive the tourism sector and enhance trade facilitation.

Since beginning its partnership with the Government of the Union of Comoros in 2011, the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) has provided around USD 7.4 million in funding – a significant proportion of the total average of USD 40 million in Aid for Trade (AfT) from various partners between 2008 and 2019. The EIF also contributed to increased AfT from other development partners, helping to finance 18 priority areas identified by the Government's Medium-Term Plan for Trade Integration for Comoros (2012-2015) and within the framework of the island's Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2010-2014 (DSRP). This was achieved through a multi-donor roundtable organized by the Government through the NIU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and with the support of France as the donor facilitator.

Since 2017, the EIF has focused on measures to support institutional capacity to integrate Mauritania into global trade. This has included improving coordination among agencies related to trade policy; mainstreaming trade into development strategies; implementing DTIS priorities; and strengthening dialogue and coordination between development partners through a National Trade Facilitation Committee. To deepen the economic reforms being undertaken by the Government of Mauritania, more than 780 public, private, and civil society officials were trained, with 68% of these being women.

The EIF programme has been supporting Uganda since 2009. The collaboration aims to realize the country’s trade policy vision and help Uganda better integrate into the global economy. Improved trade capacity and performance, fostered by in-country development programmes such as that of the EIF, have undoubtedly supported Uganda’s ongoing economic achievements.

In 2014 the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) kick-started a USD$1.5million Solomon Islands Tourism Inclusive Development Project to promote the sector and create economic opportunities for the country’s citizens.

To promote economic growth, EIF support to Liberia centred on tackling supply-side constraints to trade. The goal of enhancing trade was to reduce extreme poverty, estimated to exceed 80% in 2003. The EIF’s engagement also demonstrates its commitment to fostering partnerships that promote local ownership of Liberia’s development agenda. Initially, support focused on establishing strong institutional structures and strengthening capacity to develop policies and mainstream trade into national strategies.

Like many small island states, Vanuatu and its economy are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change. In March 2015, a category 5 tropical storm, known as Cyclone Pam, ripped through the archipelago, destroying 90 percent of the buildings—including the Port Vila seafront—and leaving dozens dead.