This Report was prepared by Stephen Z. Onyeiwu (Andrew Wells Robertson Professor of Economics,Allegheny College, Pennsylvania) and Patrick N. Osakwe (Chief, Trade and Poverty Branch, UNCTAD)under the overall guidance of Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries andSpecial Programmes, UNCTAD. The Report is one of the policy-research papers prepared under the 12thTranche United Nations Development Account Project on “Coherent strategies for productive capacitydevelopment in African least developed countries.” The authors are grateful for comments and usefulinsights provided by Jonas Munyurangabo (Director-General of Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, Ministryof Trade and Industry, Rwanda) and Margareth Warioba (Senior Trade Officer, Ministry of Industry andTrade, Tanzania). The authors also acknowledge useful comments provided by Habiba Ben Barka (Chief,Africa Section, UNCTAD).