State Capacity and Trade Policy in Nigeria: A Discourse on the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements

Abstract

The current international economic order places much premium on trade as a tool for economic growth and poverty reduction. According to Addison (2005:11), “liberal views of trade have dominated discourse on trade over the past half of a decade. It holds that countries that follow their comparative advantage will reap higher standards from trading as much as possible with developed countries.” In particular, various studies have concluded that there is a positive correlation between openness as manifested in trade liberalization and economic growth. For instance, in the celebrated study by Sachs and Warner (1995), empirical evidence of growth, inducing openness, was presented showing countries that adopted export-based development strategies grew more than those countries that adopted trade restrictions and protectionist measures.