DissertationThe main objective of the study was to assess the comparative advantage and trade performance of selected East African Community (EAC) countries trading coffee under the Everything But Arms (EBA) export regime. The specific objectives were to analyze the comparative advantage of selected EAC countries trading coffee in the European Union (EU) market before the EBA export regime; to analyze the comparative advantage of selected EAC countries trading coffee in the EU market during the EBA export regime; to analyze the effect of EBA on selected EAC countries’ trade performance attributed by coffee export in the EU market. RCA analysis was used to calculate the comparative advantage of these countries. Data from 1995 to 2000 was obtained from the UNCTAD database and from 2001 to 2019 was obtained from the WITS-UN COMTRADE database. Also, the study estimated the augmented gravity model using panel data from 1995 to 2019 to capture the effect of EBA in bilateral trade flows between trading countries. The findings show that all selected countries (Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania) have a comparative advantage in exporting coffee to the EU but decreased during the EBA regime. Using the gravity model, the results found that preferential trade agreements under EBA have a negative effect on coffee export performance of the selected EAC countries. These findings thus defeat the aim of EBA of increasing trade exports for LDCs at individual countries level. Therefore, EAC countries need to diversify their exports to reduce the effects of any future uncertainties of these given preferential agreements.African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and TRADE-Hub Project