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Although there is no unanimous consensus on how trade openness affects different economies, the debate around trade openness has received considerable attention in previous studies. In the light of the emerging debates on different aspects of trade openness, this article aims at exploring the dynamics of trade openness in South Africa. Using an exploratory review approach, this article traces the origins of trade openness in South Africa, covering the country's import substitution regime and the export promotion regime. The findings of this study reveal that South Africa has been economically reformed from an inward-oriented import substitution trade regime into a more open, export-oriented trade regime. However, given the current challenge of fluctuating trade openness in South Africa, the country could in the long-term, seek the expansion of its bilateral trade in the sub-Saharan African region. This could be done by making provisions in South Africa's trade policy that aim at deepening regional trade.

This paper provides an overview of the structure and performance of imports in Tanzania. It takes into consideration the effects of the country's historical trade policy reforms and other determinants over the period 1995-2014. During this period, the country established bilateral trade agreements with African and non-African countries and regional groups. At a global level, the country imports predominantly from Asian countries. In Africa, South Africa is the main import source for Tanzania. Tanzania’s imports are dominated by manufactured goods accounting for more than 60% of the total imports from the world, while capital goods account for less than 20%. Over this period, the country had been recording trade deficits with virtually all its trade partners, this is attributable to trade creation and diversion effects of its current preferential trade agreements, lack of suitable infrastructure and shift on the type of products that the country imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is no unanimous consensus on how trade openness affects different economies, the debate around trade openness has received considerable attention in previous studies. In the light of the emerging debates on different aspects of trade openness, this article aims at exploring the dynamics of trade openness in South Africa. Using an exploratory review approach, this article traces the origins of trade openness in South Africa, covering the country's import substitution regime and the export promotion regime. The findings of this study reveal that South Africa has been economically reformed from an inward-oriented import substitution trade regime into a more open, export-oriented trade regime. However, given the current challenge of fluctuating trade openness in South Africa, the country could in the long-term, seek the expansion of its bilateral trade in the sub-Saharan African region. This could be done by making provisions in South Africa's trade policy that aim at deepening regional trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to provide an overview of the structure and performance of Ghana's imports. Specifically, to take into account the effects of the country's historical trade policy reforms and other determinants during the period 1995-2014. The findings show that, over this period, the country successfully established a few bilateral trade agreements with African and non-African countries. A larger share of Ghana's imports originate from developed countries. The results also that the leading import sources for Ghana at a continental level include Europe, Asia, and Africa. In Africa, Nigeria is the main source of Ghana's imports. Ghana's imports are dominated by manufactured goods. The analysis suggests that Ghana's imports demand are sensitive to changes in factors, such as trade openness, economic growth, and the exchange rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the effects of historical trade policy reforms and other determinants in South Africa over the period 1995-2012. We discovered that over the reported period, the demand for imports in South Africa had been increasing with only a few downturns in between. South Africa’s merchandise imports are dominated by manufactured imports; and they accounted for more than half of the total merchandise imports over the reported period. One of the key contributors towards the improved performance of imports in South Africa is the trade liberalization policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]