Towards the United States of Africa: The Role of Africa's Regional Integration Schemes

Abstract

This paper entitled Towards the United States of Africa: The Role of Africa's Regional Integration Schemes sets out to analyse the exact role of Africa's Regional Integration Schemes in the march towards the United States of Africa. It draws from the background of Pan-Africanism and shows the link between the need and struggle for African Unity and Regionalism on the continent. The work is situated within the ambit of the Gradual Incrementalism theory as utilized by the African Union. Gradual Incrementalism depicts the movement to a United Africa through economic integration at regional and sub-regional levels. A historical overview of the idea of a United States of Africa is attempted, which is accentuated by a perusal of Africa's integration efforts till date. The paper then goes on to probe on the relationship between the African Union and Regional Integration Schemes. It concludes that regionalism can either facilitate or hinder the march towards the United States of Africa and observes that the story of Africa's integration is subject to many challenges, making the experience a frustrating one; a process of disintegration rather than integration, despite the over two hundred supranational bodies existing on the continent.