Trade Integration in the ECOWAS: Assessing Constraints and Opportunities Using an Augmented Gravity Model

We explore the effects of exporting manufactures, primary commodities, and food and agricultural products, and we examine the impact of importing capital and semi-capital goods, on structural transformation in a group of 21 sub-Saharan African countries that were covered by the inaugural African Transformation Report (ACET, 2014). The empirical results suggest that the import of capital and semi-capital goods can be a good predictor of structural transformation, while concentration ...

La Communauté économique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) est souvent présentée comme étant le système d’intégration régionale le plus dynamique du continent africain. Les Conférences des chefs d’Etat et de Gouvernement y sont régulières, les citoyens de la Communauté disposent d’un passeport commun et les discussions sur une monnaie unique sont à l’ordre du jour. Néanmoins, le modèle de la CEDEAO souffre de deux paradoxes majeurs. Les paradoxes africains Le premier pa ...

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) defines regional integration as a “multidimensional process which may take the form of coordination, cooperation, convergence and deep integration initiatives and whose scope extends not only to economic and trade issues, but to political, social, cultural and environmental ones as well.” As an organizing principle, the concept of regional integration has been around for some time in various config ...

Pour le n•165 - automne 2019, Politique Internationale a interviewé Karim El Aynaoui, président du Policy Center for the New South, au sujet de la zone de libre échange continental, pour le dossier spécial « développement: les voies africaines ». Il y répond notamment aux questions suivantes : en quels termes faut-il repenser le développement  de l’Afrique ? Comment l’approche marocaine se définit-elle ? la façade atlantique de l’Afrique et l’importance de ses échanges avec l’Améri ...

In this brief, we review the evidence on Morocco’s export concentration, discuss its causes, and then draw some policy implications. The main message is that Morocco needs to raise its game in some less familiar markets and move outside its comfort zone. This implies not only investments by private firms, greater efforts on export promotion by the government and professional associations, but also deeper changes within Morocco, including in its educational system. Over the past two ...

Africa is an economic region which holds great potential despite the risks associated with its development. Indeed, many experts agree that Africa is emerging as the new frontier for global growth. Boosted by its abundant natural resources, a young and vibrant population, strong urbanization, more stable macroeconomic conditions, more stringent economic policies, a constantly improving business climate and improving governance, Africa is on track for a structural transformation that ...

This policy brief (PB), prepared for the G-20 Working Group on Trade, aims to provide decision-makers with a succinct review of the state of the trading system, to point to likely scenarios, and to serve as a background to or reference for the other six PBs prepared by the T20 Task Force on Trade, Investment and Globalization. The brief argues that the world trading system has been remarkably successful in many respects but that the present strain reflects causes which are deep-seat ...

*The recommendations put forth below have been published, both print and online, in the Financial Times.  The leaders of the G20 will meet on 30 November and 1 December in Buenos Aires for their annual summit. They need to acknowledge that the last two years have been characterized by strong headwinds for the world economy. This time, however, it is not a mixture of poor macroeconomic policies and bad business decisions – as in 2008 when they met in Washington for their first summi ...

The Brazilian economy pays a price in terms of productivity foregone because of its lack of trade openness. A trade opening process would bring an adjustment impact that could nonetheless be mitigated with public policies that facilitate labor mobility and job migration. Benefits from trade opening would also hinge on policy improvements in complementary areas, such as infrastructure investments, business environment and others. The Brazilian economy would benefit from opening trad ...