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This study investigates the contribution of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) Rules of Origin (RoO) to the growth and survival of manufacturing industries in Zimbabwe. The study adopted a qualitative approach and used purposive sampling to select the interviewees. Data obtained from interviews and through documentary review was thematically analysed. The study found that several critical challenges are hindering the effective utilisation of RoO. Foremost among these is a pervasive lack of knowledge and understanding of RoO requirements across all sectors of the Zimbabwean economy. This knowledge gap is compounded by cumbersome administrative and accounting requirements necessary to meet origin criteria, creating significant compliance burdens for manufacturers. Additionally, the poor economic performance of Zimbabwe has negatively impacted the ability of industries to leverage the benefits of SADC RoO, further impeding their competitiveness within the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA). The study recommended comprehensive awareness and training programmes to educate stakeholders on RoO, simplification of administrative processes to reduce compliance costs, and broader economic reforms to improve the overall business environment. Furthermore, it advocates for the establishment of support services to assist industries in navigating RoO requirements, and the enhancement of regional cooperation to facilitate smoother trade flows. .

Trade liberalization is a widely accepted policy for fostering economic growth, particularly in developing countries. Advocates argue that open economies, through increased competition, specialization, and access to global markets, outperform closed economies. However, the short-term effects on developing economies like Nigeria remain debated, especially within the manufacturing sector. Nigeria's trade policy has fluctuated between protectionism and openness, significantly influencing its manufacturing performance. Critics, drawing from dependency theory, argue that liberalization exposes weaker economies to exploitation by stronger nations, leading to trade imbalances and inhibiting industrial growth. This study investigates the nonlinear effects of trade liberalization on Nigeria’s manufacturing sector, addressing a gap in the literature by employing a quadratic approach to determine threshold effects. By incorporating a quadratic form of the trade variable, the study tests the hypothesis that trade liberalization initially boosts the manufacturing sector but results in diminishing returns as openness intensifies. The research is framed within the Laffer Curve of Trade, suggesting that beyond a certain threshold, excessive openness may harm the manufacturing sector. The AutoRegressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is used to assess both short-run and long-run effects, with findings indicating a convex relationship between trade liberalization and manufacturing output, highlighting the critical importance of identifying optimal policy thresholds to maximize industrial growth. 

The research revealed and analysed a trend, between 1995-2020, of a declining gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) to domestic value added in gross exports (DVA in Gross exports) ratio in manufacturing industries for most Advanced Economies, which occurred on the backdrop of increasing of intermediate consumption of professional services. Our model proves the partial substitution of GFCF with intermediate consumption of professional services in Advanced Economies due to the change of production operating model (value chain management in manufacturing industries), which is evidenced by high influence of the combined factor on the DVA in Gross exports. This substitution facilitates the upgrading of value chain by creation of backward and forward linkages for manufacturing industries, depending on their R&D intensity. Systemic and long-term nature of changes may reflect potential paradigm shift in Advanced Economies' production operating models. 

Intra-SADC trade has not met the target that was set by the African Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) of achieving 22% by the year 2022 due to a myriad of various trade-related challenges. This present study aims to compare the results of using a Poisson Maximum Likelihood Estimator (PPML) with Random Effects (RE), Fixed Effects (FE), and an Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) model on a balanced panel of select eight Southern African Development Community (SADC) members that trade with South Africa over the period 2010-2022. The paper empirically examines how South Africa’s overlapping Regional Economic Community (REC) membership affects bilateral trade. Also, the examination of how the impact of distance between South Africa and its trading partners impacts bilateral trade. The study findings are that PPML provides more robust results than other estimation techniques in estimating the gravity model for a balanced micro panel. From the PPML results, distance has a significant negative impact at a 5% level on bilateral exports from South Africa which implies that SADC countries that are relatively far in terms of distance from South Africa and landlocked tend to experience a relative fall in exports from South Africa.  However, multiple REC membership has a positive and significant impact of 1% level of significance on bilateral trade contrary to the negative relationship that was expected. The study recommends the speedy conclusion of outstanding AfCFTA issues for member states to effectively benefit from the economies that economic geography presents.

The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds model to test for cointegration and the Toda and Yamamoto and Dolado and Lütkepohl (TYDL) model to examine the direction of causality between exports and economic growth for Botswana covering the period 1980 to 2021. Exports statistically positively affect economic growth both in the short-run and long-run and trade openness is detrimental to economic growth both in the short-run and long-run. Economic growth promotes exports both in the short-run and long-run. Economic growth granger causes exports and indirectly influences exports through trade openness and consumer price index. Furthermore, there exists bidirectional causality between economic growth and the consumer price index. The findings underscore the importance of maintaining a healthy and stable macroeconomic environment in Botswana. In addition, a well-rounded approach that considers both export-oriented industrialization and import substitution strategies remains essential for a robust economic growth trajectory.