Regional Integration and Trade Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa

Leading economists in the area of trade policy and international economics from within and outside the region of SubSaharan Africa have collaborated on a very timely set of issues pertinent to Africa's place in and its impact on the world economy. This fourth volume draws upon the theoretical framework and detailed studies of both individual countries and regional schemes of the previous three books to present an analysis of Africa's prospects for economic development, regional integration and cooperation and its changing place in the world economy.The project found that, after over thirty years of experimentation, SubSaharan Africa's romance with regional integration remains unabated. Previous and existing regional integration efforts, however, have generally achieved little success. It is not immediately clear that country-level trade liberalization attempts (induced by various structural adjustment programmes - SAPs) are consistent with the various countries. The project attempted answers to these questions: - What drives regional integration in Africa? - How would recent changes in trade barriers and outward orientation affect such efforts? - What are the links between regional integration and trade liberalization in the African context? - How and to what extent would SAP-induced trade liberalization hinder or enhance regional integration in Africa? By bringing together many experienced researchers and their research centres, the project will help build a critical mass of literature.