Most of the treaties forming Africa’s regional economic communities are sophisticated instruments, similar to those guiding economic integration in other regions. The regional communities have well-functioning secretariats, and they conduct frequent meetings at the summit, ministerial, and technical levels. As the building blocks for the African Union, these communities are expected to move towards closer integration, laying the foundation for their eventual consolidation.
Nevertheless, regional integration has been broadly perceived as having produced few concrete results—despite considerable political rhetoric and protracted efforts by gov-ernments, institutions, and other players. One common criticism is that unlike economic integration in Europe (the European Union), North America (the North American Free Table 2.1 (continued)
Members and objectives of Africa’s regional economic communities, 2001
Specified Current
Community Members objective status Comments
Inter- Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Full economic • Multilateral programmes Intrastate and Governmental Sudan, Uganda union elaborated in key priority areas interstate conflicts
Authority on (agriculture and environment, have slowed
Development political and humanitarian progress.
(IGAD) affairs, and regional economic
cooperation, including physical infrastructure projects).
Mano River Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone Multisectoral • Some training institutions Political issues have
Union (MRU) integration created. slowed progress.
• Programmes elaborated in some sectors.
Southern African Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Customs union • Customs union achieved, as
Customs Union Swaziland well as monetary agreement
(SACU) among four members except
Botswana.
Southern African Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic Full economic • Free trade area launched in Development of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, union September 2000.
Community Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South • Power pool in place.
(SADC) Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, • Peace and security
Zimbabwe mechanism in place.
West African Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Full economic • Customs union achieved.
Economic and Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo union • Business laws harmonized.
Monetary Union • Macroeconomic policy
(UEMOA) convergence in place.
Source: Economic Commission for Africa, from official sources. See appendix tables A2 and A3.
ARIA ch2 012004.qxp 6/1/04 1:15 PM Page 30
Box 2.1
Phases, goals, and protocols of the African Economic Community
Phases and goals
First phase, 1994–99. Strengthening regional economic communities and establishing them where they do not exist.
Second phase, 1999–2007. Freezing tariffs, nontariff barriers, customs duties, and internal taxes at their May 1994 levels and gradually harmonizing policies and implementing multinational pro-grammes in all economic sectors—particularly agriculture, industry, transport, communications, and energy.
Third phase, 2007–17. Consolidating free trade zones and customs unions through progressive elimination of tariffs, nontariff barriers, and other restrictions to trade, and adopting common exter-nal tariffs.
Fourth phase, 2017–19. Finalizing coordination and harmonization of policies and programmes in trade and other sectors as a precursor to full realization of the African Common Market and African Economic Community, with all regional economic communities. This phase should result in the free movement of people, with rights of residence and establishment among the regional eco-nomic communities.
Fifth phase, 2019–23. Consolidating the continentwide African Common Market resulting from the fourth phase.
Sixth phase, 2023–28. Realizing the vision of the African Economic Community, with complete economic, political, social, and cultural integration and with common structures, facilities, and functions, including a single African central bank, a single African currency, a pan-African parlia-ment, and a pan-African economic and monetary union.
Related protocols
The relevant articles of the African Economic Community Treaty are indicated in parentheses.
Some of the articles call for separate protocols to detail their basic provisions.
Protocols on trade and customs (trade liberalization) Rules of origin (Article 33)
Reduction and elimination of customs barriers (Articles 29 and 30) Nontariff barriers (Article 31)
Intracommunity transit facilities (Article 38) Customs operation (Article 39)
Simplification and harmonization of trade documents and procedures (Article 40) Trade promotion (Article 42)
Reexport of goods (Article 38)
Free movement of persons, right of residence, and right of establishment (Article 43)
Protocols on sectoral and infrastructure development and cooperation Food and agriculture (Articles 46 and 47)
Industry (Articles 48–50)
(continued on next page) ARIA ch2 012004.qxp 6/1/04 1:15 PM Page 31
Trade Agreement), and South America (the Common Market of the South), regional integration in Africa has done little to accelerate growth or even regional trade.
