African Regional Integration Research Articles

Collective Security and the African Regional Integration

The end of the cold war and the marginalization of Africa, coupled with the vicious cycle of poverty, underdevelopment, disease and internecine conflicts are reasons for the aggressive support for African regional integration and security mechanism. Meanwhile, commitments to African regional integration have been constrained by a highly ambivalent critique of the colonial heritage of sovereignty, and unwilling to transfer any of such freedom to supra-national bodies. Yet this has the potential of enhancing their ability to coordinate the implementation of collective security. The objective of this research therefore is to place the relationship between the African regional integration and the efficacy of collective security within the region. The study adopted the Survey research design. The main instrument for data collection was structured questionnaires. The Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was used in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that, there is a significant relationship between African regional integration and collective security/ effective deterrent to aggression, and also that, there is a significant relationship between the failure of African regional integration and the security dilemma confronting the region. The researcher therefore recommends that for the purpose of conflict management, the partnership between the UN and the AU, with its corresponding sub-regional organizations, should be akin to a pyramid. Regional security integration should rest on concepts of good governance, sound civil-military relations and commitments to democracy and human rights, and that regional security arrangements need to focus on modest measures for the prevention and containment of conflicts, rather than utopian ideas and complex institutional mechanisms.

THE AFRICAN UNION, MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION: LEGAL FOUNDATION, THE MIGRATION POLICY FRAMEWORK AND CHALLENGES AND POTENTIAL SHORTCOMINGS

The African Union is a regional organisation established and mandated to accelerate African regional integration. However, migration remains one of the challenges for African regional integration. African states have been experiencing a high number of migrations, making it worth looking for a solution. The African Union has a migration policy framework, but the problem persists. This paper reviews the AU's migration policy framework and its challenges and provides insights into ways to enhance its implementation. To this end, the author reviewed different conventions adopted by the AU and secondary data.

The challenges hampering South African economic growth integration process in the sub-region

The study aims to assess the issues and challenges hampering policy implementation in the Southern African region for economic growth. Qualitatively, this paper collected data and analysed them based on content, using secondary sources from different domains, including Google Scholar, and Scorpius repositories. Findings demonstrate that the design and structure of the African regional development within the integration schemes is around inward-looking industrialization intended to facilitate economic participation costs for member states. This often remains unevenly distributed among member states. Most countries in Africa linger highly reliant on agriculture and yet suffer from high levels of unemployment and food insecurity on the continent. The study contributes to the existing debate on regional and economic integration in the Southern African sub-regional for social-economic development with the adoption of ethical value leadership and accountability. In these situations, it is logical to expect the “African regional integration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sub-regional schemes to be most focused on developing synergies that may exist to promote both socio-economic development and regional security across borders. This may hamper policy implementation through good governance and an ethically valued approach.

Leadership and the Success of African Integration and Development Agenda: Juxtaposing the African Continental Free Trade Area - AFCFTA and Agenda 2063

After achieving independence from slavery and colonialism, African countries implemented various developmental policies, including import substitution, industrialization, and structural adjustment programs, among others. However, political instability, civil wars, poverty, bad governance, and environmental degradation hindered the continent's progress. This paper focuses on how leadership impacts the success of African regional integration and development, specifically the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) and Agenda 2063. The study uses content analysis and secondary sources to analyze leadership's role in achieving integration and development. The paper finds that visionary, competent, selfless leaders are crucial for achieving sustainable integration and development. These leaders should be committed to disentangling from neocolonial dependence and promoting mutual cooperation. The paper supports its findings with good governance theory and regional integration theories. Furthermore, the paper highlights the need for African leaders to unite, be disciplined, and pursue integration with integrity and transparency. This requires leaders to prioritize the continent's interests over their personal gains and reduce their reliance on foreign aid. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the success of African integration and development depends on the quality of leadership, which must be accountable, transparent, and committed to promoting the welfare of African citizens.

An Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI)

ABSTRACT This study improves the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) proposed by the African Union, the African Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa by providing a theoretical framework and addressing shortcomings related to the weighting and aggregation of the indicator. This article measures monetary integration in the eight African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) by constructing an Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI). It proposes an optimal currency area as a theoretical framework and uses a panel approach to appreciate the dynamics of the index over different periods of time.

