Impact story

20 September 2024
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.
The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)'s support in Senegal focused on five key areas: better integration of trade into national development strategies; strengthening of institutional capacities in the public and private sectors; improvement of the business environment; development of agricultural value chains, mainly in the mango and cashew nut sectors; and development e-commerce capability.
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.
18 April 2024 - Kudzai Makombe Peter Donelan
South Sudan is pursuing regional, continental and international trade. Africa’s youngest country, with a population of just over 12 million people , is already a member of the EAC. With the support of the EIF and other Aid for Trade (AfT) development partners, it aims to become a member of the WTO and the AfCFTA. Oil revenues, which make up more than 90% of the country’s exports, have played an important part in the country’s progress since its independence from Sudan in 2011. However, the Government of South Sudan recognizes that this is not a sustainable option to lift the population out of poverty, internal conflict, and persistent humanitarian crises, all of which are compounded by vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. Agriculture employs 95% of the population – but only about 4% of South Sudan’s vast arable land is under cultivation due to insecurity.
12 December 2023 - Farai Samhungu Peter Donelan
With support from the EIF, Zambia intensified its trade growth and diversification efforts directed at different levels to achieve systemic improvements. These were: first, on strengthening linkages to both the private sector and the Government around key products, such as honey; second, on building the institutional capacity of the Government and trade-related organizations, mainstreaming trade in the country’s development framework, and improving the trade regulatory environment; and third, exploring new markets for Zambian products.
23 November 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Hang Tran
A journey that began in 2001 with Cambodia’s first EIF-supported Cambodia Trade Integration Study (CTIS) — as on the first three Integrated Framework DTIS pilot countries, alongside Madagascar and Mauritania — continues to date with the EIF’s partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia.
21 November 2023 - Natalia Patternot
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.
3 November 2023 - Farai Samhungu Paulin Zambelongo
The first Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) in 2003 identified a range of challenges facing the country, including lack of capacity in understanding and analysing international trade policies; low productive capacity in the agricultural sector; lack of standards in both the public and private sectors; and poor infrastructure in the processing, marketing and transport sectors. Three projects followed in the years between 2004 to 2008, focusing on trade negotiations, trade policy and statistics.
31 October 2023 - Farai Samhungu Hang Tran
Since 2004, the EIF and its predecessor, the Integrated Framework (IF), have worked with the Government of Lao PDR to build a comprehensive and efficient framework for AfT harmonization and coordination, resource mobilization, and trade and private sector development. The Diagnostic Trade Integrated Study (DTIS) in 2006, and its subsequent updates in 2012 and 2022, have been used as key instruments for prioritizing the country’s trade development and resource mobilization efforts.
26 September 2023 - Farai Samhungu Peter Donelan
The Kingdom of Lesotho is diversifying its economy from a heavy reliance on the textiles and clothing industry through the development of, and investment in, the untapped horticulture sector, particularly production of deciduous fruits on a commercial scale. 
21 September 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Paulin Zambelongo
The EIF supported Madagascar’s DTIS in 2003 as one of the first three Integrated Framework DTIS pilot countries, along with Cambodia and Mauritania.
29 August 2023 - Farai Samhungu Peter Donelan
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.
22 August 2023 - Kudzai Makombe
The EIF's efforts to support Angola through a pro-poor trade agenda crystallized moreover under a recent partnership between the Government of Angola and UNDP.
17 August 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Simon Hess
EIF support contributed significantly to policy reviews, alignment of legislation, development of consumer protection standards, and enhancing the capacity of sector stakeholders, including through recruitment of technical staff.
15 August 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Peter Donelan
The partnership between The Gambia and the EIF began with country-led evidence‑based research and analysis to identify its pro-poor trade priorities. The resulting policy-guiding document – the 2007 Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) – identified diversification and domestic production of goods and services in the areas of tourism, groundnuts and other agriculture products and fishing as sectors with the potential to spur sustainable development.
