For Africa, economic prosperity in general and trade relations in particular are highly dependent on the situation in the agricultural sector.
Africa’s potential in global agricultural trade remains unrealized. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze Africa’s foreign trade by commodity group in order to identify the main trends. It is also important to identify the reasons for Africa’s weak position in global trade in agricultural products.
Africa has a comparative advantage in certain agricultural commodities, including crop products (cashew nuts, sesame seeds, vanilla, etc.). However, African countries are still too specialized in raw materials and semi-finished products. In recent years, there has been a trend of increasing diversification of agricultural exports from Africa.
Among the main reasons hindering the improvement of Africa’s position in world agricultural trade are the low productivity of African farmland, reliance on imported fertilizers, low spending on agricultural research and development, the negative impact of high customs tariffs and non-tariff measures on agricultural trade, and internal problems in Africa such as poor transport and communication infrastructure.
Addressing the identified problems requires greater investment in transport and telecommunications infrastructure, improved access to fertilizers and pesticides, as well as increased spending on research and development in the agricultural sector. In addition, the successful functioning of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which effectively eliminates both tariff and non-tariff barriers, should be an important condition for the integration of African countries into the system of international agricultural trade.