Abdourahmane Sy

Import bans in Senegal onion sector

This policy brief provides an in-depth analysis of onion import restrictions in Senegal, focusing on their effects on prices, trade, and welfare. The analysis combines econometric evidence and a spatial partial equilibrium model to quantify the impacts of trade restrictions and their removal. The results show that the ban led to a significant and heterogeneous increase in local prices over the period, reaching 92% at the peak of the effect. Local producers benefitted from the price increase when they sell their product at this precise moment while consumer welfare is reduced. The removal of the ban would increase consumer welfare and intra-African trade but at the expense of local producers, undermining the self-sufficiency objective set by the government.

The economic costs of bribes and road harassment by officials in ECOWAS

Africa's agrifood trade: The state of play

The objective of this report is to establish a state of play of African trade by giving the most accurate picture possible and propose a typology of countries in terms of their degree of openness. It is preliminary work, the first in a series of documents, to pave the way for an in-depth analysis of the role of trade and trade policies in achieving food security and improved diets in Africa. The analysis is based on the rigorous exploitation of the best available data on trade in Africa (formal and informal), the use of the best analytical tools (gravity models) as well as recent indicators for measuring regional integration. The report is organized as follows. In the next section we set the scene by presenting an overview of the complex (positive and negative) links between trade, food security and nutrition. We then analyze Africa agrifood trade, examining first international flows, then regional patterns. In the following section we formally test whether Africa is “undertrading” or not. We next establish a typology of countries according to their degree of self-sufficiency and openness. The fifth – and final- section of the report provides some conclusions and recommendations.