10 August 2023 - Farai Samhungu Peter Donelan
Since the start of the partnership between the Government of Ethiopia and the EIF and the establishment of the NIU, the EIF has supported Ethiopia in strengthening its institutional and productive capacity within trade-related sectors. These initiatives were targeted at addressing issues highlighted in the 2016 UN Conference on Trade and Development-led Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) Update.
3 August 2023 - Farai Samhungu Peter Donelan
The EIF support to Malawi began in 2012. The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), sought to use the EIF partnership to unlock Malawi's latent trade potential through targeted support in three strategic areas: i) strengthening the capacity of the MTI to develop trade policies and strategies and to participate more effectively in the World Trade Organization and regional trade agreements; ii) addressing challenges faced by smallholder farmers to trade; and iii) supporting the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) to better promote exports and investments for the agro-industry, including working with the World Bank in establishing the groundwork for an agro-processing special economic zone.
27 July 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Peter Donelan
EIF’s support to Somalia has been limited and has exclusively focused on the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by supporting capacity-building around skills to navigate the trade landscape.
25 July 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Hang Tran
The partnership between Bhutan and the EIF stretches back to 2009. Directly contributing to several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, the EIF facility was well aligned to work within the context of Bhutan's development philosophy. The EIF supported the development of Bhutan's trade agenda roadmap, improving policies supporting pro-poor trade and strengthening institutional coordination, including human capacity for trade and development. Beyond this, the EIF contributed to building the productive capacity of farmers SMEs and facilitated the country's ability to leverage additional funding through catalytic project support.
20 July 2023 - Kudzai Makombe Hang Tran
Tuvalu, a small set of islands in the Pacific Ocean, is having to work harder than most other least developed countries to find ways of improving the lives of its population. Trade for development provides an opportunity, but its size, insularity and remoteness constrain trade in terms of supply capacity, global and regional market access and trade competitiveness.
The Government of Benin established a partnership with the EIF in 2003, embarking on the development of a Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) and Action Matrix, along with evidence‑based and government-led analysis of constraints and opportunities for making trade work for economic prosperity and poverty reduction. The DTIS was completed in 2005, with an update ten years later. Together, the studies have provided a roadmap for progress toward the goal of supporting small businesses to trade and develop the kinds of jobs that improve lives and spur sustainable economic development.
9 May 2023 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
Since 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, with support from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), has been implementing the “Enhancing Capacity for Agriculture Trade” (ECAT) project across Solomon Islands. The Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and that of agriculture and livestock, are also involved.
Farming is a demanding sector, particularly for those seeking to compete in the global market. Many farmers in Zambia are unable to meet international standards and other requirements in importing countries that can help them implement good agricultural practices and stand out on the world stage.
1 November 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
Improving productivity from the artisanal subsector, which provides the raw material for the industrial processing plants, will increase the amount of product available. Higher standards and value addition will increase the export earnings, employment and income for Gambians, and raise the fishing sector’s share of GDP. Doing it in a climate-smart manner will ensure that this growth is sustainable.
4 October 2022 - Marie-France Boucher
The Enhanced Integrated Framework provided a €30,000 security to MECK-Moroni to shoulder the risk of the investment. This sort of blended finance is catalytic for aspiring business owners like Bihaicha. Blended finance is a way to use public funds to increase private investment in sustainable development.
Aware of the premium on value-added exports, the government of Burkina Faso between 2014 and 2018 partnered with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) to improve the drying and certification process of dried mangos for export. The project has been key to slowly but firmly pushing the country towards modernizing its agro-processing businesses – and juicing up its exports.
23 August 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
However, investment in tourism industry requires software to run, including high-end chefs to work hotel and restaurant kitchens. But top chefs able to serve world-class cuisine to discerning tourists have always been hard to come by, says Pierre Tami, who arrived in Cambodia as a diplomat in 1990.
16 August 2022
The tea makers eagerly await a specific aroma or, as they say, “for the teas to speak.” The machines are switched off as soon as the leaves emit that particular aroma. The rolled hunks of darker, chunkier leaves are then hauled to the drying machine. There, another dexterous worker awaits the leaves.
24 May 2022 - Marie-France Boucher
In 2015, Togo produced less than 25,000 tons of soybeans. Since then, production increased five-fold to more than 200,000 tons in 2021. How did this happen?
