Mapping Emerging Trends in FTAs to Strengthen Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment

TULIP, in partnership with the International Trade Centre, is conducting a study mapping emerging trends in trade and investment agreements and assessing how evolving policy disciplines can help unlock AfriCaribbean trade potential.

Africa and the Caribbean have a shared history and complementary economies. However, trade between Africa and the Caribbean remains well below its potential. Bilateral trade flows are modest and heavily concentrated, constrained by friction-based barriers: regulatory divergence, compliance costs, and limited transparency.

Modern trade agreements increasingly incorporate detailed provisions aimed at reducing regulatory friction, enhancing transparency, and deepening cooperation across a range of policy areas. They offer a growing body of reference points for how countries are approaching these challenges. The study draws on this body of practice systematically, comparing provisions across sixteen agreements, including the AfCFTA, CARICOM, the CARIFORUM-EU EPA, CPTPP, RCEP, and several newer-generation agreements.

The analysis focuses on seven areas where unrealized export potential and regulatory constraints intersect: sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, energy and raw materials, digital trade, transport and logistics, travel and tourism, financial services, and investment facilitation. For each, the study maps how selected trade agreements address the relevant policy issues, assessing scope, legal strength, depth of commitment, and built-in flexibilities, and identifies where existing African and Caribbean frameworks align with, or diverge from, emerging international practice.

The study also examines possible models for formalizing AfriCaribbean trade cooperation, from FTA-style arrangements to cooperation frameworks, highlighting design options and sequencing considerations relevant to the AfriCaribbean context.

The resulting paper is designed as a practical reference for AfriCaribbean stakeholders navigating the regulatory conditions affecting their priority sectors.