Ghana and other African countries seeking to reap benefits of South-South Trade must develop good strategies that would enable them to achieve industrial and economic growth.
Mr Tetteh Hormeku, Programme Officer of Third World Network (TWN), who made the call, said otherwise the dividend of trade would only inure to emerging economic powers such as China and India.
"We must participate in this forum with good and workable strategies that would make us not only exporters of raw materials but also seek ways to add value to the commodities," he said in comments on the Economic Development in Africa Report 2010 (EDAR 2010) released by UNCTAD.
The report examines recent trends in the economic relationships of Africa with other developing countries and the new forms of partnership animating those relationships.
It noted that Africa-South Cooperation had the potential to enhance Africa�s capacity to address its development challenges but full realisation of the benefits required gearing cooperation towards development of productive capacities in the region.
Mr Hormeku said while bilateral arrangements among countries in the south-south zone were not bad, an African-wide strategy would help foster
the economic development the region required.
He said instead of participating in trade and investment forum as individual countries with no coherent home grown strategy, it was necessary
to participate as a block and tap the productive capabilities.
Mr Gyekye Tanoh, Programme Officer, Political Economy TWN, said African countries must use the south-south platform to enhance technological transfer and avoid the dependence on export of primary commodities.
He said the south-south trade was already reflecting the existing pattern of trade between developed and developing countries.
Commodity exports in south-south trade rose to 84 per cent while manufacturing was 16 per cent.
The report revealed that trade, investment, and official flows were the three most significant dimensions of Africa�s partnership with developing countries.
There has been a significant increase in the importance of developing countries in Africa�s trade, with the share of non-African developing
countries in Africa�s extra-regional trade increasing from 19.6 per cent in 1995 to 32.5 per cent in 2008.
However, the trade is geographically concentrated and reinforcing commodity dependence, as Africa�s exports to other developing country regions are increasingly dominated by primary products, while imports are increasingly dominated by manufactures.
The EDAR 2010 urges African nations to take "Africa-South" trends into account in their planning for long-term economic progress.
It said these governments should be assertive when negotiating cooperation with other developing countries, so that domestic concerns were addressed.
A proactive approach by African governments and sharing of experiences with developing-country partners would accelerate mutual policy learning, which should enhance the effectiveness of interactions for all.