Abstract
This review paper seeks to analyse African integration in terms of its magnitude of solidarity, the state and typology of integration and functioning. It assesses the strengths, weaknesses, objectives, successes and failures of the African integration project as well as threats to its survival. The primary goal is to sift between issues with the view of better informing the future of the integration. The paper acknowledges how, in 2002, the OAU (formed in 1963) convened to reconstitute and become the African Union (AU) composed of eight Regional Economic Communities. The reformed union has spelt out gender equality, strategic planning, intra-trade, non-indifference to suffering in member states and sustainability, as additional objectives to those of the former OAU. This idea has been to foster integration to promote peace, security and cooperation hence solidarity. It can now be assessed succinctly that African integration has arisen in the need for amalgamation of efforts to solve African problems with African solutions.
Highlights
There are current calls for Africa to define itself culturally, politically, and economically
Kwame Nkrumah, the first black president of Ghana advocated for the formation of a United States of Africa (USA)
Conclusion and lessons learnt From the foregoing paragraphs, the following lessons can be drawn in the discourse of African integration that peace, security and prosperity of African Union (AU) nations and states are embedded in integration
Summary
There are current calls for Africa to define itself culturally, politically, and economically. H) The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) – 1995 from the Preferential Trade Area of 1981 These regional communities have aided integration through establishing macroeconomic convergence and unimpeded transit facilitation, reducing costs and improving overall efficiency in transportation The underlying philosophies for the development these have been informed by the contextual factors of neo-liberalism, globalisation and the quest for regional and country political stability (UNDP 1999 – see Table 1). All the regional economic communities have introduced instruments in one form or another to promote free trade amongst member countries They have improved integration by creating inter-country connectivity through the global revolution in telecom technology and the growing commercialization and privatization of national services (Economic Commission for Africa 2004).
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