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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in risk aversion and determine the effect of personality traits on risk aversion from an African country context. Design/methodology/approach The study combined both descriptive and analytical designs, and employed t-test, Pearson’s χ2 and binary logistic regression as the main analytical techniques. Data for the analysis were obtained from the World Bank’s Skills toward Employment and Productivity survey on Ghana. Findings Results of the study revealed systematic differences in personality and gender and their associations with risk aversion. Specifically, women were found to be more risk averse than men. Differences in personality also showed that females reported higher levels of personality in all but one of the Big Five personality traits – extraversion. In addition to gender, age and education, the personality traits of conscientiousness and stability were the main predictors of the likelihood of being risk averse. Although personality differences existed between male and female, the interaction terms between gender and personality factors were not statistically significant. Originality/value The paper departs from the extant literature on developed countries and western cultures to add to the understanding on how individual differences account for variation in revealed risk preferences.

The paper assesses the ex‐post trade effect of sub‐regional trade agreements (RTAs), financial integration and other non‐tariff barriers on intra‐regional trade involving 43 Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. The objective is to find out if RTAs within SSA had increased trade flows to inform current efforts of establishing a successful continental free trade area in SSA. Estimating a gravity model augmented with measures of trade agreements and financial integration, the paper made use of bilateral trade flows and key gravity covariates from CEPII database over the period 1960–2015. After controlling for the endogeneity of the trade agreement dummy, multilateral price resistance and zero‐valued trade flows, we find RTAs within SSA and especially among Economic Community of West African States and Southern Africa Development Community members to have had a positive and significant impact on bilateral trade. Financially integrated trading partners also traded more, while we also found distance, landlockedness, common currency and colonial link to have an impact on trade costs and bilateral trade flows within SSA. The results indicate the need to focus on policies to expand and integrate regional markets in SSA by removing impediments to trade and improving on trade facilitation measures to significantly improve trade performance under the newly established African Continental Free Trade Area.