Economic Partnership Agreements and Their Implications on Macroeconomic Developments in Nigeria

Abstract

The likely implications of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) on the Nigerian economy are discussed in this chapter. The discussion is informed by previous engagements between the EU and African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, of which Nigeria is a prominent member, on issues of trade and development cooperation. It is also based on various studies that have been carried out on the EPAs and their likely effects on macroeconomic policies and development in Nigeria. Although ECOWAS and other regions in Africa have signed the EPAs, the implementation is yet to start. It is after the commencement of the implementation that the implications of the various studies that have carried out the agreements will either be validated or negated. This will depend so much on what the EU does with African countries, especially in relation to the adjustment costs. Although the EU sees the EPAs as a veritable agreement that will help the contracting parties integrate into the global economy, boost regional integration, facilitate massive reduction in poverty, and boost institutional development of the ACP countries, the studies that have been carried out on the EPAs, both in the global North and South show, that it will have some negative effects on the economies of the participating countries, especially in the ACP states.