ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of Africa's place in the global economy. It presents some key trade features of African countries and examines these countries' capacity to negotiate in the World Trade Organization. The chapter also provides a brief discussion of 'aid for trade' and agricultural policies in developed countries. The level of a country's integration into the global economy is determined by the country's trade ratio, which is the sum value of exports and imports as a percentage of a country's gross domestic product. The general trade composition and patterns developed and entrenched during the colonial era continue today, with African countries exporting unprocessed raw materials and importing manufactured products. About 80 per cent of sub-Saharan African countries had an export concentration index higher than 0.3 in 2000–09, while the average index was less than 0.15 for all developing countries and less than 0.08 for the world.
