A major hurdle to Africa's expansion in trade has been the protectionist agricultural policies in the 'quad' regions of the European Union.

A major hurdle to Africa's expansion in trade has been the protectionist agricultural policies in the 'quad' regions of the European Union, US, Canada and Japan. In 2002 these four power bloc accounted for 465% of the world's merchandise exports, l by dint of the EU ($939.8bn), the US ($6939bn) Japan ($4167bn) and Canada ($2524bn) according to comparison, Africa has a 26% share of world trade.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Agriculture remains at the heart of many African economies. According to the World Bank, the sector engrosss two-thirds of Africa's workforce, yet farm exports earn just $12-15bn