The Competitiveness of West African Economies in the Chinese Market

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, Xiamen University, language: English, abstract: West Africa is one of the regions on the African continent with abundant natural resources ranging from vast forest and arable land to mineral deposits. According to UN classification the region is endowed with about one-third of the least developed countries (LDCs) in Africa. The region has come under the spot light of most emerging economies like China, India, Brazil and other developed economies with the basic interest in the region's natural resources. How competitive West African economies are in their respective trading partners market to facilitate specialization in their exports has been a major issue. This paper analyzes the competitiveness and the pattern of trade flows of this sub region in the Chinese market to help both China and the sub region to mutually benefit from their trade partnership. Revealed comparative advantage index was used as an analytical tool with time series data from 2000-2010. The results indicated that West Africa enjoys revealed comparative advantage in ten out of the 63 product groups.