Africa's trade potential
Links to information resources. A thematic resource compiled by the NAI library staff as a response to the 2023 assignment on migration, trade and development, from the Swedish government*.
Introduction
This thematic resource coincides with NAI Policy Note 2023:2, Unlocking Africa's trade potential: promises and pitfalls of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement by Jörgen Levin, Assem Abu Hatab, and Stephen Karingi (PDF version External link, opens in new window., Web version). The following introduction is from the policy note:
Africa’s countries have agreed to form the world's largest free trade area, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The purpose is to create a single market by eliminating trade and labour barriers. This is expected to increase trade both within Africa and with other regions. However, past trade reforms have not been very successful. Moreover, the effects of the AfCFTA may vary greatly from country to country due to differences in political will, capacity and economic structure. The key to making it work is to facilitate trade and reduce non-tariff trade barriers, while taking into account the diversified political and economic context.
The exports of manufactured goods from developing countries have increased rapidly over the last 30 years, due in part to falling tariffs, declining transport costs, increased specialisation, and sustained economic growth. This has benefited many developing countries, helping them to make the transition away from high dependency on commodity exports towards higher value-addition exports. However, this transition has been slow on the African continent. Moreover, the Continent’s share of global trade has fallen by 40 percent between 1970 and 2020. African countries are still at the lower end of global value chains. Exports to the rest of the world are dominated by low value-added commodities and 45 out of Africa’s 55 countries are classified as commodity-dependent, which has hardly changed since independence. Commodity dependency magnifies the region’s exposure to global commodity price shocks and causes economic instability, political instability, high illicit flows and low human development.
Given the right conditions, openness to trade offers opportunities for African countries to accelerate economic growth, diversify their export and reduce its commodity dependence. International trade enables African countries to specialize in sectors where they perform relatively well. Trade also offers an opportunity to be part of regional or global value chains, where economies of scale, new technologies and knowledge creation have long-lasting positive effects on economic development. Trade enables African countries to diversify their economies, to produce a wider range of goods and services and to provide productive employment and decent work. Productive employment at large scale is necessary for African countries to harness the demographic dividend given its fast growing youthful population. New employment opportunities combined with policies that address gender barriers provide an opportunity to narrow the gender income gap.
Selected publications
- Africa and Sustainable Global Value Chains
External link, opens in new window. / Frei, Regina, Ibrahim, Sherwat E, and Akenroye, Temidayo, 2022.
- Africa's Digital Future : From Theory to Action
External link, opens in new window. / Viviers, Wilma, Parry, Ali, and Jansen Van Rensburg, Susara J, 2021. [open access]
- Africa's Trade in Services and the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement
External link, opens in new window. / Cattaneo, Nicolette, 2020 [open access]
- The African Continental Free Trade Area : Economic and Distributional Effects
External link, opens in new window. / Maliszewska, Maryla, Ruta, Michele, and World Bank, 2020. [open access]
- African Economic Outlook
External link, opens in new window. / African Development Bank, 2010–. [open access] [country level information]
- African Statistical Yearbook
External link, opens in new window. / African Development Bank, 2009-. [open access] [ [country level information]
- Aid for Trade at a Glance
External link, opens in new window. / OECD, 2009-. [open access] [country level information]
- Commodity Politics : Contesting Responsibility in Cameroon
External link, opens in new window. / Sneyd, Adam, Hamann, Steffi, Enns, Charis, and Sneyd, Lauren Q Sneyd, 2022
- Fostering Trade in Africa : Trade Relations, Business Opportunities and Policy Instruments
External link, opens in new window. / Odularu, Gbadebo O. A., Hassan, Mena, and Babatunde, Musibau Adetunji, 2021.
- Governance, Conflict, and Natural Resources in Africa : Understanding the Role of Foreign Investment Actors
External link, opens in new window. / Besada, Hany, 2021.
- How Africa Trades
External link, opens in new window. / Luke, David, 2023. [open access]
- Industrialization in Sub-Saharan Africa Seizing Opportunities in Global Value Chains
External link, opens in new window. / Abreha, Kaleb G. et al, 2021. [open access]
- Regional Economic Outlook Sub-Saharan Africa
External link, opens in new window. / International Monetary Fund, 2004-. [open access] [country level information]
- Regional Integration, Trade and Industry in Africa
External link, opens in new window. / Asche, Helmut , 2021
- Trade and Investment in East Africa : Prospects, Challenges and Pathways to Sustainability
External link, opens in new window. / Demena, Binyam Afewerk, and Bergeijk, Peter A. G. Van, 2022.
