Also attending the meeting were Djibouti's Minister of Commerce and Tourism, Mohamed Warsama Dirieh, Finland's WTO Ambassador Heidi Schroderus-Fox, who also chairs the EIF Steering Committee, Togo's WTO Ambassador and chair of the EIF Board, Kokou Yackoley Johnson, Djibouti's WTO Ambassador and Coordinator of the WTO LDC Group, Kadra Ahmed Hassan, and the EIF Executive Director Ratnakar Adhikari.

"Since 1994, over 1.5 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty," DG Okonjo-Iweala stressed. "Since its inception, the EIF has served as a consistent ally to the LDCs throughout this journey. Throughout the EIF Phase Two, despite the series of shocks the global economy has endured – LDCs have achieved significant milestones. Among these, three graduated from LDC status. The EIF has been working right alongside LDCs to help businesses in these countries connect to more markets across a wider basket of goods and services."

Mr Adhikari stated: “This year, we have gone a step further in our reporting to provide a snapshot of the EIF’s work across each LDC and recently graduated countries. These summaries effectively illustrate the extent and scale of the EIF’s work throughout Phase Two of the EIF."

Working in collaboration with national governments, the EIF facilitated the implementation of 175 projects in 48 countries. This collaborative approach has been instrumental in helping LDCs improve sustainable development and poverty alleviation prospects through trade. Through targeted initiatives to facilitate their integration into the global trading system, the EIF supported Afghanistan, Comoros, Liberia and Timor-Leste in acceding to the WTO. Projects funded by the EIF focusing on boosting regional integration have also helped 26 African countries engage in the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.

Over the covered period, capacity-building, trade mainstreaming and export-enhancement projects enabled over 300 market transactions, representing over USD 1 billion in LDC exports. In Togo, for example, efforts to strengthen the soybean value chain spurred a ten-fold production increase from 25,000 to 250,000 metric tons between 2015 and 2022, contributing to creating over 700,000 jobs. Another key focus of the EIF was environmental sustainability. In Vanuatu, the implementation of a new Electronic Single Window System reduced paper-based trade transactions by over 95 per cent, significantly cutting CO2 emissions.

To address the digital divide, the EIF supported over 140 solutions, including the launch of South Sudan's first online marketplace, enhancing digital capacity and market access for many, including women and youth. In Nepal, the EIF supported the drafting of a new e-commerce bill and the creation of a digital trade platform, leading to the registration of 387 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

Alongside these efforts, the "Empower Women, Power Trade Initiative" benefited over 170,000 women, representing an increase of the female workforce from 15 to 61 per cent,

A short animation providing an overview of the Report can be found here.

The "EIF Phase Two Report" is available here.

Further information about the EIF is available here.