Signing of an agreement to start African Trade Observatory project in Seychelles
Article Published on August 3, 2021
The Seychelles government signed an agreement with the International Trade Centre (ITC) early in July 2021, with the objective of implementing
the African Trade Observatory (ATO) project in the island. The ATO, being a trade information portal that provides real-time trade data
for countries across the region, including Seychelles, facilitates intra-African trade and effectively helps in monitoring implementation of the
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Data made available through the ATO will include:
• Merchandise trade flows at the most detailed level including rates of utilisation of intra Africa tariff preferences;
• Customs duties (applied, preferential and bound rates);
• Rules of Origin of intra-regional preferential rates at the product level;
• Non-tariff measures (NTMs) including information on various market regulations;
• Trade remedies taken by countries;
• Internal taxes including VAT, excise tax and others;
• Commodity prices and exchange rate indicators;
• Company information, trade finance providers and mandatory domestic trade procedures;
• Trade-related performance indicators including growth rates, market shares, market concentrations and regional trade integration indexes.
For more information on the ATO, please consult the ITC website:https://www.intracen.org/African-Trade-Observatory/
