What is it about?
Institutional quality is vital in facilitating regional and international trade. Some regions have improved their trade facilitation institutions while others have regressed. This paper examined historical changes that took place regarding regional trade institutions in West Africa in order to identify where ECOWAS is in their integration process.
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Why is it important?
ECOWAS is currently aiming for deep integration. This would require common institutions in the region. The paper demonstrated that current ECOWAS members have a history of common institutions. As a result, historical reflections could provide them with useful information about the feasibility of common institutions in the region.
Perspectives
The paper is likely to generate some debate about the extent to which historical reflections could inform policy about the ECOWAS integration scheme. The authors thought that if common institutions existed in the past, political commitment could make it happen now.
Essa Bah
University of Bradford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Regional trade institutions in West Africa: Historical reflections, Journal of International Development, June 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/jid.3292.
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