Other publications

Summary Report, West African Employers Association/Employers’ National Council of Guinea/BizClim/BKP, May 2012

This study was initiated by the Federation of West African Employers Associations (FOPAO / FWAEA), in partnership with the Employers’ National Council of Guinea (CNPG / ENCG), and prepared with the support of the ACP Business Climate Facility (BizClim), a programme of the ACP Secretariat funded by the European Union (EU) through the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). The objective of the study is "the Elaboration of an Action Plan for the Implementation of Measures and Actions in Favour of the Reduction of the Informal Economy in Guinea"

Commentary, Addis Fortune, March 2012

Study after study shows that Ethiopia's industry is not internationally competitive. A conclusion often derived from this it that it needs to be protected against international competitors.

In a commentary published by AddisFortune we argue that tariff protection has not worked. Rather, what Ethiopia needs is a vastly greater variety of businesses. It needs a veritable eco-system of firms interacting in each other’s supply chains. The Government could facilitate the development of such an eco-system by streamlining business registration and licensing, devising an efficient financing scheme for start-ups, and reducing the cost of trade through trade facilitation.

Final Evaluation Study, February 2012

BKP Development evaluated the EU’s trade defence instruments (TDI) as practiced over the period 2005 to 2010. The evaluation covered:

1. a description of current practice in the field of trade defence instruments;
2. an economic analysis of the arguments for trade defence instruments and their application in the international legal and economic context;
3. a review of the relevant regulations in the light of administrative practice, the judgments of the Court of Justice and the recommendations of the World Trade Organisation's Dispute Settlement Body;
4. an assessment of EU policy and practice compared to certain trading partners; and
5. an evaluation of the performance, methods, use and effectiveness of the current system in achieving its objectives.

Commentary, Addis Fortune, September 2010

The surprise devaluation of the Ethiopian birr on August 31, 2010 was apparently undertaken to boost export performance and bring about structural change in the economy. This was a bold and important move because it indicates recognition by the Ethiopian government that its policy setting had been a factor in inhibiting Ethiopia’s external performance and industrial development.