- Title
- Convergence effects of African GDP with the rest of the world: Analysis the African continental free trade agreement
- Creator
- Matonana, Phumelela Ntombiyesibini
- Subject
- Gross domestic product -- Africa -- Statistics
- Subject
- Economic development -- Africa
- Date Issued
- 2020
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MCom
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50306
- Identifier
- vital:42102
- Description
- This study is an investigation of the convergence hypothesis in African countries motivated by the increasing interest to measure disparities in the establishment of an economic union. The objective of this study is to provide an analysis of convergence in Africa by looking at the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) against 6 of its top trading partner groups. This study seeks to establish whether Africa and African countries who belong to the AfCFTA catchup to the growth rates of their more developed trading partners. The data sample spans from 1971- 2018. The method of analysis employed in this study is a unit root testing procedure using the linear ADF and nonlinear KSS unit root tests, the HEGY and Canova and Hansen seasonal unit root tests, the Lee and Strazicich structural break test, and the Flexible Fourier Function (FFF) and Fractional Frequency Flexible Fourier Function (FFFFF) unit root tests to account for smooth structural breaks. This study is, as we have reviewed, the first to investigate convergence in the newly established economic union and the first employ the above-mentioned series of unit root tests. The empirical outcomes in this study point towards weak evidence of convergence between Africa and international trade groups when considering the more robust Fourier-based unit root tests. Therefore, we conclude that Africa does not necessarily exhibit catch up effects with a majority of its trading partners.
- Format
- v, 94 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Matonana, N.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |