TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN WEST AFRICA

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Acknowledgement

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Introduction1

Research Aim and Objectives2

Research Question2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Sustainable Development4

Ivory Coast6

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY9

Search Technique11

Literature Search11

Inclusion and exclusion criteria12

Search terms - key terms12

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS13

Policy responses13

Challenges15

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION20

Conclusion20

Recommendations21

REFERENCES23

Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduction

Cote d'Ivoire is one of the most important countries in West Africa in forest resources and economic development. In 2008, GDP was valued at US $19.2 billion (Winters 2011, pp. 72-115). The country has a tropical humid climate, with economic development rooted heavily in its forest resources. During the colonial era at the beginning of this century, Cote d'Ivoire began exporting logs, mainly acajou species to European Markets. Major crops include cocoa, coffee, cotton, rubber, pineapples and bananas. Leading exports are cocoa and coffee (Krueger, 2010, pp. 1513-1522).

This study is an analytical report that examines the sustainable development issues among the trade negotiations in Ivory Coast, West Africa. The study also investigates the extent to which these trade negotiations may complement and contribute to the achievement of the trade objectives and the development strategy of Ivory Coast. The trade negotiations that are being discussed in this study are a set of intra-African regional arrangements (also called RIAs) that have been used in Ivory Coast as the fulcrum around which the trade and development strategy has been structured. Furthermore, these trade negotiations include a set of 4 EPAs (Economic Partnership Agreements). The status of these negotiations are still under consideration and will help define the new economic and trade relations between European Union (EU) and African regional EPA group of countries. Another element of these series of trade negotiations is the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO. It is expected that these trade negotiations will have a significant impact on the economic development of African Countries and Ivory coast in particular (Kaufmann, 2010, pp 12-23).

Trade policies are very significant in analysing the development of African countries. This statement is derived from the fact that the trade and GDP ratio is higher in Africa than in other regions of the world. Therefore, it helps present a clear picture of the growth performance. So, Ivory Coast need to be more proactive in using the trade negotiations so as to increase the supply of their export products into external markets. Furthermore, they should also ensure that these trade negotiations are development oriented and sufficiently flexible so that maximum benefits can be achieved from them (Edwards, 2010, ...