South Africa in Intra-African Trade: Key Trends and Perspectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 34-46
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Zanoskina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Trade Potential ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Trade Potentials ◽  
The Impact

The research is motivated by the extensive literature on the role of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in boosting intra-African trade. The main contribution of the research to the academic field is that the author comprehensively approaches the impact of the AfCFTA on a separate economy, whereas the majority of the papers on the issue has focused on general effects. We consider that South Africa holds an important position in regional trade and will significantly grow and diversify its exports to the rest of Africa, as tariff and non-tariff barriers are eventually relaxed or removed entirely. This study aims to estimate the trade potential for South Africa with the rest of the continent in the context of the upcoming AfCFTA. The research questions raised are: Are there any trade opportunities for South Africa in Africa? What are the potential markets in Africa which need policymakers’ attention as far as the African Continental Free Trade Area is concerned? The study evaluates trade potentials in two steps. First, existing trade flows between South Africa and its AfCFTA-partners are analyzed, and volume of exports and geographic distribution are surveyed. After that, indexes and trade indicators are computed to assess opportunities for South Africa’s exports in each country partner. The finding reveals that there are unexploited trade opportunities for South Africa on the continent. The four more effective options are Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco. Nevertheless, South Africa is more likely to pay attention to less remote countries with high trade complementarity. Among them, there are Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Togo, Senegal, Cape Verde and Burundi. So, when designing the national African Continental Free Trade Area strategy, as it is done, South Africa could prioritize the issue of those markets.

scholarly journals South Asian Free Trade Area and Indo-Pakistan Trade

2004 ◽  
Vol 43 (4II) ◽  
pp. 943-958
Author(s):  
Indra Nath Mukherji
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Liberalisation ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Common External Tariff ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Preferential Trading ◽  
The Impact

Preferential trading is one of the mildest forms of an integrative arrangement. Under the arrangement, the Contracting States (CS) offer a preferential margin with respect to trade barriers in relation to their MFN rates. CS having disparate levels of development as well as trade regimes, find this an acceptable instrument for initiating regional trade liberalisation. Such an arrangement nevertheless provides the building blocks towards accelerated regional trade liberalisation culminating in a free trade area within a defined time frame. Under a free trade area the CS eliminate all trade restrictions on their mutual trade, while maintaining restrictions in their trade with non-CS at a level they deem appropriate. When all CS decide on a common external tariff, then the arrangement translates itself in a more cohesive customs union. The arrangement translates to a common market when all CS agree not only to allow free movement of goods and services, but all the factors of production including capital and labour. Finally, the most comprehensive form of an integrative arrangement results from an economic union, which integrates national economic policies of CS and leads to the adoption of a common currency. The Agreement on South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA), which became operational since December 7th, 1995 thus, symbolises the beginnings of the very first stage of an integrative arrangement among the member countries of SAARC. The decision made at the Twelfth SAARC Summit at Islamabad in January 2004 to launch South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) from January 2006 would mark the second stage of the process of integration in the region. The main focus of this paper is to assess the impact of SAPTA on Indo-Pak trade.

Academic Research and Canadian Manufacturing Productivity since the Formation of NAFTA

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-158
Author(s):  
James Brox
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Variable Cost ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The North ◽  
Canadian Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing Productivity ◽  
The Impact

Does academic research have a positive impact on productivity? To examine this question, the paper focuses on national Canadian manufacturing data, using a variable-cost CES-translog cost system. Changes in the elasticities calculated from the estimation results allow the study of the impact of the free-trade agreements on Canadian production and the effects of academic R&D expenditures. The principal finding is that academic research expenditures have had a positive effect on Canadian manufacturing productivity and that this effect of R&D expenditures has become stronger since the formation of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA).

scholarly journals IS ACFTA A PROPER STRATEGY OF SUSTAINABLE POVERTY ALLEVIATION?: PROOF FROM THE DEPLETION OF SAVING RATE

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-102
Author(s):  
Bagus Arya Wirapati ◽  
Niken Astria Sakina Kusumawardhani
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Saving Rate ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Impact

The outcome of Regional Free Trade Area (R-FTA) still remains a conundrum. Regional free trade area (R-FTA) is one of the manifestations of the economy integration phenomenon. R-FTA brings many pros and cons to the economists. It allows better allocation of resources especially by eliminating tariffs, thus making people have higher purchasing power for goods. While the increase of purchasing power is good for growth engine and poverty alleviation progress, this paper proves that there is potency for the agreement to be detrimental in the long run.The main focus in this paper is the potential impact of ACFTA to the saving rate as the shock buffer for the poor in time of recessions and crises, where purchasing power decreases significantly. We view the ACFTA impact through the series of net import, defined as the difference between imports from export. We use Dynamic Panel Data (DPD) to estimate the impact of net import to the saving rate, assuming that there is a dynamic relationship between saving rate and its lagged value. The estimation result proves that there is a negative relationship between import and the saving per capita, which indicates the consumptive behavior of ASEAN people under high import. Moreover, the dynamic relationship shows that saving per capita is not persistent, meaning that the saving rate will be decreased gradually.Therefore, we can expect that in the long rung, the savings will be depleted into nothing if we keep letting the import flooded domestic market without imposing any pre-emptive and reactive policies. This paper provides a set of historical estimation of the potential impact of ACFTA on saving rate and its policy implication to endure the impact.JEL Classification Code: E38, F15Keywords: Free Trade, Poverty Alleviation, Saving Behavior

scholarly journals Does AFTA Create or Divert Trade?

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1850122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Cabalu ◽  
Cristina Alfonso
Keyword(s):  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Diversion ◽  
Trade Creation ◽  
Commodity Trade ◽  
Trade Patterns ◽  
Trade Data ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The Impact

In this article the changes in trade patterns introduced by the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) are examined. Variation in growth trends and the shift-and-share methodology are used to identify the impact of trade liberalization under AFTA on intra- and extra-regional commodity trade. Data at the commodity level are used and the results indicate that AFTA had trade creation effects, with little evidence of trade diversion.

scholarly journals The Impact Of ASEAN Free Trade Area On Intra-Asean Manufacturing Trade

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-643
Author(s):  
Colin Koh-King Wong ◽  
Venus Khim-Sen Liew ◽  
Mohammad Affendy Arip
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Set Covering ◽  
Trade Creation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Asean Member ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Manufacturing Trade ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates the effects of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement on the bilateral manufacturing trade between the 10 member countries of ASEAN and 39 of their trading partners. The period ofstudy covers 1995 to 2014. Results obtained from panel data analysis of the gravity model with random effectsshow that the economic sizes, populations, relative endowments, common language and geographical factors like distance, island, landlocked and neighbour are significant determinants of the bilateral manufacturing trade for ASEAN member countries. Moreover, results obtained from the fixed effects model in this study suggests that AFTA has generatedpure trade creation effects in terms of exports. Ontop of that, AFTA has resulted in larger magnitude of trade creation effects in imports than import diversion effects. Overall, AFTA promotes trades among ASEAN member countries through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, for bringing aboutpure trade creation effects in terms of exports as well as imports and also trade diversion effects in terms of imports. In sum, this study with more recent data set covering more ASEAN trading partners shows empirical evidence to justify the success of AFTA arrangement.

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