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 External link, opens in new window. | Burundi External link, opens in new window. | Cameroon External link, opens in new window. | Cape Verde External link, opens in new window. | Central African Republic External link, opens in new window. | Chad External link, opens in new window. | Comoros External link, opens in new window. | Congo External link, opens in new window. | Congo DR External link, opens in new window. | Côte d'Ivoire External link, opens in new window. | Djibouti External link, opens in new window. | Egypt External link, opens in new window. | Equatorial Guinea External link, opens in new window. | Eritrea External link, opens in new window. | Eswatini External link, opens in new window. | Ethiopia External link, opens in new window. | Gabon External link, opens in new window. | Gambia External link, opens in new window. | Ghana External link, opens in new window. | Guinea External link, opens in new window. | Guinea-Bissau External link, opens in new window. | Kenya External link, opens in new window. | Lesotho External link, opens in new window. | Liberia 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 External link, opens in new window.

Search the NAI library collection for:

• Titles on trade agreements or African Continental Free Trade Area External link, opens in new window.
• Titles on foreign investments or direct investments External link, opens in new window.
• Titles on trade and sustainable development External link, opens in new window.
• Titles on trade and economic development External link, opens in new window.
  

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 External link, opens in new window..

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

• https://www.lse.ac.uk/africa/research/africa-trade-policy-programme External link, opens in new window.

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.

• https://ideas.repec.org/ External link, opens in new window.

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]

• https://intracen.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/africa External link, opens in new window.

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

• https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/publsubject_e.htm?pubsubject=CATTRADECAP External link, opens in new window.

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.

• https://www.tralac.org/resources/by-region/cfta.html External link, opens in new window.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Promotes the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy. [country level information]

• https://unctadstat.unctad.org/CountryProfile/en-GB/index.html External link, opens in new window.

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

• https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/publ_by_subject_e.htm External link, opens in new window.
  

* NAI shall contribute to increase the level of knowledge within the MFA and among other relevant public authorities in the areas of migration and trade respectively.