Regional Developmentalism in West Africa: The Case for Commodity-Based Industrialisation through Regional Cooperation in the Cocoa-Chocolate Sector

Main author: Bashi Rudahindwa, Jonathan
Other authors: van Huellen, Sophie
Format: Monographs and Working Papers           
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id eprints-34649
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description Regional integration occupies a prominent place in the economic policies of most SubSaharan African countries. However, despite different waves of initiatives across the African continent, the majority of African regional schemes have not managed to achieve their ambitious goal of promoting sustainable development through trade integration in Africa. In light of this observation, using the West African cocoa-chocolate sector as a case study, we propose the regional developmentalism paradigm as an alternative approach to regionalism in Africa, placing a particular emphasis on the use of regional and sub-regional approaches to development. Instead of full-fledged trade liberalisation and indiscriminate economic integration, the regional developmentalism paradigm advocates for state-led trade facilitation, regulatory convergence and capacity-building through the adoption of policies directed at strategic sectors. We evaluate the potential of the regional developmentalism paradigm to promote economic transformation and commodity-based industrialisation against the shortcomings of the current regional integration approach embodied in the institutional framework of ECOWAS.
format Monographs and Working Papers
author Bashi Rudahindwa, Jonathan
author_facet Bashi Rudahindwa, Jonathan
van Huellen, Sophie
authorStr Bashi Rudahindwa, Jonathan
author_letter Bashi Rudahindwa, Jonathan
author2 van Huellen, Sophie
author2Str van Huellen, Sophie
title Regional Developmentalism in West Africa: The Case for Commodity-Based Industrialisation through Regional Cooperation in the Cocoa-Chocolate Sector
publisher SOAS Department of Economics Working Paper No. 239
publishDate 2020
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/34649/