Multilateral Trade Agreements' Effect on Regional Trade

This study compares the effects of multilateral trade agreements on intraregional commerce in the African regions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Every year, dynamic panel data and econometric techniques were employed to account for endogeneity, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, individual country characteristics, and interdependencies between the countries in each area. The data was collected between 2000 and 2018. Two estimates were made: one using the multilateral accords' tariff measures and the other using their non-tariff measures. The empirical analysis's conclusions indicate that, when it comes to investment and technological advancement (particularly in trade infrastructure), the SADC region somewhat outperforms ECOWAS.