We used social network analysis to examine the country attributes and patterns of intra‐African trade between 2002 and 2017. The results showed that, generally, trade networks in Africa have become denser, and have the characteristics of the core‐periphery structure and small world phenomenon. Trade imbalances are widely found among African countries with the evidence that structure holes exist in intra‐African trade networks highlighted by the motif detectors. Using Quadratic Assignment Procedure, we found that countries that possess closer economic, geographic and cultural distance, but longer institutional distance, are more likely to form trade networks. However, many countries and the regional economic communities on the continent, have not adequately manifested these favourable characteristics for enhancing intra‐African trade. The implications are proposed that countries should develop their strategies, expedite structural adjustment, and foster competitive industries to cope with the external competition and seize opportunities of regional integration brought by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. It is also critical to efficiently address the overlapping problems of regional economic communities and intensify their coordination with AfCFTA.

中文翻译：

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非洲内部贸易结构和演变的社会网络分析

我们使用社交网络分析研究了2002年至2017年非洲内部贸易的国家属性和模式。结果表明，总体而言，非洲的贸易网络​​变得更加密集，并具有核心外围结构和小世界的特征。现象。在非洲国家之间广泛发现贸易不平衡，有证据表明，图案检测器突出显示了非洲内部贸易网络中存在结构漏洞。使用二次赋值程序，我们发现经济，地理和文化距离更近但机构距离更长的国家更可能形成贸易网络。但是，非洲大陆上的许多国家和地区经济共同体并未充分体现出这些有利于增强非洲内部贸易的特征。建议的含义是，各国应制定战略，加快结构调整并培育竞争性产业，以应对外部竞争，并抓住非洲大陆自由贸易区（AfCFTA）协议带来的区域一体化机会。有效解决区域经济共同体重叠的问题并加强与非洲自由贸易区的协调也至关重要。