The vast majority of African countries are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Only Algeria, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Comoros

Intra-African trade records often underreport trade, partly because of a lack of adequate statistics and partly because of high levels of smuggling

The African Mining Vision also argues for government recognition of artisanal and small-scale mining through policy and regulation and formalization of the sector.

In a continent with high unemployment, where most of the 705 million economically active people are employed in the informal sector