Projekt

International trade is now the very embodiment of the new order of the global economy, as it ensures the movement of goods and the factors involved in the production of these goods from one country to the other. Trade revenue forms a substantial component of total revenue to most governments in the developing world of which Africa is no exception. Despite Africa's enormous natural resources and trade potential, the region's contribution to world trade has been minimal in recent decades compared to countries like the US and China. This is the consequence of ineffective trade facilitation. A number of structural and institutional factors including poor customs administration and corruption among others have hindered an effective and efficient facilitation of trade, making Africa notably a very high cost trading zone. Notwithstanding the various benefits a continent or region may get from trade facilitation, empirical studies on its impact on trade and economic performance have been very rare in Africa. Considering this lacuna, this study attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between trade facilitation, international trade and economic performance in Africa. In particular the study attempts to achieve three broad objectives; (i) to find out the relationship between trade facilitation and trade performance in Africa, (ii) to estimate the impact of trade on economic growth in the presence of trade facilitation in Africa, and (iii) to provide a comparative analysis of trade facilitation at selected ports in Africa. With this aim, the project hopes to add to the existing literature on trade facilitation and help policy makers on how to proceed in the urgent task of trade facilitation in Africa.

• Prof. Dr. Mamadou Diawara

  Universität Frankfurt am Main
  Zentrum für interdisziplinäre
  Afrikaforschung (ZIAF)
  Campus Westend
  Frankfurt am Main
  

• Prof. Dr. Daniel Sakyi

  Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
  Technology
  Department of Economics
  Kumasi
  Ghana
  

• Effects of trade and FDI on economic growth in Africa: an empirical investigation

• The Effects of Trade and Trade Facilitation on Economic Growth in Africa