Revealed Comparative Advantage and competitiveness: The caseof Palm oil Exportsfrom Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

This study analysed the export competitiveness of Palm oil in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The specific objectives were to; determine the mean export quantity, and production quantity of palm oil in the selected countries; compute the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) indices for Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire with respect to palm oil exports. Data for the study was obtained from Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) statistical database and analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Balassa index. The result of the study showed that the mean production and export quantity of palm oil for Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire were 964,161.3tonnes, 109,062.3tonnes, and 290,619.6 tonnes for palm oil production while palm oil export quantity was 7491.292 tonnes, 35,061.79 tonnes, and 135,838.3tonnes respectively. The empirical findings suggests that Côte d’Ivoire is highly competitive in the export of palm oil followed by Ghana and lastly Nigeria which is less competitive compared to the aforementioned countries. Policies and programmes to enhance Nigeria’s palm oil output and make it more competitive is recommended.