ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND OVERLAPPING MEMBERSHIP IN AFRICA CHALENGES IN ACHIEVING THE AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Abstract

Economic integration has been a matter of concern not only in developing but also in developed countries. Nevertheless, in the African context, it is worth to earmark that due to fragmentation of African countries and small domestic markets with small Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other related factors, economic integration is currently used as a tool for attaining economic, political, cultural and social development. Such tendency is vindicated considerably in the today‟s phenomenon than in any other epoch in the African human history. The desire for African states involvement in Regional Economic Communities (RECs) has resulted to the perplexing and overwhelming challenge of overlapping membership in the African continent. It is estimated that over 90% of the 54 countries in Africa belong to more than two and even up to five economic blocs at the same time. This paper expounds economic integration and overlapping membership in Africa. Overlapping membership has adverse impacts to development of African countries. This defies and dissipates collective efforts for achieving the African Economic Community (AEC) as advocated by the Abuja Treaty. In such a situation,coordination and harmonization of existing RECs is paramount in order to attain a strong and effective AEC. The East African Community (EAC) is among the fastest growing RECs in Africa which is at the common market stage towards as single currency and political federation.It is maintained that, the recent experience of the EAC development offers glimpses of a new way of thinking about regional organization by African states. Hence, much experience and examples will be drawn from this bloc with a shed of light from other successive RECs in Europe and America.