Effects of the African Continental Free Trade Area onvEnhancing Exports and Welfare in Selected East African Community Countries

This study assesses the effects of the African Continental FreeTrade Area’s (AfCFTA) and East African Community’s (EAC) mem-berships on export promotion and household welfare usingpanel data (1997 to 2020). Results reveal positively significanteffects of domestic investment, imports, consumption, politicalstability, and governance effectiveness on export growth, whilethe impact of regional membership on exports was inconclu-sive. Household welfare was positively influenced by GDP,domestic savings, trade, rule of law, and corruption control.Surprisingly, EAC membership negatively affected welfare, andAfCFTA had a negligible impact. Policy efforts should focus ondomestic investment and a conducive business environment toenhance EAC export competitiveness.

KEYWORDS : Export performance; freetrade area (FTA); openness;welfare improvement