Generosity undermined: the Cotonou Agreement and the African Growth and Opportunity Act

This paper argues that Africa’s developmental efforts can be greatly enhanced both by an improvement in its bargaining power and more a genuine demonstration of generosity by its trading partners, in particular the developed countries. This generosity entails putting no conditions or restrictions on Africa’s products, particularly agricultural exports, and eliminating farm subsidies in developed states. Unless this is done, concessions made to African countries will remain merely symbolic.