PUBLICATIONS

The political marketplace is a framework for studying political contestation that posits political players can be understood as entrepreneurs acting in a marketplace buying and selling the commodity of loyalty. This paper extends current theory by proposing that political budgets are (1) comprised of three currencies – namely money, violence, and social capital – and (2) that these currencies are interconvertible. However, they are not always freely interconvertible thanks to liquidity shortages in the marketplace. This paper conceptualizes the idea of liquidity events that profoundly impact the liquidity and interconvertibility of currencies in that marketplace. It concludes with several lessons for policymakers.

The disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to calls for greater market integration and industrialisation efforts. The African Union (AU) Secretary General cites the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as “the stimulus package” for Africa post-COVID. Yet, obstacles ranging from ubiquitous red tape, poor infrastructure, political unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and petty corruption to the entrenched protectionism of some of its members must first be overcome. This paper aims to provide policy recommendations on how African states could address these challenges and reap the best out of the AfCFTA Agreement.