Direction of International Trade of African Regional Economic Communities

Abstract

African countries and their regional economic communities are trying to achieve integration through free trade, creation of customs unions and organization of common markets. International trade is a means for acquisition of fixed assets, equipment, materials and processed goods that are critical to economic growth. In this regard, African countries and the institutions of their integration entities must work to expand the volume of total trade, as well as the trade flows between each other, using the means of trade liberalization. The paper analyses the dynamics of trade flows and the trends in trade patterns of African countries and regional economic communities with special focus on intraregional and intra-continental trade. The study presents the main import and export destinations both in continental and global terms thus outlining the trends in African countries’ and Regional economic communities’ direction of trade for the period 2003-2012 and trying to draw some conclusions on the realization of potential benefits of integration.