AfCFTA–ECOWAS Regional Integration Initiatives and EUTFA Migration Governance: The Undoing and Doing of Borders in West Africa

Abstract

In 2015, the number of African informal migrants recorded at the shores of Europe doubled, which created a migration “crisis” that same year. As a result, European and African states met at the Valletta conference in November 2015 to launch the EU emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTFA) whose goal is to create economic opportunities in African countries to address African informal migration to Europe. However, this initiative raises questions about whether African regional integration is still possible under a migration governance policy that restricts African mobility. In West Africa for instance, the 1979 ECOWAS protocol on the free movement of persons was established not only to facilitate trade among member states, but also to create a borderless region where mobility is eased to attain developmental goals in the region. The 2018 AfCFTA regional agreement on intracontinental trade facilitation and integration, structurally aligned with the ECOWAS, is a continuation of this engagement to promote a borderless region. In response to these seemingly contradictory approaches to African informal mobility, this chapter looks at how the renewed interest in deepening regional integration in Africa is being implemented alongside a global migration governance system (EUTFA) that aims to counter movements to Europe. Hence, how are these two African migration policy goals competing, interacting, and conflicting in West Africa? What does this dynamic mean to the AfCFTA transportation and trade development in West Africa? By adopting a global governance approach that allows for a clear understanding of the number of non-state actors—beyond states—having a stake in these proceedings, this chapter examines how the question of the AfCFTA–ECOWAS regional trade/transportation development initiatives and African informal mobility is being considered alongside the EUTFA, and its implications for regional integration in West Africa.