Trade Outcomes in Africa’s Regional Economic Communities and Institutional Quality: Some Policy Prescriptions
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The global economic crisis of 2007/2008 that threatened the economic/financial fabrics of most countries
has brought again the essence of strong institutional quality to the fore. This is particularly interesting as
it impacted on trade outcomes in many countries including those in Africa. For instance, merchandize
exports as a percentage of GDP for SSA reduced by 17.9% in 2007. Thus, this paper examines the
effectiveness of RECs in Africa with respect to trade outcomes using some indicators, which was achieved
using data from African Development Indicators, inter alia (1996-2008). Analyzing the data with
descriptive and statistical techniques established, among others, that the respective indicators of trade
outcomes, institutional quality were rather low and differed markedly across RECs in Africa. The study
recommends that improvement of institutional quality in tandem with enhanced infrastructural facilities
will play crucial roles in promoting trade outcomes in Africa’s RECs.
Keywords
HF5601 Accounting