The consequences of Brexit for Africa: The case of the East African Community☆

DOI

10.1016/j.joat.2018.10.001How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Brexit; East African Community (EAC); Computable general equilibrium model; Regional integration; Trade

Abstract

How will Brexit impact on Africa? This paper looks at the available empirical evidence and carries out a Computable General Equilibrium simulation, focusing particularly on the prospects for the East African Community (EAC). The paper makes three main points. First, while the direct impacts through investment, trade and remittances are likely to be relatively small, African countries may benefit from the creation of new export opportunities. However, these are mainly in resource-intensive sectors that are not considered a priority for the development agendas of most African countries. Second, indirect consequences, through Brexit’s impact on the global economy, its influence on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union, or a potential reduction in UK development cooperation, are likely to be equally important over the longer run. Finally, one overlooked consequence of Brexit for Africa is that it could undermine confidence in ‘deep’ regional integration processes like the EAC. The paper concludes that the correct response at such a time is not to falter but to redouble efforts towards regional integration through the implementation of the recently-signed African Continental Free Trade Area, while learning the pertinent lessons from Europe.

Copyright

© 2018 Afreximbank. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Andrew Mold
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/11/27
TI  - The consequences of Brexit for Africa: The case of the East African Community☆
JO  - Journal of African Trade
SP  - 1
EP  - 17
VL  - 5
IS  - 1-2
SN  - 2214-8523
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joat.2018.10.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.joat.2018.10.001
ID  - Mold2018
ER  -