Competition Policy Trade And Development In The Common Market For Eastern And Southern Africa Comesa

In the last ten years, while GATT and (later) WTO were actively advocating the doctrine of free trade, the world witnessed unprecedented formation of regional trading blocs. Focusing on the prospects and challenges of the free trade area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the question of regional trade integration, the book also combines in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis with leading edge discussion of institutional and policy issues from a variety of African economies. This text makes a timely contribution not only to our understanding of the prospects and challenges of regional trading arrangements in Africa but also to the paradigm of regional trade integration in developing countries. Systematically structured, with thematically linked chapters and rigorous referencing, it is an essential guide for an international audience of academics, researchers, students and practitioners in International Trade, International Economics, Development Finance and Development Economics.

This is a book on market law and policy in sub-Saharan Africa. It shows how markets can be harnessed by poorer and developing economies to help make the markets work for them: to help them integrate into the world economy and raise the standard of living for their people while preserving their values of inclusive development. It studies particular countries and particular regions, delving deeply into the facts.

This important new book deals with the formation and regulation of regional trade agreements in the context of the WTO legal regime and Eastern and Southern African countries, specifically those nations that make up the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Despite a poor track record, regional integration has for a long time been, and remains, the preferred path to economic development and poverty alleviation among developing countries in Africa. Regional integration undoubtedly holds great promise for developing nations in Africa. Many African countries stand to gain from pooling their meager resources and thus being able to participate more meaningfully in the international arena. However, the rhetoric surrounding integration has not been matched by actions and the record of trade liberalization has been weak. Substantive action appears to be taking a back seat to formal statements and declarations. This book consequently addresses four related critical issues: (1) compliance with rules and regime design, (2) the relationship between regionalism and multilateralism, (3) the legal regime created by Article XXIV and the Enabling Clause of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and (4) the COMESA legal regime. Product highlights Provides readers with expert perspective on regional trade agreements, an area of growing concern to practitioners, academics, and government officials. Will squarely address a current lack of actionable analysis, applying an international relations perspective to the analysis of regional trade integration.

Regional integration has been seen in Africa as a means of encouraging trade and securing economies of scale. This paper examines in detail the prospects and challenges for trade expansion in the two most prominent arrangements in eastern and southern Africa: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It finds that possibilities of growth in intraregional trade may be limited, but that the two arrangements offer opportunities for member countries to gain policy credibility for trade reforms and tariff liberalization and to address structural weaknesses. In this regard, the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union can also have a significant impact.