Resumen de EU-Africa and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) – Revisited
It is widely accepted that trade promotes economic growth and reduces poverty in both developed and developing regions of the world, including Africa. Trade is supposed to serve as a channel through which the participating countries utilize comparative advantages in their natural resource endowments and productive capacities. While trade among countries may generate growth globally, it is often the case that the aggregate benefits are not equitably distributed among the trading partners. This is evident in the case of the African continent, which is entirely dependent on the export of unprocessed raw materials and mineral resources to the developed and emerging Asian countries to power their economic growth.
The paper will analyse the current economic and trade relations between the EU and Africa in broad terms. Africa’s trade position is inherently weak as characterized by dependence on raw commodities for exports (with falling prices on the international markets) and a collapsing manufacturing sector necessitating the importation of basic consumer goods. Africa signed the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on tangible goods with the European Union (EU) negotiated under various RECs: e.g. the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) ECOWAS, SADC blocs. EPAs are supposed to facilitate the free trade agenda as the EU will offer Africa duty and quota-free access to EU markets and will similarly concede its market to EU exports (reciprocity). Thus, the economic partnership agreements are a threat to the industrialization strategy in African countries. British exit (BREXIT) from the European Union astonished the proponents of regional integration and free trade. African countries remain uncertain on the likely impacts of the BREXIT both within and outside the EU-EPAs context. Brexit will certainly reduce market access and development assistance to developing countries that signed EPA
