On March 9, the German Marshall Fund, in cooperation with the European Center for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), hosted a public lunch event titled “Preferential Trade Agreements, Regional Integration and Development: What Works for the Poor, What Doesn't, and What Should Transatlantic Partners Do?” The event was held as part of a multi-year dialogue and research series jointly sponsored by ECDPM and the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA), examining regional integration processes in southern Africa and the ways in which Europe and other partners such as the United States can most productively engage in those processes. Panelists included Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Kathleen van Hove, Senior Policy Officer at ECDPM; and Jeri Jensen, Senior Director for Policy at the Initiative for Global Development (IGD). The event was moderated by Patrick Messerlin, Professor of Economics at Sciences Politiques in Paris.

The panelists initiated what proved to be a discussion on a wide-range of topics. It was acknowledged that current transatlantic efforts to bolster regional trade and development are fraught with difficulty. The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has failed to spur significant trade diversification or supply chain development, despite provisions meant to encourage cross-border production and trade. European Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations remain extremely controversial in Africa and have been stalled for years—much like efforts to liberalize trade at the multilateral level. Other efforts to establish preferential trade ties with Africa have similarly fallen flat amid disagreements over how much trade must be liberalized and the level of special treatment that developing countries are granted according to the WTO, among other issues.

In this context, the best path forward for African regional integration and increased trade may not lie in new programs or trade negotiations, at least in the near-term. Rather, real regional integration may be better achieved through improving Africa’s sparse infrastructure networks internally and across borders; providing technical assistance in areas such as trade facilitation; and improving lines of communication with businesses about programs that help them take advantage of opportunities in Africa (which also has implications for better coordinating the transatlantic institutions that provide those opportunities).

Ultimately, African regional integration may indeed be led more by the pursuit of specific business opportunities and private sector needs, rather than by the trade and economic negotiations that characterized, for example, European integration. It may be most productive for transatlantic partners to focus on engagement and assistance that facilitates deeper business penetration in Africa, rather than on political processes and negotiations. Where effort is expended on negotiating trade agreements, liberalization at the multilateral level will bring the largest net gain for Africa—and a sub-continent that has better developed its business activity will be that much more prepared to benefit from more liberalized global trade.