As the fourth industrial era evolves, the role of blockchain technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and machine learning in transforming national commerce cannot be overemphasized, especially with the expansion of e-commerce in Africa. In other words, technological advancement and innovation are becoming essential to many aspects of Nigerian businesses, thereby considerably enhancing trade and productivity. This book provides a primer on the role that digital technology may play in Nigeria’s trade flows, and the implications for enabling an economy-wide deployment of digitization in trade facilitation. This book analyzes the importance of STI’s contributions to the Nigerian economy, focusing on the transition to digital solutions and their potential to significantly increase trade and commerce. Since AfCFTA’s 2018 launch, academic and political responses to the automation of business have increased. Further, business promotion, aid-for-trade, regional integration and trade facilitation issues are at the forefront of business development policy and intellectual discourse in Nigeria. This book details Nigeria’s business opportunities, capacities and challenges with a special interest in sustainably enhancing the nation’s business ecosystem in the digital age. Through the examination of trade facilitation policies, programs, tools, models and technologies, this book demonstrates Nigeria’s need for strategic public-private partnership in digital trade to foster a more sustainable business future.

With the AfCFTA in force and several regional integration initiatives ongoing in Africa, effective implementation promises an economic growth and development trajectory that defi nes the ‘Africa we want’ as posited by the African policymakers within the context of the African Union’s ‘Agenda 2063’. This is more evident with emerging dynamics characterised by unprecedented shocks and fast-paced evolution in the digital space. The implications of these dynamics beckon a rethinking of the strategies for riding on and above the wave. This book delves into some of the policy intricacies and generates both insights on emerging shocks, digitalisation, intellectual property rights and raises interesting issues for further reflection. It is a great read that illuminates critical trade issues with important policy implications.

This book investigates how African countries respond to socioeconomic shocks, drawing out lessons to help to inform future policy and development efforts. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic affected all sectors of the economy, exposing substantial structural weaknesses and complexities in supply chains and logistics across the African continent. This book examines the disruptive impact of the pandemic across Africa. However, it also goes beyond the current crisis to investigate how socioeconomic pressures in general impact commodity prices, national budgeting processes, food, business, energy sectors, education, health, and sanitation. Overall, the book presents evidence-based solutions and policy recommendations to enable readers to improve resilience and responses to future crises. The insights provided by this book will be of interest to policymakers and development agencies, as well as to researchers of global development, politics, economics, business, and African studies.

One of the driving forces in catalyzing sustainable development interventions is systems accountability. This book tackles the notion of systems accountability in the context of enterprise and broader development planning, providing diversely institutionalized and applied implications for Africa. This compilation of innovatively selected chapters is not only relevant to contemporary corporate and public sector management, but also a timely guide on the role of digitalization in delivering real-time traceability by bridging gaps in confidence, data silos, distrust, shared credentials, and accountability. Understanding how to eliminate unnecessary layers of middlemen policy brokers and their rent seeking behaviors would provide further insights into how small enterprises and non-profit operate, their challenges or pitfalls, and how they can be improved to better manage the relevant systems.

The book presents a historical account of the colonial foundation of African economy and diplomacy. It reveals how the colonial companies and their agents penetrated different parts of Africa and entrenched Western colonialism and imperialism. Ironically, the arrival of these colonial companies became a driver of colonial labour migration as the educated and few privileged African people have to move towards the location of the colonial companies in order to eke-out improved standard of living. It presents the dynamics of import and export trade as promoted by the colonial companies. Consequently, the second part of the book raised the nature of relations amongst some independent African states. First, it reveals the deep-rooted challenge of poverty, migration problem, xenophobia in South Africa and resource conflicts within sovereign border areas of Nigeria and Cameroon as well as the Ethiopian dam crisis with Egypt, as some negative effects of colonialism on some African states. Secondly, it advocated for the advancement of African sports diplomacy, balancing of Chinese African trade diplomacy and improved labour migration within Africa as some paths to sustainable diplomacy in continent.

This book discusses trade relations and facilitation issues at both the regional and the continental African level, highlighting the increasing business opportunities and challenges that confront Africa in the digital age. It also examines the effects of trade policies and other policy instruments on Africa’s economic development and presents workable policy measures for a more business-friendly ecosystem. Discussing various topics, including trade relations between African countries, African and international trade agreements, and trade liberalization policies, the book appeals to scholars of economics, business and management as well as professionals and policymakers interested in fostering free trade and sustainable business development in Africa.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rapidly evolving COVID-19, increasing population growth, and exponential expansion in demand for agricultural commodities are putting pressure on available resources, thereby posing immense challenges to the region’s capacity to achieve nutritional security related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although Sub-Saharan Africa boasts vast, fertile and uncultivated arable lands, its capacity to contribute to feeding its current and future population is being seriously undermined by factors such as poor adoption and utilization of innovations and digital tools, climate change impact, environmental degradation, weak political will, limited interest in farming, lack of government support, and more. In spite of these constraints, sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa can be achieved by adopting a multi-pronged approach, which includes improved agricultural mechanization, adoption of high yielding crop varieties, use of information technology, public investments in improved technologies, and rural infrastructure funding. This edited volume provides innovative policy tools for enhancing Sub-Saharan Africa's capacity to achieve sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition security in the digital age and in the face of climate variability. Furthermore, this book presents smart strategies for increased agricultural production, reduced food waste, and enhanced nutritional outcomes by harnessing the latest discoveries in agricultural research, education and advisory services.