ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Regional Aid for Trade (RAfT), Aid for Trade (AfT) being either implemented at a level involving more than one country and AfT coordinated at the regional level', notably by the Economic Communities. It argues that in order to increase the effectiveness of RAfT, it needs to be driven by the principles of the Paris Declaration/Accra Agenda for Action as well as address the following 5Cs: Coherence, Coordination, Complementarity, Communication and Capacity. It will require genuine political will from all stakeholders involved to address these 5Cs for RAfT not to fall into the traditional implementation gap'. Addressing the bottlenecks that continue to prevent African Regional Economic Communities successfully delivering on RAfT programmes is critical if the long-term viability and credibility of regional integration processes is to be strengthened/supported through AfT. The recurrent global financial and economic crises continue to hit many developed countries hard, and affect the economic prospects of developing countries through various trade and investment channels.
