February 23, 2026
On 18-19 June 2026, the Collaborative Research Groups on Governance, Entrepreneurship, and Inclusive Development (GEID) and Africa in the World- Rethinking Africa’s Global Connections, both at the African Studies Centre, Leiden University, will host a high-level international conference on Trade, Tariffs, and Development in Africa.
The event will gather top scholars, policymakers, practitioners, diplomats, journalists, investors, students, and representatives of regional and global organizations. It will analyze the political economy of tariffs and free trade from various analytical and disciplinary angles. The conference will look at how trade policy affects development outcomes in African economies and within the global trading system. Special focus will be given to how domestic policy choices, regional integration, and global trade governance interact. It will act as a global platform for meaningful debate and will promote evidence-based dialogue among academic, policy, and practitioner communities.
Interested participants are invited to submit abstracts for paper presentations that address themes that broadly relate to trade, tariffs, and development in Africa.
Examples include:
• The political economy of tariffs and trade liberalization in Africa
• The implications of recent United States tariff policies for African economies
• Intra-African trade and tariff regimes
• Trade and tariffs within African sub-regional economic communities
• The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and its implementation challenges and opportunities
• Trade relations between African regional blocs and global partners, including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Economic Partnership Agreements between African regional groupings and the European Union
• The role of African (state/ business/ civil society) actors in international trade and tariff negotiations
• Africa and the global trade governance system, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
Abstracts should be submitted to:
Professor Dr. Chibuike Uche (c.u.uche@asc.leidenuniv.nl), and copied to Dr. Ayokunu Adedokun (a.b.adedokun@luc.leidenuniv.nl)
Deadline for submission of abstracts (not more than 1000 words): 1 April 2026.
Decisions on all submitted abstracts will be made within one week of the above deadline.
The preferred mode for participation in this conference is physical attendance. After the conference, selected paper presenters will be invited to submit full papers, which will be refereed for possible inclusion in a specialist edited book on trade, Tariffs and development in Africa. There will be no conference fee for this event, and lunch will be provided for all participants.
For more information please see: Call for Abstracts