However, the effectiveness of aid for trade in reducing bilateral trade costs and allowing developing countries' full integration into the global market does not only depend on the size of flows, but also on the co-ordination between bilateral and multilateral donors. They conclude that these observations demonstrate the need for further strengthening of the initiative. This reinforces the findings of Hynes and Holden (2016), who argue that the Aid for Trade Initiative has substantial achievements to its credit and that there is reason to reinforce its positive elements. Most of this progress has been made in East and Southern Africa. Yet despite the progress in improving trade conditions, sustained effort needs to be put into further freeing up trade and boosting the competitiveness of African countries.