OVERVIEW
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There are also a few African-Asian preferential arrangements. Of significance in this regard is the unilateral liberalization by China in early of certain African imports tariffs were eliminated on 190 commodities from 25 African countries. There are also preferential arrangements provided by developed
countries in the North, such as the US. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the EU Everything But Arms (EBA)
programs, which also facilitate market access for exports from Africa produced by Chinese and Indian firms operating in Africa. Among other effects, these have encouraged Asian investment in manufacturing sectors such as the apparel industry in Lesotho and automobile assembling in
South Africa. The size of the benefits derived from preferential arrangements diminishes significantly when market barriers for
other competitors are lowered, challenging the sustainability of such regimes.
In addition to formal international agreements, African-Asian trade and investment are also influenced—in varying degrees—by other instruments. Investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and public-private investors’
councils in African and Asian countries have been playing an increasing and critical role in facilitating international commerce between the two regions. China and India have also established various other mechanisms in the hopes of stimulating trade and investment with Africa. A recent—
and perhaps most notable—initiative is the January 2006 release in Beijing of “China’s Africa Policy.”
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The white paper identifies a large set of economic issues over which China proposes to cooperate with Africa,
including trade, investment, debt relief,
economic assistance, finance,
agriculture, and infrastructure.
While some export and investment incentives, such as export processing zones (EPZ), have been successful in China and India,
in Africa, with only a few exceptions, their potential to stimulate exports has not effectively materialized. Export incentives in African countries have also had mixed results in creating backward production linkages and enhancing value-added in processed exports. The general ineffectiveness of such incentives on the African continent is due, in part, to significant implementation and enforcement challenges in the face of generally weak institutional capacities. Without strong governance discipline
and incentives in place, opportunities for discretionary behavior and corruption have arisen.
The ineffectiveness of export and investment incentives is also due to the lack of the requisite infrastructure and labor skills.
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