Departmental Papers

Economic Integration in the Maghreb: An Untapped Source of Growth

ByAlexei P Kireyev, Boaz Nandwa, Lorraine Ocampos, Babacar Sarr, Ramzy Al Amine, Allan G Auclair, Yufei Cai, Jean-Francois Dauphin

February 13, 2019

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Alexei P Kireyev, Boaz Nandwa, Lorraine Ocampos, Babacar Sarr, Ramzy Al Amine, Allan G Auclair, Yufei Cai, and Jean-Francois Dauphin. "Economic Integration in the Maghreb: An Untapped Source of Growth", Departmental Papers 2019, 003 (2019), accessed 12/6/2025, https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484378373.087

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Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Individual countries of the Maghreb have achieved substantial progress on trade, but, as a region they remain the least integrated in the world. The share of intraregional trade is less than 5 percent of their total trade, substantially lower than in all other regional trading blocs around the world. Geopolitical considerations and restrictive economic policies have stifled regional integration. Economic policies have been guided by country-level considerations, with little attention to the region, and are not coordinated. Restrictions on trade and capital flows remain substantial and constrain regional integration for the private sector.

Subject: Comparative advantage, Economic integration, Exports, International trade, Regional integration, Trade integration, Trade policy

Keywords: Africa, Comparative advantage, DP, DPPP, Europe, export structure, Exports, factory Maghreb, Global, growth potential, integration arrangement, Maghreb, Maghreb country, Maghreb integration, Maghreb trade, private sector, Regional integration, Sub-Saharan Africa, Trade integration, trade policy, Trade policy

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