Editorial: Welcome to Bridges Africa!

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18 April 2012

Editorial: Welcome to Bridges Africa!

18 April 2012

The Bridges Africa team welcomes you to its new pan-Africa focussed periodical. Bridges Africa delivers a unique, non-partisan monthly review of the main issues surrounding Africa's international trade and sustainable development. Our news and opinion pieces provide analysis at the forefront of the...

Exclusive interview “Future of African trade” by K.Y. AMOAKO

18 April 2012

Biography : K.Y. Amoako is President and founder of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), a policy research and advisory institution based in Ghana focused on working with African governments to deliver long-term economic growth. He is also a board member of ICTSD. Previously he...

Africa and the WTO after Doha

18 April 2012

Vinaye Ancharaz

Other than welcoming Russia, Montenegro, Samoa and Vanuatu to the club and besides a few inconsequential decisions, the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva last December ended in the same despair that has now become characteristic of the Doha Round. This paper examines the implications of a...

The moment of truth for the WTO: Determining the direction of multilateral trade

18 April 2012

Cheikh Tidiane Dieye

The Doha Development Programme is still at a standstill after ten years of negotiations. This was the conclusion drawn by the participants of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva. However, this did not come as a surprise, since the conclusion of the conference was, if not desired, at least...

Reinforcing the consistency of commercial policies in West Africa

18 April 2012

Jean-Pierre Rolland, Arlène Alpha

The inconsistencies of trade policy in West Africa occur on two levels: the community level, between public and trade policies in the region, and the international level. Improving the coherence of trade policy is essential both for the region’s economic development and its growing role in global...

Africa’s preferential trade agreement and the WTO: Yin and Yang

18 April 2012

Peter Draper

The article focuses on the benefits of pursuing a “multilateralizing regionalism” approach that could allow the region to tap the potential arising from global value chain shifts in the medium run. The existence of a healthy multilateral trade regime is crucial to resolving an array of future trade...

Together we stand: Leveraging synergies between African exporters

18 April 2012

Olivier Cadot, Leonardo Iacovone, Denisse Pierola, Ferdinand Rauch

Increasing the amount of national competitors selling the same product to the same destination has the potential to raise export survival probabilities argue the authors of this article. Recent research suggests that African exporters suffer high "infant mortality" (rapid interruption of newly-...

A European trade paradigm for African trade

18 April 2012

Paul Collier

Paul Collier, professor of economics and director of the Centre for the Study of African Economics at Oxford University, critically looks at the current LDC versus non-LDC distinctions between African countries. According to him, creating more appropriate criteria based on a manufacturing exports...

De-Fragmenting Africa: Delivering benefits from regional trade integration to ordinary traders

18 April 2012

Paul Brenton, Gözde Isik

A report released by the World Bank earlier this year says that high trade barriers with neighboring countries are costing African nations billions of dollars of potential earnings and depriving the continent of new sources of economic growth. The authors of the report analyze in this article the...

Regional News

18 April 2012

The negotiations on EPAs between the EU and the five African regions have made no progress since the beginning of 2012. Despite the EU's firm determination to reach agreements, the various African States and regional communities are playing it safe. Although modest progress has been made for some...

Global News

18 April 2012

WTO Meeting Highlights Aid for Trade's Role to Support Green Economy "Aid for Trade contributes to sustainable development, though much more needs to be done to make green growth a reality," concluded Anthony Mothae Maruping, Ambassador from Lesotho and Chair of the World Trade Organization (WTO)...

Publications and Resources

18 April 2012

De-fragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Integration in Goods and Services - World Bank - February 2012 This World Bank report shows how African countries are currently losing out on billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year because of high trade barriers with neighbouring...