Services Trade Liberalization at the Regional Level: Does Southern and Eastern Africa Stand to Gain from EPA Negotiations?

Given the sluggish progress in multilateral trade negotiations Southern and Eastern African negotiators are likely to focus their attention on the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. This paper analyses possible advantages and disadvantages for ACP countries of including the services sector in these regional agreements. It describes the latest developments in a number of services sectors, including financial services, tourism and business services. Particular attention is paid to the possible role of mode 4 flows. For each individual sector the role of regulation, the importance of first mover advantages and the possible role of foreign technical assistance are discussed. The paper attempts to identify possible export opportunities for ACP countries and analyses the risks and benefits for these countries of giving preferential access to EU suppliers in those services sectors where African countries are likely to import.