The trend towards concluding regional and bilateral trade agreements to promote trade and development has gained momentum worldwide. Participation in some form of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) has increased within the last 20 years, with the number of active PTAs rising from 70 in 1990 to almost 300 in 2011. African countries have concluded a considerable number of agreements among themselves (24 PTAs in force) but there is no evidence of a growing number of PTAs between Africa and its emerging partners in the Americas or in Asia (although four PTAs were concluded with West Asia and three with East Asia in 2010). Some African countries belonging to the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), making Europe the region outside Africa with the highest number of agreements with African countries (16) (WTO, 2011).