A Gravity Model Analysis for Trade between Cameroon and Twenty-Eight European Union Countries

Abstract

The purpose of this empirical analysis is to investigate, based on gravity model, Cameroon’s bilateral trade flows with Twenty-Eight European Union countries signatories of the EU-Cameroon Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the 15th of January 2009. Though the said Agreement entry into force day was scheduled for the 4th of August 2014, it is important to analyze the trade trends among these 29 countries. The research findings reveal that Cameroon’s bilateral trade with European Union countries is affected positively by economic size and per capita GDP, and influenced negatively by the distance between the trading partners. The result of basic the gravity model reveals that the Product of two countries’ GDPs has positive and significant impact on bilateral trade, indeed, a 1 percent point increase in product of the GDPs leads to increase in the bilateral trade volume of Cameroon with the concerned trade partners by 1.2808 percent and about the distance factor, 1 percent point increase in distance leads to decrease the bilateral trade volume of Cameroon by 2.0306 percent.