Agribusiness, trade and investment trends in Africa

This paper answers three questions, namely: (i) Is Africa trading with its self-enough? (ii) What are the driving and restraining forces of agribusiness development in Africa? (iii) Why agribusiness development, trade and invest in Africa? A review of relevant literature coupled with panel data econometric estimation based on 12 African countries for a period of 11 years (spanning from 2005 to 2015) was used to address the stated questions. Findings suggest that African countries are trading less with each other as compared to trading with non-African countries. Intra-African trade is dominated by grains, followed by vegetables and fruits and South Africa is a key trading partner on the continent. The increasing in population dynamics, urbanization, growing middle class with differential incomes, increase in consumption patterns on basic and diversified products and food waste are some of the driving forces of agribusiness while identified restraining forces include policy uncertainties, lack of infrastructure, trade distortions and climate change. Policy implications: There is need to; enact free trade within Africa (removal of trade barriers), develop infrastructure across the continent, and ensure political stability given that these factors will lead to increased development of agribusiness sector, more investment and competitive intra-Africa trade.