African agricultural trade: Recent and the future
2017
Jensen, Hans Grinsted | Sandrey, Ron
This article starts with a profile of African agricultural trade. Using the pre-release version 9.2 ofthe GTAP database, we then show that the results for tariff elimination on intra-African trade arepromising, but these tariff barriers are not as significant as the various trade-related barriersoutside of tariffs. Impressive results were forecast by simulating both a 50% reduction in what canbe considered traditional non-tariff barriers and a modest 20% reduction in the costs associatedwith transit time delays at customs, terminals and internal land transportation. Gains from tariffelimination, non-tariff barrier reductions and time in transit cost reductions are likely to becumulative and would generate very large gains to Africa. The policy implications are clear: whilecooperation will enhance the gains, much of the benefits will result from unilateral actions andregional cooperation that does not need the long and drawn-out processes associated with FTAnegotiations.
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