On 15th May 2023, LSE Press published How Africa Trades, edited by LSE Professor David Luke. Twelve months on from its publication, we look back over the book’s performance and consider the reach of David and his contributors’ important research.

From book download metrics, to citations, to prize nominations, there are many markers of a book’s success. In this blog, we take stock of the accomplishments which factored into the post-publication journey of How Africa Trades. 

Featuring a wealth of data-driven evaluations of trade negotiations and policy choices, How Africa Trades is an invaluable open access resource for making sense of the continent’s major trade challenges, including commodity dependence, competitiveness, and how African countries engage with often unconducive international trade rules that distort global markets.

The book features contributions from Jamie MacLeod, Geoffroy Guepie, Kulani McCartan-Demie, Jonathan Bashi, and Colette van der Ven, with subjects ranging from analysing investment flows and trade policy in Africa, to exploring AfCFTA and regional trade, relations with the EU and China, the effects of Covid-19, and the necessity for a new African trade deal.

As an open access book, David Luke tells us, “Open access publication is a really great idea. It has made the book accessible especially in African countries. I’m absolutely convinced that this is the best way to share the results of research.”

With 15,889 abstract views and 4,119 digital book downloads at the time of writing, How Africa Trades continues to reach readers from across the world:

Having toured the book at launch events across the world; from LSE’s Ubuntu Café, SOAS, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC which attracted Congressional staffers and trade policy officials from across the US government and most recently in Nigeria in partnership with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the British High Commission, author and editor David Luke tells us “What I found most rewarding at the launches was that people will come up to say that they didn’t realise that it is Africa’s trade performance that explains why poverty is so pervasive on the continent,”

His favourite feedback from colleagues in African trade and business around his book has been: “Thanks for showing that there is no plan B to drive prosperity in Africa. Africa must change the way it trades.”

How Africa Trades has received coverage in Arise News, UNU Wider, The Conversation, The Banker (Financial Times), LSE Review of Books, African Business Magazine, LSE Business Review blog, LSE EUROPP blog, Africa at LSE blog, and Africa Briefing Magazine. The book was also shortlisted for the prestigious BCA African Business Book of the Year.

Professor Luke’s book also received early praise from the following individuals:

“This is an authoritative book on what needs to be done in Africa and its major trading partners to make the undersized and underperforming Africa’s trade become an engine of development, poverty reduction, industrialization and economic transformation. The book is a must read for anyone concerned about the future of Africa and the world.” — Justin Yifu Lin, Professor, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University, Former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, the World Bank

“This book – which is written in a very clear and accessible language to non-specialist audiences – should be read by all who desire to have a better understanding of how African countries can navigate the increasingly complex global trade environment.” — Dr. Zainab Usman, Director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington D.C.

“A valuable guide to Africa’s global and intra-continental trade links with a wealth of detail and analysis on trade regimes and policy issues.” — Martin Meredith, author of The State of Africa and The Fortunes of Africa

“An unusual masterpiece which candidly lays out the challenging constraints on African trade but offers policy options for circumventing them. David Luke and contributors have produced a powerful rebuttal to the new trade pessimism.”  — Célestin Monga, Harvard Kennedy School

How Africa Trades is free to read and download, both in chapters and in full book form, via Open Access publishing from the LSE Press website.