17 May 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
Public-private dialogues are reducing trade barriers – and saving poultry traders costly journeys to renew import permits.
19 April 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
There is strong evidence that cross-border markets have positively impacted livelihoods through enhanced incomes, including among youth and women. This has positively impacted Karongi District, including the economic welfare of the residents.
Isolated, Tuvalu turned to improving its internal trade. In October 2020 the Department of Business, with support from the Enhanced Integrated Framework, (EIF) launched the Tau Maketi (your market) initiative to help vulnerable small businesses play a more active role in Tuvalu’s domestic market and make up for diminished foreign demand.
22 March 2022 - Marie-France Boucher
Supporting farmers and agricultural cooperatives in a post-conflict context is not what funders of international aid often consider a safe bet. But turning swords into ploughs can pave a sustainable path out of conflict for communities, as results from a project supported by the Enhanced Integrated Framework in four districts of the country show.
15 March 2022 - Daniel K. Kalinaki
LDCs have traditionally relied on high-cost, low-impact means of showing off their goods by, for example, hiring booths at trade shows and expos. Ecommerce platforms allow them to exponentially grow the number of products they can show off to potential customers, simplify the selling process, reduce transactional costs, increase trade revenues, and boost economic growth.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a strong digital presence has, more than ever, become a key element for small businesses in the coffee sector to access new buyers and benefit from international markets.
14 December 2021 - Deanna Ramsay Marie-France Boucher
Yet the country is now Africa’s fourth largest pineapple exporter, and its trade of the fruit with the European Union (EU) increased by almost six times between 2000 and 2014, reaching between 400,000 and 500,000 tons a year. But in 2017 there was a major hitch when the government instituted a voluntary ban on exports to the EU because of high pesticide levels found in its fruit.
The saying one man's trash is another man's treasure has never been more apt for Tuvalu's first export. In June 2021, two shipping containers of crushed aluminium cans from Tuvalu headed towards South Korea. This marked a first in the country's commitment to the circular economy.
21 September 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Small businesses are receiving support to access much-needed finance
14 September 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
New project focusing on selected value chains from seaweed to honey in Tanzania.
7 September 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Support efforts include new tools, from the tangible to the abstract
6 July 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Resilience is necessary in the rice trade, developing it requires many About 80% of Cambodians are rural farmers, and rice is the country’s main crop. But, until the last decade or so, the sector had not been living up to its potential.
24 June 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
How strategic funding can help to ensure a global beauty industry creates local profit
25 May 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
More training, more links to buyers of rural arts means more income for women
11 February 2021
Originally published by International Trade Centre on 3rd February 2021
2 February 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
The quiet outside the nondescript warehouse belies what is happening inside. Machines whir, and halls and walls are piled high with filled sacks of sesame, of chickpeas, of mung beans.
19 January 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
A fresh style of training for agriculturalists addresses topics from creativity to financial literacy
5 January 2021 - Deanna Ramsay
Trainings in beekeeping and the provision of hives aims to create additional income sources for agriculturalists Beekeeping doesn’t come naturally, really. 
5 October 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Breaking ground with new ideas and new partnerships in two African countries
30 September 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Artisan handbag maker taking her enterprise forward, and receiving new financing
22 September 2020 - Dmitry Grozoubinski
Geneva Trade Week garnering inputs from far and wide
In honor of former Enhanced Integrated Framework National Coordinator in Mali
18 August 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
For a new business owner, one international trade fair got things rolling
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.
12 August 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
In 2017, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Commerce secured US$50 million from the World Bank to address trade facilitation and export diversification issues.
3 August 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
As LDCs grapple with ongoing economic fallout from COVID-19, EIF activities have yielded valuable insights for recovery.
29 July 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Recently launched ecommerce training program and portal will help hundreds of women entrepreneurs in South Asian LDCs become part of regional and global supply chains.
