The African Free Trade Agreement: under which conditions will it succeed?

Despite the sustained growth in the bilateral trade observed at the beginning of the Century, Moroccan – Brazilian economic relations are still going through what could be called the ‘shallow’ phase of relations between two middle-income countries. Trade is concentrated in a few products – those where both countries enjoy long lasting and natural comparative advantages – and face strong difficulties to diversify in terms of products and to upgrade towards more complex models of lin ...

The new Trump administration is openly protectionist. The President called for “America First” and for “Buy American, Hire American” in his inaugural speech and his subsequent actions dispelled any remaining doubt that he meant what he said during the election campaign. As promised, he has withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement among twelve countries across three continents that took nearly 10 years to negotiate. He has threatened American companies that invest a ...

An analysis of trade relations between Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa indicates a growing volume of trade, reflecting a continuation of stimulated trade relations. A similar trend is observed in foreign direct investment (FDI), which has continued to grow in recent years, reflecting Morocco's determination to become a major player in the development of the African continent. This Policy Brief first presents trends in inter-regional trade between Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa, focus ...

This year, under the patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the OCP Policy Center (OCPPC) - in collaboration with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS) - hosted and organized the fifth Atlantic Dialogues, gathering over 300 high-level international public- and private-sector leaders from the Atlantic Basin to discuss cross-regional issues ranging from economic and social development, security and trade, to migration, resources, and energy. This year’s event, loca ...

Regional economic integration across the world accelerates growth and development by bringing a wide array of benefits associated with enhanced political cooperation, increased intra-regional trade, and job creation. Regions that are more integrated have proven to grow faster and have shown greater resilience in times of global economic downturns. As the world economy struggles to return to the high growth levels of a decade ago, stimulating internal and regional growth has become t ...

Partout dans le monde, l'intégration économique régionale permet d'accélérer la croissance et le développement en apportant une panoplie d'avantages liés à une meilleure coopération politique, à un commerce intra-régional accru et à la création d'emplois. Les régions qui sont plus intégrées se sont révélées capables de connaître une croissance plus rapide et ont fait preuve d'une plus grande capacité d'adaptation en période de ralentissement de l'économie mondiale. Alors que l'écono ...

Trade integration is a prerequisite for the success of any economic integration project. The factors hindering trade integration therefore constitute a bottleneck to the economic integration project of the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is an effective means of coping with the substantial expansion of sub-regional food demand. The aim of this paper is to highlight the factors that constrain trade flows and increase the cost of trade in the ...

En un tiers de siècle, la Chine, pays en développement, est devenue une économie émergente, puis une puissance économique mondiale. Il s’agit là du principal évènement économique du début du XXIe siècle. Cet évènement interpelle le Maroc, le Maghreb, l’Afrique et l’espace sudméditerranéen, parce qu’il est porteur d’un second dépassement historique, provenant, cette fois, non pas de l’Occident, mais de la Chine lointaine pourtant tellement présente dans notre quotidien. Répondre à c ...

The government of Argentina’s new president, Mauricio Macri, has many challenges ahead. In the initial 10 months of his government, he has devalued the currency, lifted significant trade and capital barriers, and launched conversations with international investors and creditors, and has changed international perceptions toward Argentina. Macri’s election immediately generated a positive reaction from the private sector toward the new government. However, indicators for 2016 show a w ...