Open budget systems and participatory budgeting in Africa: A comparative analysis of Nigeria and Ghana, 2012 and 2015 Emeka C. Iloh Research Fellow African Heritage Institution, Enugu Nigeria E-mail: iloh.emeka@gmail.com Michael E. Nwokedi, Ph.D Lecturer Department of Political Science, Madonna University, Okija Anambra State, Nigeria E-mail: nwokedi2002@yahoo.com Chikamso C. Apeh Research Associate African Heritage Institution, Enugu…

The study explores the link between WTO’s trade liberalization policy on agriculture and food security in West Africa. Specifically, it investigates whether the policy undermines food security in the subregion by examining its impacts on food importation and food dumping. The study relied mainly on documentary evidence. Data were scooped from documents and annual publications of the WTO, UNCTAD, FAO, ECOWAS, and World Bank. Data were analysed using content analysis, rooted on logical deductions. The results of data analysis show that the increased dependency on international trade (as being championed by the WTO) by many countries in West Africa has a number of direct and indirect implications on the realization of food security in the subregion. Importation not only exposes producers and consumers to increased vulnerability both to worsening terms of trade and to fluctuations in commodity prices, but also exposes the domestic food-producing industries to danger of extinction through steep competition. The study also found that relying on international trade for food supply encourages dumping of the excess products on developing countries at relatively cheaper prices. This harms domestic production and reduces the income of domestic farmers and other investors in the food production chain.

The Cotonou Agreement markedly undermined Africa's regional integration. It jettisoned the issue of trade from its agenda in favour of economic partnership agreements (EPAs). EPAs facilitated the free trade agenda as the EU offered Africa duty and quota-free access to EU markets for its raw materials. Similarly, EPAs conceded Africa's markets to EU consumer/manufactured goods. EPAs fostered vertical trade relations with Europe rather than horizontal trade relations among African countries with the corresponding threat to regional integration, industrialisation and sustainable development. This chapter examines the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in the context of existing agreements with the European Union (EU). Anchored on qualitative data, the study posits that AfCFTA, though a laudable initiative, may not surmount the enduring institutional challenges to regional integration to reposition African economies and expand opportunities for all Africans, as is being projected. The chapter holds the view that the existing agreements with the EU remain a huge challenge to AfCFTA and the regional integrative process it envisages since the continent is entirely dependent on the export of unprocessed raw materials and mineral resources to power its economic growth. To ensure that the EU's agreements contribute to the realisation of the objectives of AfCFTA, the study concludes that the African Union should frontally address the challenges to trade in goods and services in the region.