Prospects for Trade between Nigeria and its Neighbours is a new study undertaken by the Laboratoire d'Analyse Régionale et d'Expertise Sociale (LARES) in Cotonou (Benin), commissioned by the Club du Sahel1. Presented as a series of concise, well documented "fact sheets", this study will be of interest to public policy experts and entrepreneurs who believe that regional trade development is a necessary response to globalisation.
The study outlines the still very weak and undiversified trade in the region, the consequences of the asymmetric relation between Nigeria and the other countries as well as the important position occupied by oil products in regional trade.
It examines the recent developments in Nigeria's economic policy marked by a reduction in protectionism and the liberalisation of foreign exchange markets and its presently modest impact on regional trade. The study also highlights the role of the very informal trading networks which control the major part of regional trade and the institutional, financial and material obstacles to their development. The importance of the informal sector is underlined by the parallel foreign exchange market which operates throughout the region. Its pervasiveness illustrates both the region's development potential and the need for fundamental public policy reforms.
