This paper, presented at the 2nd SADC Community Law Seminar, critically examines the role of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) legal infrastructure in promoting women’s economic empowerment as a pathway to regional trade and…
This policy paper explores the crucial intersection of e-commerce and financial architecture in the context of trade in services in Lesotho. According to the World Bank, the services sector accounted for 49.17% of Lesotho's GDP in 2021, followed by…
This policy brief, presented at a research seminar organized by the National University of Lesotho – WTO Research Chair, explores the role of international trade in services, with a particular focus on e-commerce and its implications for the Lesotho…
International trade remains one of the key indicators of economic welfare of any economy. It directly increases foreign exchange earnings, meets consumer demand for foreign goods and increases production. Indirectly, it potentially increases…
This article critically examines the state of trade facilitation in Kenya, highlighting the interplay between institutional reforms, infrastructure development, and regional integration commitments. Anchored within the framework of the WTO Trade…
Purpose: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) represents a monumental step toward the economic integration of the African continent, aiming to create a single market for goods and services among 55 African Union member states. With an…
The objective of this paper is to analyse the socioeconomic implications of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which comes in the form of enhanced infrastructure development, loans and foreign direct investment. This has led to China becoming…
This study examines Africa’s reliance on imported products using fivecriteria: market concentration, foreign demand, capacity for domestic substitution, market relevance, and product elasticity of substitution. Byanalyzing Africa’s imports with over…
This study examines how the 2008/2009 global financial crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 pandemic differentially impacted Kenya's export and import performance at the firm level. Utilising monthly firm-level customs data from 2006 to 2022, we decompose…
This study analyzes the effect of China’s import dominance on Africa’s structural transformation, measured through the Shapley decomposition approach. A pooled mean group Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) model is analyzed using panel data…