Country’s online trading system off to a timely start, as COVID’s physical distancing requirements disrupt manual systems
6 July 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Government and private sector worked together to create jobs in new ‘industry’
14 May 2020 - Deanna Ramsay
Finding new buyers and tapping new markets, harnessing agriculture’s potential
20 April 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Taking traditional African prints and making them modern, a female entrepreneur is aiming to go global – armed with the right business tools
6 April 2020 - Ailsa Nicol
What are some of the keys to success in getting businesses on board?
25 February 2020 - Deliby Chimbalu
To get international buyers, Malawi businesses tackling marketing and certifications
16 January 2020 - Michelle Kovacevic
Education key for an informed trade and policy future
3 December 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
Carefully calibrating its trade support and compliance to international standards, country is targeting more exports
18 November 2019 - Michelle Kovacevic
Opportunities and challenges abound for Zambia entrepreneurs eyeing new markets
14 October 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
From research to action, Uganda focusing on facilitation to spur economy and create jobs
25 September 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
The tiny West African country The Gambia is striving to export its crops globally.
16 September 2019 - Deanna Ramsay Michelle Kovacevic
Cooperative endeavor to enhance exports yields solid solutions
19 August 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
Government plus grassroots combo laying foundations for MSME success
5 August 2019 - Michelle Kovacevic
Making more and better ginger crops means more income
30 July 2019 - Deanna Ramsay
In Masaka, mobilizing and educating the small enterprises that need it most
10 July 2019 - Deliby Chimbalu
New buyers means employment opportunities and much much more
Skills strategies can provide a bridging mechanism to enable disadvantaged groups such as youth and women to gain from international trade.
Conquering a nut pollutant means lives and livelihoods saved in the process
9 April 2019 - Michelle Kovacevic
Bhutan’s potato ‘stock market’ goes online
Country is diversifying into soy, and farmers are seeing profits
Facilitating trade across borders means transparency, assistance and knowing what countries need
4 February 2019 - Michelle Kovacevic
Implementation is everything in aligning trade and agriculture in LDCs in Africa
6 November 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
Funding for traders, for government trade support and for infrastructure means resources at work in critical spaces in Rwanda
1 November 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
In Rwanda, new market centres mean improved trade at the border
29 October 2018 - Deliby Chimbalu
After help finding new markets, one man’s chili sauce empire is taking off
10 October 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
For an arid swath of Africa, a sap-like substance offers income possibilities for the poorest of the poor, along with environmental benefits
31 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
In The Gambia, family-owned cashew processors are primed for expansion
29 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
Island nation focusing on its unique, specialty plant life to kick start economic growth
27 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
Malawians are forging new markets for their agricultural exports, within and without Africa
18 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
When agriculture and trade align, change happens for incomes and economies
14 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
With cashew prices surging and armed with solid trade policy, the country is looking to boost its farmers and processors
13 August 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
In Comoros, an essential oils doyenne has plans for her country’s unique yields
31 July 2018 - Hang Tran Deanna Ramsay
Flock maintaining, brand strengthening, and market expanding: Nepal's pashmina producers are aiming high
11 April 2018 - Deanna Ramsay
Additional land to sow, targeted trainings, and market security mean higher incomes for smallholders
20 March 2018 - Simon Hess Deanna Ramsay
Women entrepreneurs are helping to restore island nation’s economy after the ravages of Cyclone Pam
29 January 2018 - Simon Hess Michelle Kovacevic
Recognising that traditional honey harvesting damages the forest, Zambia’s rural communities are using modern beekeeping practices that value trees and produce better quality honey. 
25 January 2018 - Simon Hess Michelle Kovacevic
You may not expect a graduate of an arts degree to say that a trade policy course was their favourite subject, but if you ask Zondwayo Duma from Zambia, that’s exactly what he’ll tell you
16 January 2018 - Michelle Kovacevic
The year is 2017 and Cambodia has stepped into a role that has been out of its reach for years — the voice of the 47 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the Word Trade Organization.
26 November 2017 - Annette Ssemuwemba
Aminata Dominique Diouf was seven years old when her father bought a small farm 15 minutes from the Senegal-Gambia border.
21 December 2016 - Justine Namara
A partnership in support of the harmonization of standards key to export competitiveness