Climate-Induced Insecurities and The ECOWAS Initiatives: Implications for Regional Goals 1991-2021

ECOWAS is a regional organization established in West Africa on May 28, 1975 with the objective of encouraging regional integration and economic cooperation to ensure mutual growth and development among member states. Since its inception, it has involved in humanitarian interventions in some of its crises-ridden member states. However, the sustenance of the success has recently met with serious challenges through the evolution of climate-induced insecurities in the region. Studies indicate that the turbulent nature of such security challenges caused by climate change seems to be overwhelming the ECOWAS. The fact is that the evolving climate-induced conflicts in West Africa largely relate to quest for survival requiring more of econometric and meteorological actions than political solutions to which the ECOWAS, apparently lacks the technical know-how to combat. It is against the backcloth of the stated problematic that this paper sets focus on climate-induced insecurities and ECOWAS initiatives by evaluating the current implications of the weather-related conflicts for West African regional cooperation and integration. Nevertheless, the main idea inherent in the evaluation tends to posit that although the regional organ faces tremendous and unprecedented challenges posed by these climatic insecurities against its original goals, reluctance on the part of the governments of the member-states to adhere to the fundamental principles of the region, further implies that there is little hopes for impactful regional cooperation, integration and development if the outlined plans are not vigorously pursued to achieve the anticipated prospects which is the only way forward. The paper adopted the qualitative and historical analytical research methods.

AFRICAN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION: HOW COVID-19 ADVANCED INTEGRATION TRENDS AND SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

Africa is one of the world's forerunners in terms of political integration. Already in the 1960s, the Organisation of African Unity had 32 states united under a common charter. Moreover, through joint projects with Latin American and Asian partners, African states have joined some of the primary experiences of South-South Cooperation, particularly in the areas of healthcare and infrastructure. Taking this historical context into account, this paper examines how the highly competitive reality of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the continent. We argue that the constraints imposed by the new coronavirus outbreak have strengthened the African Union's role in advancing collective action and encouraged self-sufficiency. Furthermore, we analyse how South-South Cooperation offered a platform for immediate response when access to disputed medical supplies in the world market was difficult. We conclude that the COVID-19 crisis has contributed to consolidating African regional integration in the long-term, as well as its coordination with partner emerging countries, with consequences for the African Union’s priorities in terms of foreign affairs in the future.

Consolidating African Regional Integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area: Lessons from the ASEAN Free Trade Area

Consolidating African Regional Integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area: Lessons from the ASEAN Free Trade Area

African Regional Integration Polity for Economic Growth and the Global-View on Africa Organizational Development

The paper’s purpose is to explore the policy implementation of African polity amidst economic integration development and sustainable growth. Most African countries have, over the years, suffered from severe macroeconomic disequilibria, foreign debt service burdens, over-valued currencies, and lack of policy Implementation; this caused linger highly behind in terms of development. In these situations, it is logical for one to expect the full integration of Africa in terms of trade and migration, using the Southern African subregional integration as a case study. Qualitatively, this paper collected and analyzed data based on content, using secondary sources from different domains. The neo-functionalist theory was applied, and findings show a failure to meet set targets in the SADC plan, which has established a bad precedent for the subregions for African development. The failure is seen as lacking ethical leadership. It recommends that there is a need for African states to improve their infrastructure, recognize the capacity of the private sector to generate wealth, and induce development with open economies to member states..

China in Africa: Assessing the Consequences for the Continent’s Agenda for Economic Regionalism

Africa has become a major arena in the so-called “multiplex world.” The growing presence of China and other emerging countries on the continent in the last two decades has turned Africa into an area in which there are a large number of different patterns of interaction between state and non-state actors. International debates are polarised over whether these new South–South dynamics generate new dependency relations or whether they provide genuine opportunities for transformation. This article focuses on China’s role in the ongoing processes of economic integration in Africa. Far from merely reproducing a neoliberal pattern, this interaction may highlight a certain convergence between the African regional integration projects and China’s desire to promote structural transformation strategies, with investment in infrastructure being an example. However, the article concludes that rather than reinforcing African regional integration, this essentially bilateral and highly pragmatic Chinese strategy may have some indirect returns on regional integration but is actually showing some signs of decline.

Intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship for intra-African trade and economic development

Purpose: This paper aims to conceptualize intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship and provide evidence of its impact on intra-African trade and economic development. Immigrant entrepreneurship is often regarded as a key driver of international trade and economic development around the world; yet very little is known about intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship and its role in intra-African trade and economic development in Africa. Methodology: This paper applied a systematic review of literature methodology to provide insights into the role of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship on trade and economic development of both host and home countries. Recommendations on how intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship can be used to promote intra-African trade and economic development are reviewed. Results: Policy guidelines that may increase the positive impact of immigrant entrepreneurs within the context of intra-African trade include immigration policies that attract high impact entrepreneurs, non-discriminatory support for high impact immigrant entrepreneurs as well as policies to strengthen the role of free trade agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Conclusion: We conclude that African regional integration to promote intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship development is a conduit for Africa’s long-term and sustainable economic development. Evidence of the positive impact of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship on intra-African trade and economic development is scant. At the same time, the notions of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship are not well documented in the literature. This paper provides arguments for the promotion of intra-Africa immigrant entrepreneurship as a tool to increase intra-African trade and economic development.

An Empirical Study on the Influencing Factors and Trade Potential of International Trade in African Regional Integration Organizations: A Case of ECOWAS and SADC

An Empirical Study on the Influencing Factors and Trade Potential of International Trade in African Regional Integration Organizations: A Case of ECOWAS and SADC

East African Community Regional Integration: Private Investment Implications

The objective of regional integration is the attainment of long-run economic growth for member countries. Private investments are decisive in attaining this objective, given the high dependence of EAC member states on state-owned investment. This has been attributed to the economic policies implemented by the government which favors state-owned investment. Further, existing empirical studies have been unable to determine whether trade liberalization advances or obstructs the accumulation of private and foreign investment. This study, assuming a random effect assumption, attempts to estimate the private investment model in EAC member states using the panel least squares technique for the period 1981-2015. The panel random effect regression result reveals that East African Community regional integration has had a significant impact on private investment build-up owing to the presence of third-country investors not currently established inside the EAC region. This study, therefore, recommends any policy agenda aimed at deepening regional integration through guaranteeing an appropriate business environment for enabling free movement of factors of production, population, and goods and services.

International monetary spillovers and macroeconomic stability in developing countries

<abstract> <p>This paper analyses the impact of international spillovers on macroeconomic stability in developing countries. Specifically, the study investigates the impact of United States (US) monetary policy spillovers in the form of US inflation and Federal funds interest rate on Uganda and Kenya's inflation rates, interest rates and the exchange rates, key macroeconomic indicators of importance to macroeconomic stability. The focus on international spillovers from the USA is due to the dominant role it plays in determining global economic conditions. The study applies the Generalized Vector Autoregressive (GVAR) approach to quantify spillovers across these economies. The results shows that despite recent efforts towards East African regional integration, international spillovers from global economies like the US are more significant in determining macroeconomic stability in developing countries, underscoring the importance of global policy coordination. Specifically, we find an amplification of return and volatility spillovers after the onset of the Global financial crisis.</p> </abstract>

The Polity of Regional Integration Development and the Challenges Hampering Southern Africa Economic Growth

This paper explored the polity of regional integration development and the challenges hampering the southern Africa economic growth. The study finds that the design and structure of the African regional development within the integration schemes is around inward-looking industrialization that is intended to facilitate economic costs of participation for member states. This often remains unevenly distributed among member states. Most countries in Africa linger highly reliant on agriculture and yet suffer from high levels of unemployment and food insecurity in the continent. In these situations, it is logical for one to expect the “African regional integration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sub-regional schemes to be most focused on developing whatsoever synergies that may exist to promote both socio-economic development and regional security across borders, which may hamper the policy implementation through good governance and ethical valued approach. Qualitatively, this paper collected data and analysis them based on content, using secondary sources from different domains, including Google scholars, Scorpius repositories.