Why has regional integration in Africa fallen short of its goals? Key constraints include:
• Multiple and overlapping memberships. The many regional economic communi-ties with overlapping memberships are perceived as wasting effort and resources.
Having multiple groups adds to the work of harmonization and coordination and complicates the eventual fusion of regional economic communities into the African Union. This has prompted calls to rationalize integration. The consider-able dialogue on this subject has yielded some tangible results, with clearer defi-nitions of the mandates, objectives, and responsibilities of institutions serving the same constituents.
Box 2.1 (continued)
Phases, goals, and protocols of the African Economic Community
Science and technology (Articles 51–53) Energy and natural resources (Articles 54–57) Environment (Articles 58–60)
Transport, communication, and tourism (Articles 61–66) Education, training, and culture (Articles 68–70)
Human resources, social affairs, health, and population (Articles 71–76) Standardization, quality assurance, and measurement systems (Article 67) Solidarity, development, and cooperation fund (Articles 80 and 81)
Protocols on special treatment and exemptions to certain categories of countries Special provisions in respect of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland (Article 78) Special provisions in respect of least developed countries and landlocked, semilandlocked, and island countries (Article 79)
Protocol on relations between the African Economic Community and others
Regional economic communities, regional continental organizations, African nongovernmental organizations, other socioeconomic organizations and associations, third states, and international organizations (Articles 88–95)
Protocol on full involvement of peoples of Africa in the African Economic Community process Pan-African Parliament (Article 14)
Protocol on establishing the Court of Justice to ensure adherence to African Economic Community process and settle disputes
Court of Justice (Articles 18–20)
Source: Economic Commission for Africa, from official sources.
ARIA ch2 012004.qxp 6/1/04 1:15 PM Page 32
• Countries’ reluctance to adhere to integration programmes (such as eliminating tariffs) because of concerns about uneven gains and losses, and the persistence of barriers to free flows of goods, services, and people across borders.
• Insufficient technical and analytical support (such as cost-benefit analyses) for some integration instruments (such as trade liberalization), which could hamper their implementation or lead to speculation about their effects on different mem-ber states.
• Divergent and unstable national macroeconomic policies.
• Inadequate capacity and resources among countries and regional economic com-munities to spearhead the integration process. Some of the regional comcom-munities lack clarity of vision, strategies, and plans, resulting in diffuse activities. Regional institutions, often ignoring the “principle of subsidiarity”, have pursued both regional and national activities.
• Lack of coherence and links among sectoral cooperation programmes and macro-economic policies pursued by regional macro-economic communities.
• Missing or ineffective mechanisms for organizing, implementing, controlling, monitoring, and revising the integration process.
• Lack of national mechanisms to coordinate, implement, and monitor integration policies and programmes.
• Inability to make integration objectives, plans, and programmes part of national development frameworks.
Questions have also been raised about intra-African trade, which remains low despite decades of experimentation with market integration. African trade continues to be skewed towards the west, mainly the European Union. In addition, there are concerns about whether there is sufficient political will to convert words into action and about the lack of a concerted approach to integration and the daunting financial and invest-ment challenges.
Revitalized regional economic communities can drive change in Africa. But for inte-gration to succeed, efforts must be made to:
• Promote the equitable distribution of integration’s costs and benefits.
• Provide technical and financial support to regional integration programmes.
• Make Africa’s integration agenda compatible with external obligations, such as arrangements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Cotonou part-nership between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries.
• Ensure compatibility among regional integration schemes aimed at the goals of the African Economic Community and the African Union—which also implies elim-inating inconsistencies from overlapping memberships.
• Promote interaction among regional economic communities and specialized devel-opment institutions.
• Put the private sector at the centre of the integration agenda.
African trade continues to be skewed towards the west, mainly the European Union
ARIA ch2 012004.qxp 6/1/04 1:15 PM Page 33
• Foster the competitiveness of regional economic communities and of Africa as a whole, domestically and internationally.