Export diversification in Africa in the context of the Post-Uruguay Round

Abstract

This study has been undertaken in order to provide some preliminary results on the impact of the post-Uruguay Round environment on African economies, and more specifically on their efforts to diversify their exports as well as markets. The most notable conclusion of this paper is that, notwithstanding implementation of trade reforms in a number of African countries In recent years, the overall picture is that the continent has as yet to achieve meaningful diversification of its export base and many of these continue to depend on a few markets of industrialized countries. On the basis of the analysis of export diversification and export concentration 10dlces produced by UNCTAO, the majority of these countries had export structures m the 1990s, the same as those which prevailed m the 1980s and depended on the same markets of industrialized countries as was the case in the 1980s.