James Stirling's 'Real Function

1990

More than half of sub-Saharan Africa's international trade is with the countries of the European Communities (EC). This link grows out of the economic size of the EC, its geographic proximity to Africa, and the historical ties between the two groups of countries. This paper discusses ...

2009

2019

Although international free trade is relatively a new practice, many forms of trade between different parts of the world have been in existence for a long time. The end of World War II, there had been improvements in relations among states. Thereby, creating interconnectedness among between states and this has caused upsurge in global trade liberalisation. These developments have made the exchange of goods and services among states easier than any point in modern history. As a result, many scholarly works have examined the importance of international trade and globalisation to countries across the world. This essay adds to the existing debate by exploring the four advantages and three disadvantages of international trade and globalisation to Africa. The essay is presented in four sections; the first part gives a brief historical account of international trade. The second section explores the benefits or the opportunities of international trade and globalisation to Africa, and the third section discusses the disadvantages of international trade to the continent. The final section suggests ways by which African countries to approach international trade and globalisation.

1993

This document has been prepared within the framework of the Trade and Transport component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Program (SSATP). The major objective of this project is to enhance the international competitiveness of Sub-Saharan economies through improved efficiency of their landtransport and maritime transport services, and through increased cooperation and regional economic integration. This document has been prepared by Mr. Carlos F. de Castro, AFTES, consultant. Messrs. Bernard Chatelin, Transport Economist, and Michel Audigé, Port Engineer, have contributed as reviewers under the leadership of Mr. Jean Doyen, Chief, AFTES. The document has been broadly circulated within the Bank in draft form and incorporates ideas and suggestions from professional staff within and outside the African Region. Mr. Lawrence Mastri did final editing, and Ms. Marie-Helene Trepy-Kelly prepared the document for publication.

2006

A weaker position for Africa in international trade… Africa's place in international trade declined sharply in the last two decades, particularly since the 1980s and the onset of the debt crisis, which led to deep economic recession. The continent's share of world trade declined from 7.6 percent in 1948 to 2.2 percent by 2003, a clear indication of its marginalization. If you take the figures for global exports, Africa's share has fallen from 7.3 percent to 2.4 percent over the same period. Clearly, reforms implemented during the second half of the 1980's bore fruits and were at the origin of international trade recovery. But this recovery showed its fragility in the 1990's with high volatility. The second major characteristic concerns the composition of traded goods, where Africa is caught in the revenue trap with agricultural and mine products represent 70 percent of total exports. Furthermore, exports of manufactured goods are concentrated in limited numbers of countries among which are North African countries, South Africa, and Mauritius. For imports, more than 70 percent of the total constitute manufactured goods. This structure of African foreign trade is very representative of the traditional North-South divide. It also signifies failure of the attempts to diversify and modernize African economic structures begun in the 1960's and 1970's. Indeed, the debt crisis put an end to African countries' efforts at industrial development and local transformation of cash products. Finally, African external trade is geographically concentrated in Western Europe. This geographical composition is connected to the composition of traded products by African countries, reproducing the traditional integration scheme with Africa exporting raw materials and agricultural products to European countries and in return importing manufactured goods from these countries. The import-substitution strategies adopted by African countries in the 1960's and 1970's were geared towards putting an end to this scheme by locally manufacturing goods that were in the past imported from colonial powers. The failure of these strategies and the explosion of the debt crisis led to the abandonment of import-substitution policies and the agro-export model. More recently, North America has increased its share of trade with Africa following the adoption of AGOA by the United States and preferential agreements by Canada in favour of African exports. Asia's share of trade with Africa is also growing rapidly. 1.3 When prices of primary commodities decline Africa has been subjected to trade shocks from the fall in prices of raw materials due to the domination of traditional integration arrangements in its external trade. For many years, prices had been characterized by a downward trend and strong volatility and many recent studies concur on the tendency of this structural decline of real prices of primary commodities 6. 8 World Bank and Economic Commission for Africa, Can Africa claim the 21 st Century? Washington, 2000. 9 UNCTAD, Economic development in Africa. Trade results and dependency with regard to primary commodities, Geneva 2003.

The current economic reality of Africa continues to adhere to a center-periphery model. However, there are currently new elements such as the recent arrival of investment from developing countries as well as the global powers' renewed interest in foodstuffs and minerals.The aforementioned seems to indicate that Africa is playing a greater and greater role in the process of globalization, although from a clearly disadvantaged position as a supplier of natural resources for outside economies, whether entrenched colonial superpowers (Europe), or new economic giants such as China or Brazil. This article aims to carry out an analysis of the evolution of the scope and competitiveness of African exports. As such, we will identify some of the features of Africa's marginal insertion into the global economy by analyzing commercial patterns between Africa and Europe, Asia, and Latin America, using interregional commerce as a point of reference. The methodology to be used is the Competitive Analysis of Nations, a method developed by the World Bank and the ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean).

Thunderbird International Business Review, 2012

2013

Africa is on the rise, and so is the heat around the continent. Researchers, business people, and journalists from around the world cherish the transformation that Africa has seemingly made during the last decade. The change in narrative regarding the continent has been dramatic, from the ‘hopeless continent,’ and a ‘scar on the conscience of the Western world,’ to the ‘hopeful,’ ‘rising,’ and ‘dynamic’ continent. Africa is no longer represented by the usual face of a suffering child, but rather by the smiling face of the new middle-class. The continent’s metamorphosis is undeniable and is likely to be enduring. According to IMF, in the upcoming five years, ten out of twenty of the fastest growing economies will be from Sub-Saharan Africa. Commodities sectors are booming, rapidly growing consumer markets are attracting new foreign investors, and returns on equity are among the world’s highest. Nevertheless, the African business landscape is still not a bed of roses. Political uncertainty, corruption, widespread red tape, weak governance, poor infrastructure, and low labour productivity all make investors wary of the current Africa frenzy. With many positive changes happening, across-the-board enthusiasm is rather misplaced. Africa is home to 56 states, an extremely heterogeneous population, GDP per capita ranging from 300 USD (Burundi) to 36,600 USD (Equatorial Guinea) and political systems ranging from authoritarian regimes (Sudan, Zimbabwe) to democracy (Ghana, Botswana). Therefore, whoever treats the African continent as a monolith, with growth embracing each and every part of it, is naïve or ignorant, or holds this view for a specific reason. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, it seeks to present and critically discuss major economic, political, and social development trends in Sub-Saharan Africa. Secondly, it is to examine an on-going shift in Africa’s international relations with the outside world where Europe’s clout is waning and South-South co-operation is on the rise. And, lastly, it seeks to better understand the business and political practices of developing countries in Africa, and thus provide food for thought to CEE, whose business presence on the continent has been alarmingly limited.