Economic Integration of ECOWAS States: An Analysis of Export Supply Constraints

Abstract

The objective of this research is to determine the constraints to the export supply in ECOWAS countries, mainly in their intra-regional trade. The analysis of international data by descriptive statistics on the one hand and on the other hand by an econometric technique using the gravity model highlights the weakness of the intra-regional trade in ECOWAS. Firstly, the countries of the zone which have a relatively advanced economy, such as Nigeria, strongly participate in intra-regional exports while landlocked countries and small countries are major players in intra-regional imports. This is caused by the lack of diversification and non-complementarity of the product structure of the international trade. Secondly, we note that the number of various exchangeable products influences positively and significantly the participation in international trade as well as the GDP which is an indicator of the level of development of a country.