Regional free trade agreements promise to unify the continent's fragmented markets, writes Julians Amboko By and large, the world is caught in a phase of global economic transition: the possibility of the US and Europe exiting the zero-interest-rate terrain lurks in the horizon, despite seeming remote in the recent past; in China, the government is attempting to rebalance growth from over-reliance on exports as aggregate growth moderates toward the 6-to-7 percent band in 2015 (data from the statistical agency indicates growth in the second quarter stood at 6.9 percent) and in Japan, Abenomics is still firefighting further economic downturn. In Africa, economies are grappling with spillovers from adverse economic conditions in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, as well as a slump in commodity prices that has left countries exposed to elevated fiscal and foreign exchange pressures. In February, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, slashed capital expenditure to 8.9 percent of planned expenditure from 23.7 percent in 2014, while the tanking of copper prices has seen the Zambian Kwacha depreciate 96.7 percent year-over-year as of 28 October this year. This explains why African economies are increasingly reaching for more robust regional integration and trade, in a bid to put foam on the runway and cushion themselves from a volatile external environment. As far as regional integration within the East African Community goes, it is not the typical occurrence of rhetoric moving ahead of evidence. For instance, all that is needed in cross-border travel for citizens of Kenya, Uganda and...
As the world economy slumps, African countries embrace intra-regional trade
Posted on: November 23, 2015
Posted on: November 23, 2015