CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

In other cases, the respective government has developed an appropriate regulatory framework
enabling the sector’s success. This is the case for air transport services in Ethiopia and banking
services in Nigeria where the government has not provided direct support, but has ensured
both an open and competitive domestic environment as well as sound regulatory structures.
In the case of higher education services, the Government of Uganda has identified the sector as
a policy priority following its initial reform, but has not implemented any specific support
policies, putting the further growth of education services exports somewhat into question.
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5. For cases where government policy has actively supported services sector
development, services exports have grown impressively. Various types of proactive
policies have been shown to play a positive role in this regard.
For all sectors studied, when government policy proactively targeted services development
(whether it be through positive incentives including subsidies, training programmes, and tax
incentives; key trade policy decisions and engagement; or sectoral regulatory reform and
liberalisation), the sector in question grew substantially.
Exports of Senegalese BPO/ICT services were strongly facilitated by liberalisation and trade
commitments in the telecommunications sector in concert with other facilitating policies and
investment incentives. Likewise, the liberalisation of an “open skies” policy in the
Yamoussoukro Decision provided an impetus to develop Ethiopian air transport services and
also served to design a liberal and open regulatory framework. Similarly, regulatory reform,
accompanied by strong fiduciary principles and guidelines, created a sound financial
environment in which Nigerian banks could first consolidate their capital base and
subsequently expand to foreign operations. Targeted policy interventions and governmentsponsored
private-public partnerships for cultural activities have allowed cultural services to
continue to thrive in Burkina Faso. Reform and liberalisation of the Ugandan education sector
allowed the establishment of private universities and has enabled the country to attract
numerous foreign students, thereby stimulating higher education service exports.
The five case studies demonstrate that supportive government policies and/or an adequate
regulatory framework significantly impact the success of services exports.
6. Constraints and weaknesses of other service sectors threaten to inhibit expansion of
successful services exports in the cases studied.
The future expansion of successful service export sectors is threatened by the weaknesses of
complementary service sectors in the home market. In the case of Senegalese BPO/ICT services,
a weak education sector limits a sufficient supply of skilled human resources in the form of
trained engineers and computer specialists. Inefficiencies in the financial services sector
constrain EAL’s ability to raise capital and take out loans to expand the air transport services
sector. The lack of low-cost Internet in the Ugandan telecommunications sector severely
constrains further expansion of education services. Exports of Burkinabe cultural services are
negatively impacted by the small size and weak infrastructure of the tourism sector; it is
difficult to attract larger audiences to various cultural fairs and shows. Thus the entire services
environment and the viability and efficiency of related services sectors play a decisive role in
the export success and sustainability of each specific service sector examined.