Publications
February 3, 2017
Regional Trade For Inclusive Development In West Africa
This
study examines the potential of regional trade in facilitating the achievement
of inclusive development in the West African region. It employs descriptive
analysis to examine the nature, composition and dimension of ECOWAS trade within
the group and with the rest of the world, vis–vis three other Regional
Economic Communities (RECs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the preliminary
study, it can be observed that the growth rate of West African economies is
increasing, but the rising economic growth does not translate to improvement in
inclusive development, as there was no significant reduction in poverty levels in
the region. Further evidence reveals that extra-regional trade of the region is
increasing at a very high rate, and also at a disproportionate rate with
intra-regional trade, compared with SADC. This indicates the existence of
opportunity to boost regional trade for inclusive development through
conversion of part of the extra-regional trade into regional trade.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 33)
Available
reports from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC), suggests a
significant reduction in the cost incurred to produce one barrel of crude oil for
the past two years. Specifically, the cost of production reduced by 71 percent
from $78 as at August 2015, to $23 per barrel as at August 2017.
This may be attributable to moderations in operational expenditures, following
repairs and restructuring in the oil region.