Does intra-Africa trade liberalisation create intra-Africa trade?

As part of tralac’s capacity building initiative, tralac held a week-long workshop from 25-29 June, known as a Geek Week, for researchers and trade policy analysts at the tralac offices. The focus of the Geek Week was to provide participants with the basic skills needed to analyse trade data for research, policy formulation and decision-making purposes.

The aim of the Geek Week was to determine whether intra-Africa trade liberalisation creates intra-Africa trade. The Geek Week focused on total intra-Africa and intra-REC trade; challenging participants to do an assessment of the trade regimes under which trade takes place – preferential trade vis-à-vis Most Favoured Nation (MFN) and the corresponding applicable tariff rate.

The analysis is of vital importance to determine whether intra-Africa trade liberalisation has led to meaningful preferential access and if the negotiated preferential access is utilised when trading intra-REC. This determination can inform the tariff negotiations process of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).