Regional Trade and Economic Growth in West Africa

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VII, July 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Regional Trade and Economic Growth in West Africa

Ugochukwu Samuel Osisioma
Department of History and Strategic Studies, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike-Ikwo Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract: – This study examines the potential of regional trade in facilitating the achievement of inclusive development in the West African region. It employs straightforward analysis to examine the nature, composition and dimension of ECOWAS trade within the group and with the rest of the world, vis-à-vis three other Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the preliminary study, it can be observed that the growth rate of West African economies is increasing, but the rising economic growth does not translate to improvement in inclusive development, as there was no significant reduction in poverty levels in the region. Further evidence reveals that extra-regional trade of the region is increasing at a very high rate, and also at a disproportionate rate with intra-regional trade, compared with SADC. This indicates the existence of opportunity to boost regional trade for inclusive development through conversion of part of the extra-regional trade into regional trade. However, the study further finds that the region’s exports is dominated by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, and imports dominated by machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods and chemicals, which implies that skilled technical manpower in the manufacturing sector must be available to effectively exploit the opportunity of trade for inclusive development in the region. Thus, the study concludes that, with the shortage of skilled technical manpower to boost the manufacturing sector in the region, achieving inclusive development in West Africa through regional trade might be difficult. It however recommends that West African countries should intensify investment in human capital development and re-invigorate their commitment towards regional industrial policy to foster higher regional trade and enhance inclusive development in the region

Keywords: Trade: Economy: Growth: Agenda: Region: Integration: Border

I. INTRODUCTION

The benefits of regional economic integration cannot be over-emphasized. These include the opportunities to reap trade efficiency gains, exploit economies of scale, and reduce the thickness of borders (De Melo and Tsikata, 2014). Regional economic integration is an agreement among countries in a geographic region to reduce tariffs and non-tariffs barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production among each other. It is encouraged by the structural, economic and geographical heterogeneity of the countries in the region, with disparities varying from countries with low to medium income distribution, to landlocked, coastal, and island countries. It also offers possibilities to leverage and extend economic comparative advantage at regional level in ways not accessible through national programmes (Mbekeani, 2013).

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