NAI library resources
Links will bring you to our search tool AfricaLit Plus, where you can further tweak and filter your search.
Print titles are usually available for interlibrary loan within the Nordics, and quite a few titles are freely available online (try the open access filter).
Titles on trade, country-wise:
Algeria External link, opens in new window. | Angola
External link, opens in new window. | Benin
External link, opens in new window. | Botswana
External link, opens in new window. | Burkina Faso
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External link, opens in new window. | Cameroon
External link, opens in new window. | Cape Verde
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External link, opens in new window. | Comoros
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External link, opens in new window. | Congo DR
External link, opens in new window. | Côte d'Ivoire
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External link, opens in new window. | Equatorial Guinea
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External link, opens in new window. | Eswatini
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External link, opens in new window. | Gabon
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External link, opens in new window. | Libya
External link, opens in new window. | Madagascar
External link, opens in new window. | Malawi
External link, opens in new window. | Mali
External link, opens in new window. | Mauritania
External link, opens in new window. | Mauritius
External link, opens in new window. | Morocco
External link, opens in new window. | Mozambique
External link, opens in new window. | Namibia
External link, opens in new window. | Niger
External link, opens in new window. | Nigeria
External link, opens in new window. | Rwanda
External link, opens in new window. | Sao Tome and Principe
External link, opens in new window. | Senegal
External link, opens in new window. | Seychelles
External link, opens in new window. | Sierra Leone
External link, opens in new window. | Somalia
External link, opens in new window. | South Africa
External link, opens in new window. | South Sudan
External link, opens in new window. | Sudan
External link, opens in new window. | Tanzania
External link, opens in new window. | Togo
External link, opens in new window. | Tunisia
External link, opens in new window. | Uganda
External link, opens in new window. | Western Sahara
External link, opens in new window. | Zambia
External link, opens in new window. | Zanzibar
External link, opens in new window. | Zimbabwe
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Search the NAI library collection for:
- Titles on trade agreements or African Continental Free Trade Area
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- Titles on foreign investments or direct investments
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- Titles on trade and sustainable development
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- Titles on trade and economic development
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You may also want to search using these keywords:
Exports External link, opens in new window., Foreign investment
External link, opens in new window., Foreign trade
External link, opens in new window., Free trade
External link, opens in new window., Free trade areas
External link, opens in new window., Imports
External link, opens in new window., International economic relations
External link, opens in new window., International investment
External link, opens in new window., International trade
External link, opens in new window., Investment
External link, opens in new window., Trade agreements
External link, opens in new window., Trade liberalization
External link, opens in new window., Trade policy
External link, opens in new window., Transnational corporations
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Other online resources
Africa Trade Policy Programme
The programme is hosted by Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at London School of Economics. Resources and expertise on African trade policy, trade negotiations and trade policy formulation. Publications and a forthcoming Repository of African trade agreement
IDEAS database
"IDEAS is the largest bibliographic database dedicated to Economics and available freely on the Internet." Based on the RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) database.
International Trade Centre (ITC)
ITC is supporting the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing and transition economies. Country pages with statistics and publications. [country level information]
IREON-Portal
Service from the German Information Network for International Relations and Area Studies.
- Open access publications from 2020 - on trade or direct investments related to Africa
External link, opens in new window.
- Open access publications from 2020 - on trade, digitalization and e-commerce related to Africa
External link, opens in new window.
Trade and development - WTO
Section on trade and development on World Trade Organization (WTO) webpage.
Publications and reports on supporting development and building trade capacity
tralac
The Trade Law Centre NPC (tralac), an independent, capacity building think tank based in South Africa. Resources collections on regional trade organ treaty texts, regulations and publications are available after registration. Established in 2001, tralac is a non-profit organization, registered in South Africa.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Promotes the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy. [country level information]
World Trade Organization’s publications
WTO publications sorted by subject, among them trade and poverty reduction, Women and trade, supporting development and building trade capacity