West Africa: Economic sectors to benefit most from the AfCFTA

0

For historic reasons, bilateral and regional trade in Africa has been hampered by trade routes designed for export away from the continent rather than for facilitating intra-Africa trade. Obstacles include long distances, inadequate transport services, and inefficient institutional and transit regimes.

In many landlocked African countries, economic centres are located several hundred kilometres away from the closest seaport. Overcoming geographic constraints or the lack of economies of scale caused by small transportation volumes is key for all countries, particularly transit countries. A renewed focus on the efficiency of transport and logistics services is long overdue, given that many countries retain policies that favour closed, small, and inefficient services markets.

By committing to no new barriers to services trade during the progressive liberalization process, at least in the five priority sectors—business, communication, financial, transport, and tourism services, and with declining trade costs—the transport sector is bound to expand.

Subscribe to unlock this article

Login to read this article for free and get 3 free premium articles. Subscribe today for unlimited premium articles and more.

Digital Subscription – Monthly

Monthly renewing
You can cancel anytime.

$5 /Monthly

Digital Subscription – Annually

Monthly renewing
You can cancel anytime.

$40 /Annually

We hope you enjoyed your last Free Premium Article

Support Quality African Journalism and subscribe for less than $4.00 per month for unlimited access.

ACCESS YOUR
INSIGHT
INTO AFRICA

We hope you enjoyed your third Free Premium Article

Support Quality African Journalism and subscribe for less than $4.00 per month for unlimited access.

3 OUT OF 3
FREE ARTICLES FOR THIS MONTH

We hope you enjoyed your second Free Premium Article

Support Quality African Journalism and subscribe for less than $4.00 per month for unlimited access.

2 OUT OF 3
FREE ARTICLES FOR THIS MONTH

We hope you enjoyed your first Free Premium Article

Support Quality African Journalism and subscribe for less than $4.00 per month for unlimited access.

1 OUT OF 3
FREE ARTICLES FOR THIS MONTH