This book provides a thorough understanding of the key policy debates on international trade and investment for development with a focus on the East African Community (EAC) to strengthen Member States’ capacity to develop policies to promote their exports’ competitiveness and diversification. Beyond Member States’, the book serves as a base for a deeper understanding of the challenges, opportunities and requirements of the intra-continental trade agreement which is now in sight with the ratification of the Tripartite (EAC-COMESA-SADC) Free Trade Area that is critical in addressing key constraints to trade in the African continent. Moreover, the lessons from this edited volume may also extend to the challenges and opportunities of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The book brings together a comprehensive overview and an evidence-based analysis that can be considered best practice in the region. The trade and investment policy analysis of constraints and opportunities aims to improve trade and competitiveness and covers macro- (economy-wide), meso- (sectoral) and micro- (firm or household) levels. This multi-level approach is crucial for understanding how current trade and investment policies limit competitiveness and diversification in order to identify more tangible policy action for overcoming such constraints. The individual contributors follow comprehensive applied empirical approaches, and each chapter generates knowledge needed to identify key challenges and opportunities focusing on research-led policy-relevant approaches that enable readers to better understand national, bilateral, and multilateral cooperation as well as policies for sustainable development in East Africa. The contributors know the EAC context very well as their engagement in policymaking goes beyond the context of the papers they are writing about. The individual chapters were developed as part of a research and capacity building programme under the aegis of ACP and EU that we implemented in 2020-2022. The research project well fits into the Frontiers in African Business Research series as we have many African contributors. The contributions matter to policymakers and academic circles. For students, the book serves as an excellent guide for understanding international trade and investment theories and gaining up-to-date knowledge on developments in the world economy and their effects on developing countries and SDGs. Trade policy researchers and students will be able to extend theories and empirical data to address new and emerging topics beyond the settings already covered in the book.

This book revisits the perennial challenge that scholars, economists, and politicians have been grappling with since the 1960s. Development, in this book, has been defined in a context that projects it as a multidimensional and complex process which seeks to enhance the human, social, economic and cultural welfare of the people. This book calls for a rethinking of trade and industry for Africa's development. It uses data drawn from national development plans and strategies, and trade and industry issues have been prioritized at the continental level, in key policy documents. On the whole Africa's industry and trade performance have been poor in spite of national, regional, and continental plans. The contributors to this volume propose some alternative strategies and policies which are necessary for trade and industry to grow and to contribute to the well-being of Africa's people. It calls for a developmental trade and industry policy which, fundamentally, must be people-centred. African states should invest time, energy and resources to develop policies which will take into consideration African realities.The different contributors are aware that Africa has experienced strong economic growth in the recent past but this growth has largely been due to a strong demand for Africa's primary commodity exports. It has also been a result of increases in productivity and domestic investment and remittances from Africans living in the Diaspora. It is important to note that despite this unprecedented growth performance, the impact of trade and industry on development has been limited. The book argues that a structural transformation of Africa's economies is inevitable if Africa is to achieve the shift from the dominant paradigm of production and export of primary goods. The various contributors to this book agree that there is need to rethink policy and strategy in order to achieve industrial development in Africa. There is no unique solution or answer that can fit all situations as African countries are not the same. While Africa can draw lessons from other regions which have successfully industrialized, this book argues that policies and strategies will have to be adapted to country-specific situations and circumstances.

In the last ten years, while GATT and (later) WTO were actively advocating the doctrine of free trade, the world witnessed unprecedented formation of regional trading blocs. Focusing on the prospects and challenges of the free trade area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the question of regional trade integration, the book also combines in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis with leading edge discussion of institutional and policy issues from a variety of African economies. This text makes a timely contribution not only to our understanding of the prospects and challenges of regional trading arrangements in Africa but also to the paradigm of regional trade integration in developing countries. Systematically structured, with thematically linked chapters and rigorous referencing, it is an essential guide for an international audience of academics, researchers, students and practitioners in International Trade, International Economics, Development Finance and Development Economics.

This book explores the intricate activities and systems that underpin international trade and development in Africa. The relationship between trade and economic performance is analysed, with a particular emphasis on financial development, trade liberalization, and the welfare implications of FTA. A critical reflection of international trade and development in Africa is provided that highlights how institutions that govern the international trade system, largely found in the Global North, have enabled developed countries to benefit most from African trade. Emerging issues, such as FDI, the COVID-19 pandemic, the gendered nature of trade, remittances, and digital trade, are also discussed. This book aims to examine how Africa can play a more active role international trade and how the trade systems can be altered to help drive economic growth and development in Africa. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in development and African economics.

Post-colonial Africa is littered with regional trade agreements that amounted to little more than a photo opportunity for the leaders that signed them. This book explores conventional explanations for past failures and posits a new theory rooted in the symbiotic relationship between authoritarian politics and crony-capitalism.

Mshomba (economics, La Salle University) analyzes the role of international trade in Africa, focusing on four central issues: the trade policies of the sub-Saharan African countries; the impact of GATT and the WTO; the impact of GATT/WTO agreements; and the viability of regional economic integration as a strategy for trade and development. He combines rigorous theoretical analysis with an empirical approach that gives attention to experiences of individual countries and particular institutional settings. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR