The book “Africa’s Trade Facilitation Preparedness & Ethical Property Rights” edited by Gbadebo Odularu, Bamidele Adekunle and Caiphas Chekwoti (eds) explores the policy intricacies and implications of emerging shocks, digitalization, and intellectual property rights in Africa’s trade landscape. The book is divided into nine chapters, each covering a specific sub-topic related to Africa’s trade facilitation and ethical property rights.

The first chapter, “Digital platforms, unfair trade, and computational competition,” examines the role of digital platforms in African trade, focusing on the potential for unfair trade practices and computational competition. The chapter highlights the challenges of digital platforms’ dominance, such as WhatsApp’s exclusion of new search engine apps like Chooya, a Nigerian start-up, and the anti-competitive practices of global players like Meta. The chapter also discusses the impact of the Finance Act 2021 on Nigeria’s fiscal space, introducing an excise duty of N10 per litre on non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages, fine-tuning tax law provisions about the taxation of the digital economy.

The second chapter, “Hidden asymmetries: Enhancing trade through traceability, crypto-labelling and ethical property rights,” explores the use of traceability, crypto-labelling, and ethical property rights to address hidden asymmetries in African trade. The chapter presents a conceptual framework that provides a theoretical framework on how the prisoners’ dilemma, opacity in trade, creation of incentives, cross-border services, and a pandemic such as COVID-19 with face masks and vaccines, creates fragility in regional and global trade. The chapter argues that a legal trade framework is not necessarily ethical, and policy makers should take cognisance of this challenge.

The third chapter, “The role of HRM practices in firm innovation and product competitiveness: Implications for intra-regional trade,” investigates the role of human resource management practices in promoting firm innovation and product competitiveness in intra-regional trade. The chapter highlights the importance of HRM practices in promoting firm innovation and product competitiveness in intra-regional trade, with a focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The fourth chapter, “Africa-gendered trade capacity: Geographical indications (GIs) perspective,” discusses the potential of geographical indications to enhance Africa’s trade capacity, with a focus on gendered entrepreneurship. The chapter explores the value chain of shea butter, Adire cloth, Rooibos tea, and Kampot pepper, highlighting the potential of GIs to enhance Africa’s trade capacity.

The fifth chapter, “Incomplete contracts, bleeding Free Trade Area’s, and digital trade in the AfCFTA context,” examines the challenges of incomplete contracts and digital trade in the context of the AfCFTA. The chapter proposes an explanation of how and why crypto labelling will help advance traceability and trade facilitation in Africa under an appropriate intellectual property rights (IPR) regime.

The sixth chapter, “Trade in services in West Africa: Intellectual property rights and trade facilitation,” explores the role of intellectual property rights and trade facilitation in promoting trade in services in West Africa. The chapter highlights the potential of intellectual property rights and trade facilitation in promoting trade in services in West Africa, with a focus on the ECOWAS region.

The seventh chapter, “Women digital entrepreneurship, trade and the new equation,” focuses on the potential of digital entrepreneurship to empower women and promote trade in Africa. The chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities of digital entrepreneurship for women in Africa, with a focus on the AfCFTA.

The eighth chapter, “Trade facilitation: Understanding the political economy of non-tariff barriers in sub-Saharan Africa,” examines the political economy of non-tariff barriers in sub-Saharan Africa and their impact on trade facilitation. The chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities of non-tariff barriers in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the AfCFTA.

The ninth chapter, “Vaccine inequity and ethically anti-fragile competition laws,” discusses the implications of vaccine inequity and ethically anti-fragile competition laws for African trade. The chapter highlights the challenges and opportunities of vaccine inequity and ethically anti-fragile competition laws for African trade, with a focus on the AfCFTA.

Challenges

1. Regulating digital platforms and ensuring fair trade in the digital economy.
2. Addressing information asymmetry in trade and promoting traceability.
3. Implementing GI international protocols and their implications for Africa.
4. Overcoming regulatory and implementation challenges in the AfCFTA.
5. Preparing for future socio-economic shocks and ensuring trade facilitation innovation in Africa.

Recommendations

1. Revising and updating competition law protocols in light of the AfCFTA.
2. Implementing crypto-labelling as a solution to address information asymmetry in trade.
3. Promoting the role of geographical indications (GIs) in promoting gendered trade capacity in Africa.
4. Addressing regulatory and implementation challenges in the AfCFTA.
5. Enhancing Africa’s trade ecosystem and optimizing resources through digital trade regulation.
6. Focusing on sustainable competitive advantage, investment deals, and digitization in regional trade policy directions post-COVID-19.

Conclusion

In conclusion, “Africa’s Trade Facilitation Preparedness & Ethical Property Rights” provides valuable insights into the policy intricacies and emerging issues in Africa’s trade landscape, with a focus on digitalization, intellectual property rights, and trade facilitation. The book is a must-read for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners interested in Africa’s trade and development.

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