Africa’s Trade in Services and Economic Partnership Agreements

Trade can play a crucial role in the development of services sectors in Africa. Services offer new dynamic opportunities for exports, especially for land-locked countries, while opening up to imports of services and foreign direct investment is a k...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	World Bank
Format:	Foreign Trade, FDI, and Capital Flows Study
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank 2012
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING AGRICULTURE ASSETS AUCTION BANKS BARRIER BASIC SERVICES BILATERAL TRADE BROKERAGE BUSINESS CLIMATE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS SERVICES CAPACITY BUILDING COMMODITIES COMMON MARKET COMMUNICATION SERVICES COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES COMPETITION POLICIES COMPETITION POLICY COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT COMPETITIVE MARKET COMPETITIVENESS CONNECTIVITY CONSUMERS CURRENCY CUSTOMS UNION DEREGULATION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DOMESTIC ECONOMY DOMESTIC MARKET DOMESTIC MARKETS ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELECTRONIC MONEY ENGINEERING SERVICES ENGINEERS EXPORT SECTORS EXPORTS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOREIGN BANKS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOREIGN INVESTORS FOREIGN TRADE FORMAL ECONOMY FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT GDP GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES GLOBAL MARKET GLOBAL MARKETS GLOBALIZATION GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH RATES HUMAN CAPITAL ICT INCOME INCOME GROUPS INCOMES INDUSTRIALIZATION INFORMATION ASYMMETRIES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INSURANCE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTEREST RATE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVESTMENT CLIMATE LABOR MARKET LAWS LAWYERS LDCS LEARNING LOBBYING LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MARKET ACCESS MARKET FAILURES MERGERS MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES MOBILE BANKING MOBILE PHONES MONEY LAUNDERING MONOPOLY MULTILATERAL TRADE MULTINATIONAL NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NATURAL MONOPOLIES NETWORK SERVICES OUTPUT OUTPUTS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS POLITICAL LEADERS POLLUTION POTENTIAL INVESTORS POWER OUTAGES PREFERENTIAL PREFERENTIAL ACCESS PRIVATE INVESTMENT PRIVATIZATION PROCUREMENT PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PROFIT MARGINS PROPERTY RIGHT PUBLIC GOODS PUBLIC POLICY REAL GDP REGIONAL INTEGRATION REGIONAL TRADE REGULATOR REGULATORS REGULATORY AGENCIES REGULATORY BODIES REGULATORY CAPTURE REGULATORY CONSTRAINT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS REGULATORY OVERSIGHT REGULATORY REFORM REGULATORY REGIME REGULATORY REGIMES REGULATORY TREATMENT SATELLITES SAVINGS SERVICE DELIVERY TAX TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES TELEMEDICINE TELEPHONE DENSITY TELEPHONES TELEPHONY TERRORISM TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRADE POLICIES TRADE POLICY TRADE REFORMS TRADE RELATIONS TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP TRANSPARENCY UNDERSEA CABLES UNDUE INFLUENCE VALUE ADDED WORLD MARKETS WORLD TRADE WTO
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333037_20101124020601 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2942

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Summary:	Trade can play a crucial role in the development of services sectors in Africa. Services offer new dynamic opportunities for exports, especially for land-locked countries, while opening up to imports of services and foreign direct investment is a key mechanism to increase competition and drive greater efficiency in the provision of services in the domestic economy. Lower prices, higher quality and wider access to services raises productivity improves competitiveness and is critical for poverty reduction. But trade opening may need to be coordinated with regulatory reforms, to ensure efficient outcomes, while additional policies may be required to ensure that public policy objectives regarding equity are achieved. This places emphasis on the capacity to define and implement sound regulatory policies for services sectors, capacity that is limited in many African countries. Regulatory and trade reforms in Africa need to be supported with technical and financial assistance. Such assistance should be available to all African countries that wish to reform their services sectors, whether they negotiate and sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) or not. An independently managed fund for services trade reform in Africa, organized around common priority sectors, that would allocate resources to support implementation of reforms and consultants according to expertise, not nationality, will be the most appropriate vehicle for providing technical assistance and building capacity.

Africa’s Trade in Services and Economic Partnership Agreements

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