Publication: Incentives, Exports and International Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa : Lessons from the Apparel Industry
Date
2011-05-09
ISSN
Published
2011-05-09
Author(s)
Conway, Patrick
Shah, Manju
Abstract
This country-level analysis of
international trading patterns examines all sub-Saharan
(SSA) countries for which trade data exist. Firm-level
analysis is restricted to five countries: Kenya, Mauritius,
Madagascar, Swaziland, and Lesotho, for which enterprise
surveys are available from the period just before or after
the elimination of the final quotas in 2005, under the
Agreement for Textiles and Clothing (ATC). Comparators were
selected from Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam), and
North Africa (Morocco, Egypt), as benchmarks for the SSA
countries, and also to examine their performance relative to
normal world trading patterns and volumes. The findings,
along with corresponding policy recommendations, are
summarized, and key issues are addressed, including which
countries adjusted to this with lowest cost; what lessons
can the SSA countries draw from this episode in their
negotiation and exploitation of trade preferences offered by
the US, EU and other potential markets; and how does an SSA
country create or attract an export-ready apparel firm.
Does the poor performance of sub-Saharan African (SSA)
exporters in the period since the removal of quotas in 2005,
imply that SSA countries do not have a comparative advantage
in apparel, and thus should focus development efforts on
other sectors? This report focussed on the evolution of the
apparel trade with the removal of ATC quotas. It is
important, though, to recognize that African apparel
exporters have now been through two negative shocks, the end
of trade diversion with the ending of the ATC quota system,
and the trade elimination through demand reduction in the US
and EU in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008.
Citation
“Conway, Patrick; Shah, Manju. 2011. Incentives, Exports and International Competitiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa : Lessons from the Apparel Industry. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/04a2287a-8963-5779-adfd-c298b88d14ae License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”