Burundi is a landlocked East African country of some 13 million people, seated at the northeast corner of Lake Tanganyika, one of Africa’s Great Lakes. The country’s geography is dominated by mountains and plateaus, and it shares a border with Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Burundi’s location and moderate climate provide ideal conditions for growing tea and coffee, which account for 70% of its export revenue. Coffee is mainly grown in the central and northern regions, where volcanic soils and rainfall patterns promote excellent quality produce and high yields. The industry provides employment for as many as 800,000 small-scale growers.

Located in West Africa, Sierra Leone’s population of 8.8 million (2023) is very diverse, with 15 ethnic groups, each with its own language, and a common language, Krio – a combination of English and several local languages. Its main exports are diamonds (63%), cocoa and coffee. A 2024 World Bank Macro Poverty Outlook for Sierra Leone revealed the country’s 2023 poverty rate to be 25.3%. Since 2005, Sierra Leone has developed three Poverty Reduction Strategy documents and is currently implementing its Medium-Term National Development Plan 2024-2030. The EIF’s partnership with Sierra Leone began in 2009 following a 2006 Integrated Framework-supported Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS). This DTIS was conducted by the World Bank and aimed at prioritizing and sequencing policy reforms and other interventions for mainstreaming trade into national poverty reduction and development strategies. Despite considerable constraints, Sierra Leone achieved significant progress in a range of areas specified in that analysis, including legal and regulatory changes to advance the overall business climate and improved institutional capacity for the formulation and implementation of trade policies. A DTIS Update followed in 2013, which was also conducted by the World Bank. This built on the progress made through the initial DTIS and aimed to complement and assist in its full realization.

Kiribati is made up of 33 atolls, which occupy a vast area in the equatorial Pacific. With a population of approximately 123,000, Kiribati is one of the world’s smallest and most isolated countries, posing a number of economic and global trade integration challenges, including the lack of economies of scale and isolation from major markets. It also faces several developmental challenges that are further impacted by climate change and a lack of employment opportunities. Most of the atolls are very low-lying and at elevated risk from climate change-induced sea level rise.

Niger is a landlocked country of some 26 million people, located in the heart of the Sahel. It is surrounded by Algeria and Libya to the north, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, and Burkina Faso and Mali to the west. This geographical position makes it vulnerable to instability in any of these countries, but also constitutes a strategic location to promote beneficial links between countries to the north and south. The EIF partnership with the Government of Niger began in 2005 with a Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) undertaken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The DTIS was adopted in 2010 by the Council of Ministers, following an extensive consultative process involving multiple stakeholders in government, development partners, the public and private sectors and civil society. The DTIS highlighted development priorities for Niger, particularly the need to integrate trade into the country’s development strategies and the regional and global trading system. The subsequent 2015 DTIS Update notes: "Niger's geographical position, landlocked and on the periphery of a region with multiple geopolitical and economic constraints, makes trade facilitation the key to the country's commercial integration - and beyond that, to its growth and development."

In 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, killing an estimated 300,000 people and devastating the capital, Port-au-Prince. This was the same year the EIF entered into a partnership with the country, providing support for a pre-Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (pre-DTIS). For the EIF, which is committed to supporting fragile and conflict-affected countries as part of its mandate, undertaking the Study at this time was a bold and necessary step. This sustainable support came at a time Haiti – already classified as one of the world’s most aid-dependent and fragile countries – needed an initiative like Aid for Trade (AfT) to stimulate the economy, generate jobs, increase incomes and build resilience.

Guinea-Bissau is a coastal West African country with a population of some 2.2 million people (2024) that is bordered by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east. Fishing, tourism and agriculture are the main drivers of the economy, with a high level of dependence on the cashew sector. This single crop is grown by some 69% of the country’s subsistence farmers, with 5% of the country’s land dedicated to cashew production. Cashew accounts for more than 90% of the country’s export earnings and 10% of government tax revenue. Guinea-Bissau imports most of its basic food, including rice, wheat flour and sugar, which are staples in the country. The EIF has been supporting Guinea-Bissau since 2010 with a goal of achieving four key milestones: 1) establishing government policies that boost trade and economic development and ensuring that trade is integrated into national development and poverty reduction strategies; 2) improving coordination of development partners’ activities; 3) increasing Aid for Trade (AfT); and 4) strengthening the country’s productive sectors and export capacities.

The environmental footprint of digital transformation could undermine efforts of containing global temperature rise to within 1.5°C by 2050. Just 35% of the population in least-developed countries used the internet in 2023, but LDCs are increasingly destinations of digitalization-related waste. Given the global volume of electronic waste, LDCs can support sustainable digital transformation through responsible e-waste management.