Zusammenfassung:
This paper documents African manufacturing exports along several dimensions. Manufacturing exports triply concentrated at 3 levels: countries that produce and export [half of exported manufactures come from 3 countries: South Africa (27%), Egypt (10%), and Morocco (10%)]; sectoral affiliation as 4 sectors account for 65% of exports [basic metals (33%), chemicals (13%), food sector (11%), motor vehicle sector (8%)] destination markets [37% to European markets and 29% to African markets]. Supply chain trade increased in all regions over the period 1995-2015. Africa's average Global Value Chain (GVC) share rose by 13% to reach 44% in 2022. Currently, the import content of gross exports is relatively low, around 15% while the share of exports undergoing further processing at destination before reaching the final consumer is higher throughout, in the 20-25% range. Overall trade costs (transport, communication, trade barriers) across Africa have fallen faster with the outside world than they were within Africa. Supply chain trade in Africa has been with partners outside Africa at the aggregate level and at the regional level except for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which has developed regionally to the same extent as MERCOSUR. The dynamics of regional trade in intermediate products are strikingly different across Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) among developing-countries. ASEAN, and to a lesser extent MERCOSUR, exhibited an increase in Regional Value Chain (RVC) trade following their integration. No such pattern holds for the African Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The African Continental Free Trade Area's (AfCFTA's) challenge is to promote greater value chain participation within Africa. The paper concludes with a list of promising continental and RVCs.