Trade and FDI in a context of regionalisation: the case of the WAEMU

Following the creation of the WAEMU, the member countries undertook extensive economic reform programmes. In the trade sector, these reforms ranged from the reduction of customs duties on intra-community trade to the introduction of the common external tariff, which theoretically came into force on 1 January 2000. What is the relationship between trade and FDI within the WAEMU in the context of the adoption of economic reforms? This study attempts to answer this question. Using a dynamic gravity model estimated by the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) in system for the periods 1995-2002 and 2003-2010 on a sample of seven importing countries and nineteen partner countries, we show that trade and FDI complement each other for the period 2003-2010. However, we find no significant relationship between these two variables for the 1995-2002 period. The study also shows that these reforms have had positive and significant effects on bilateral trade within the zone since 2003, mainly in terms of the creation of imports.