The Impact of the Uruguay Round on Africa Book

This paper aims to review the impact of the Uruguay Round on the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The Uruguay Round is the most comprehensive multilateral trade arrangement ever negotiated, and yet is not clear ex ante that this would be beneficial for the poorer African countries. The paper finds that the impacts that can be expected from the Uruguay Round for Africa are rather muted, and considerably less important than for other parts of the world, such as East Asia. The average tariffs that African countries would be facing after the Round would be very small indeed, and essentially duty free, especially for the least developed. Of more significance would be the reduced coverage of nontariff barriers. In terms of their own commitments, the demands that have been placed on African countries are very modest indeed, and should not pose any serious transitional difficulties, although some technical assistance may be required. African countries have chosen to bind their tariffs at very high levels, well in excess of actual tariffs, with many above 100%. It is considered that sub-Saharan African countries have not taken advantage of the opportunity offered by the Uruguay Round to bind their domestic reforms to an international anchor to improve their credibility. While the Uruguay Round has brought no major short-term costs or benefits to most African countries, it does create future opportunities for those countries able to create an environment suitable for exploiting these opportunities. In particular, since countries have chosen not to link trade reforms to the Round itself, this will require continued attention to domestic trade reforms.