IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fdi/wpaper/4492.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Challenges ahead for Trade Promotion Organizations in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Mauro BOFFA

    (European University Institute)

  • Jaime DE MELO

    (Ferdi)

Abstract

This study provides an anatomy of the activities of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, mostly LDCs. Both opportunities and challenges facing TPOs were identified by using a quantitative survey administered online and a structured questionnaire used during phone interviews. The study relied on ITCs’ TPO Network and contacts through FERDI and IGC. Of the 40 online invitations, 12 were filled out and of the 20 invitations for phone interviews, 6 were obtained. Almost all answers were from TPOs not covered in previous evaluations. Data from the online survey were compared with results from previous surveys mostly outside SSA. TPOs in SSA are young, relative to those elsewhere (half were started after 2007) and relatively small (average of 25 employees). Strategic objectives from 88 TPOs previously evaluated are systematically compared. Comparisons with the data gathered for this study reveal a higher elasticity of budget size to employee for SSA than elsewhere probably suggesting greater diversification into new supporting activities in SSA than elsewhere.The study summarizes the challenges and opportunities in each area of operation gathered from the phone interviews (see table 7). The phone interviews revealed that successes were concentrated in the agricultural activities. Word-cloud analysis uncovered convergence of themes (market access, audit, performance). Two challenges facing TPOs in the future are issues relating to the use of the internet and helping firms integrate into value chains (regional or global).AcknowledgementWe thank Anders Aeroe and Anne Chappaz for guidance, Marcelo Olarreaga for feedback during preparation, and Henar Bonet Vega, Ben Mohamed Imamo, Saskia Marx, Andrea Santoni, for their help in contacting TPOs. Collaboration from colleagues at FERDI and IGC helped us expand the sample. We thank all the staff of the Trade Promotion Organizations included in this study for their time and contributions that remain anonymous to retain confidentiality.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauro BOFFA & Jaime DE MELO, 2018. "Challenges ahead for Trade Promotion Organizations in Africa," Working Papers P232, FERDI.
    • Handle: RePEc:fdi:wpaper:4492
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ferdi.fr/sites/www.ferdi.fr/files/publication/fichiers/wp232_boffa-demelo.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo, 2008. "Is export promotion effective in developing countries? Firm-level evidence on the intensive and the extensive margins of exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 89-106, September.
    2. Cadot, Olivier & Fernandes, Ana M. & Gourdon, Julien & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2015. "Are the benefits of export support durable? Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 310-324.
    3. Cagé, Julia & Rouzet, Dorothée, 2015. "Improving “national brands”: Reputation for quality and export promotion strategies," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 274-290.
    4. Mary Hallward-Driemeier & Gaurav Nayyar, 2017. "Trouble in the Making?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 27946.
    5. Hausmann, Ricardo & Rodrik, Dani, 2003. "Economic development as self-discovery," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 603-633, December.
    6. repec:idb:brikps:publication-detail,7101.html?id=21146 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Broocks, Annette & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2017. "The impact of export promotion on export market entry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 19-33.
    8. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2si2or72bc8ed899298h75877i is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo, 2010. "Beyond the average effects: The distributional impacts of export promotion programs in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 201-214, July.
    11. Lederman, Daniel & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Payton, Lucy, 2010. "Export promotion agencies: Do they work?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 257-265, March.
    12. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo, 2010. "Beyond the average effects: The distributional impacts of export promotion programs in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 201-214, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    2. Simona Comi & Laura Resmini, 2020. "Are export promotion programs effective in promoting the internalization of SMEs?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 547-581, July.
    3. Stjepan Srhoj & Vanja Vitezic & Joachim Wagner, 2020. "Export boosting policies and firm behaviour: Review of empirical evidence around the world," Working Paper Series in Economics 395, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    4. Olarreaga, Marcelo & Sperlich, Stefan & Trachsel, Virginie, 2016. "Export Promotion: what works?," CEPR Discussion Papers 11270, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Jerónimo Carballo & Ignacio Marra de Artiñano & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2021. "Information Frictions, Investment Promotion, and Multinational Production: Firm-Level Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9043, CESifo.
    6. Ahmed Boutorat & Loe Franssen, 2023. "Economic missions and firm internationalization: evidence from the Netherlands," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(3), pages 787-826, August.
    7. Kahiya, Eldrede T., 2024. "A problematization review of export assistance: Debates and future directions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1).
    8. Cadot, Olivier & Fernandes, Ana M. & Gourdon, Julien & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2015. "Are the benefits of export support durable? Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 310-324.
    9. Broocks, Annette & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2017. "The impact of export promotion on export market entry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 19-33.
    10. Olarreaga, Marcelo & Ugarte, Cristian, 2020. "Can export promotion reduce unemployment?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15049, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Ryo Makioka, 2021. "The impact of export promotion with matchmaking on exports and service outsourcing," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1418-1450, November.
    12. Defever, Fabrice & Reyes, José-Daniel & Riaño, Alejandro & Varela, Gonzalo, 2020. "All these worlds are yours, except india: The effectiveness of cash subsidies to export in nepal," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    13. Philipp Barteska & Jay Euijung Lee, 2024. "Bureaucrats and the Korean export miracle," Discussion Papers 2024-11, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    14. Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa & Carrère, Céline, 2014. "Developing Countries Exports Survival in the OECD: Does Experience Matter?," CEPR Discussion Papers 10059, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Christian Volpe Martincus & Jerónimo Carballo, 2010. "Entering new country and product markets: does export promotion help?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(3), pages 437-467, September.
    16. Yu Ri Kim & Yasuyuki Todo & Daichi Shimamoto & Petr Matous, 2018. "Are seminars on export promotion effective? Evidence from a randomised controlled trial," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(11), pages 2954-2982, November.
    17. Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Emily Yu & Shenjie Chen, 2015. "The impact of trade promotion services on Canadian exporter performance," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(4), pages 1481-1512, November.
    18. Christian Volpe Martincus, 2010. "Odyssey in International Markets: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Export Promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 16458, February.
    19. Salvador Gil-Pareja & Rafael Llorca-Vivero & José Martínez-Serrano & Francisco Requena-Silvente, 2015. "Regional export promotion offices and trade margins," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(1), pages 145-167, February.
    20. Jaime DE MELO & Marcelo OLARREAGA, 2017. "Trade Related Institutions and Development," Working Papers P199, FERDI.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fdi:wpaper:4492. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Vincent Mazenod (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferdifr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.