West African countries have been working for many years to develop and implement harmonized trade rules for crop inputs. While much remains to be done, new regional regulations for seed and…

John Keyser |

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is making some real progress in regional integration. After decade-long negotiations, it has just launched its own Common External Tariff (…

Erik von Uexkull, Antoine Coste |

Also available in: Français│ Español I recently returned from a trip to West Africa during which I crossed the Benin-Nigeria border by car at the Seme border post. While waiting for our passports…

Cecile Fruman |

The recent acceleration in growth rates across much of sub-Saharan Africa may not be purely commodity-driven, but for many of the region’s economies macro-economic stability is still dependent on…

Ken Opalo |

Trade issues can seem quite complex. Sometimes it's nice to boil concepts down to simpler terms-- terms more familiar, more beloved by many of us. So, let's talk futbol. The latest…

Miles McKenna |

The Nigerien city of Gaya is booming. Sitting on the banks of the Niger River not far from the borders of Benin and Nigeria,  Gaya has grown from a quiet village to a hopping new hub. Its…

Anasuya Raj, Jean-François Arvis |

Part of the World Bank’s new vision is to step up its efforts to help fragile and conflict-afflicted states break the vicious cycle of poverty. But this is no easy task.   The destruction of…

Massimiliano Calì |

If you follow trade negotiations, then you know there are few more contentious than those for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).  …

Miles McKenna, Ian Gillson |

Editor's Note: This blog draws on the forthcoming article “New Trade Regionalism in Asia: Looking Past the Sino-American Great Game, " written by Swarnim Wagle, to be published in the …

Swarnim Wagle, Miles McKenna |

Many countries use trade policy to protect their own consumers from spikes in international food prices. It turns out that this well-intentioned practice can actually do more harm than good.…

Will Martin, Kym Anderson |