The Belt and Road Initiative and Africa’s regional infrastructure development: implications and lessons

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is outward-looking, being part of China’s ‘Going Out Strategy’ while Africa’s current regional infrastructure programmes are primarily inward-looking as they seek to deepen the continent’s regional integration. This paper argues, drawing from international cooperation theory, that China and Africa can cooperate in implementing BRI despite the apparent conflict in their infrastructure connectivity aspirations. They can coordinate their policies for the purpose of mutual benefit through enhanced connectivity and trade between Africa and China on the one hand and deepened African regional integration and intra-African trade on the other. This could be achieved by using Africa’s regional programmes as building blocks for cooperation in BRI. This paper also highlights lessons from BRI that Africa could use to fast-track implementation of its own initiatives including the mobilisation of stakeholders by political leaders, creation of dedicated institutions and funds, and building of local capacity in the infrastructure sector.

Cross-Border Tomato Trade and Susceptibility to HIV Infection: A Case of Ghana-Burkina Faso Tomato Traders: A Qualitative Study

One of the core objectives of establishing the West African regional integration body (ECOWAS) is to promote cross-border trade and cooperation among member states. HIV infection has been found to be associated with population mobility, including cross- border trade and labour migration. The objective of this study is to provide evidence based recommendations for government and other stakeholders to respond to and address the HIV/ AIDS epidemic in a multi-disciplinary approach. Qualitative method was used to collect data for the study. It involved 2 Focus Group discussions, 15 in-depth interviews with women tomato sorters and 3 Key Informant interviews with tomatoes market Queens. A purposeful sampling method was used to select eligible participants. The data were analyzed using a thematic framework approach. The women admitted that poverty, household’s food insecurity and household assets were the main motivational factors for them engaging in the cross border tomato trade. This study has highlighted the risk of HIV susceptibility among cross border tomato traders in rural Ghana. Improving the knowledge and livelihood opportunities of women and young girls engaged in the cross border tomato trade, calls for a comprehensive community- based educational campaigns targeted at mobile women engaged in the cross border trade in the study area.

Legal incentives to diversify agricultural production in Uganda (suggesting lessons for the EAC)

This paper describes the East African Community regional integration cooperation in agriculture in a nutshell and gives a brief overview of the status of the agriculture sector in Uganda. The author furthermore considers in detail the relevant legal framework for the Agricultural sector in Uganda and finally discusses the legal incentives offered by the government to the agriculture in Uganda, from which the East African Partner States can draw lessons.

An Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI)

This study improves the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) proposed by the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa by providing a theoretical framework and addressing shortcomings related to weighting and aggregation of the indicator. This paper measures monetary integration in the eight African Regional Economic Communities (RECs) by constructing an Index of African Monetary Integration (IAMI). It proposes an Optimal Currency Area as theoretical framework and uses a panel approach to appreciate the dynamics of the index over different periods of time. The findings show that: (i) inflation and finance (trade and mobility) present the highest (lowest) score while ECOWAS is (EAC and IGAD are) the highest (least) performing. (ii) Surprisingly, in most RECs, the highest contributors to wealth creation are not the top performers in regional monetary integration. (iii) The RECs in Africa are characterized by a stable monetary integration which is different from the gradual process usually observed in monetary integration because with the exception of the EAC and UMA, the dynamics of IAMI show a steady trend in the overall index across time. Policy implications are discussed.

Cultural Perspectives in the Economic Development of African Regional Integration: The Case of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (EMCCA)

When we are talking about the globalization of trade and the regionalization of economic forces, it seems necessary, for Africa and for the member countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (EMCCA) in particular to think about new strategies for reviving their economies prone to many challenges. The cultural field via cultural tourism and cultural industries appears here, as one of the best assets to respond to the current international, regional and national challenges from which these countries suffer in trade. Thus, much more than highlighting the difficulties they face, this article aims to show the importance of culture in the economic development of African regional integrations and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa in singularity. Documentary and qualitative research methods have served as a basis throughout this work.