Inter-African Trade

After reading the global trade perspectives of both madam T and Nir I was just wondering what you peeps think of trading between African nations. As Nir posited in his post, it is probably a very good springboard for continental prosperity. Presently only 1-5% (can u imagine?) of trade is done between African nation. Imagine raising this to 25-35% in five to seven years. The continent is diverse enough to form a formidable mosaic of interconnected markets like NAFTA, ECC or Mercosur (with Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil at its heart). Me think the first hurdle to overcome is infrastructure the biggest being transportation and electricity. I think an intercontinental free way that have been proposed from Johannesburg to Tripoli is one way, while a connection of existing national railway lines to facilitate freight will go a considerable way in eliminating the artificial trade barriers we have erected against ourselves. Perhaps a common import tariff, encouraging education across African borders (one is presently flourishing between Ghana and Nigeria albeit grudgingly since it is condition that is driving Nigerian students to Ghanaian Universities) are some other measures..What do u think? Please share your thoughts with us ..thanks!

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