A political economy of African regionalisms: introduction (original) (raw)
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Regional Integration in Africa -The Role of the AfCFTA in Advancing Political Integration
2023
Africa’s economic prospects have always been a topic of great consternation for local governments and international analysts and commentators. A continent rich in commodities such as oil, diamonds, minerals, with favorable demographic trends i.e. young population, and the potential for economic growth, has historically been underperforming. Throughout the years, African countries have advance regional cooperation through the African Union (AU) and created various Regional Economic Communities (RECs), in order to improve economic growth through trade. More recently, regional economic efforts in the continent have included the Tripartite FTA, and the current African Continental FTA (AfCFTA), promising to become the largest free trade area. This article will examine the AfCFTA from a regional integration perspective and not just as a trade agreement that will produce economic benefits (like tariff reductions, trade facilitation, and economies of scale) as the latter part is known and well documented. With that in mind, the thesis of this article is whether a trade agreement like AfCFTA can lead to regional political integration for African nations. First, we look into the current political and legal institutions in the AU, and how far regional and political integration has advanced so far. Next, the article will look into the current regional integration effort in Africa, and in particular the AfCFTA. The intent is to explore the potential to promote both further regional, as well as political, integration within the AU. Finally, we assess the feasibility of achieving regional integration through the AfCFTA. Although it is still too early to tell, the AfCFTA with its focus on trade (customs union and a common market) and with a new pan-African dispute resolution system, could be the key to both weathering global developments through further regional integration, and pave the way for future political integration.
AfCFTA and Regional Integration in Africa: Is African Union Government a Dream Deferred or Denied?
Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2020
The concept of regional integration is not a new phenomenon; it has been raging since the 1960s when many African countries gained political independence from their erstwhile colonial masters. In essence, there were two blocs which had different views on how to integrate Africa, and the pace and veracity through which this was to be done. The first bloc was the Casablanca bloc under the leadership of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the second was the Monrovia bloc which was led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first President of Nigeria. The former argued for a wholesale and once-off comprehensive political and economic unification of Africa, from Cape to Cairo, the Horn of Africa to the West of Africa. The latter insisted that Nkrumah's approach was not feasible; therefore, a gradualist and more cautious approach was necessary, first by forming regional economic communities, then later an African Economic Community, with a politically integrated Africa emerging as the last step. The Monrovia bloc won the debate. The central argument of this paper is that almost all of these regional integration efforts and agreements (from the
Zamfara Journal of Politics and Development, Department of Political Science , 2022
The objective of this paper is to examine the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) of the African Union (AU) and to assess the challenges and prospects for regional integration in Africa in a post covid-19 era. The paper, which is qualitative in its approach, argues that the number of states accepting regional economic integration initiative such as the AfCFTA is one of the major features of globalization whose benefits have not been distributed equally. It also argues that though the AfCFTA is a pillar and beacon of continental wide integration in form of an African Economic Community (AEC) envisaged in the Abuja Treaty, however, the adoption of unrealistic and unfeasible timelines for implementation of the AEC pose serious challenges to regional integration for Africa. Regional integration in Africa seeks to transform Africa by addressing the fragmentation and division brought about by colonialism, and to promote unity and African development. While the AU argues that AfCFTA will boost intra-African economic integration through increased trade and investment, the extent to which African states would reap the benefits of the free trade area remains unclear. Numerous challenges that currently affect intra-African trade include, but not limited to, the low levels of development of African economies and their excessive dependence on primary commodity production and exports, protectionist trade policies, weak infrastructure, and high security risks. The outbreak of novel corona virus (COVID 19) pandemic threatens to reverse the gains made towards takeoff of the AfCFTA as African countries have diverted attention towards mitigation and containment of the spread of the virus in their individual countries. The reluctance of some African states such as Nigeria to sign the AfCFTA shows that not all African states are convinced that the promised continental benefits of free trade would align with their national interests. Some countries perceive the AfCFTA as a re-introduction of the earlier rejected contentious European Union's Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The paper concludes that while most African countries may have signed the agreement, the implications on national economies would be considered by many before and even after ratification. It recommends that the African Union should protect the vital interests of member states by commissioning in-depth studies and to carry out further enlightenments on the AfCFTA. This will go a long way in transforming Africa's trade potentials to benefits for the growth and development of member states.
A Step Closer: Economic Integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area
SSRN Electronic Journal
Post-colonial Africa views economic integration as an endogenous means for attaining self-reliant, sustainable development. Working under various regional and sub-regional economic institutions, states elaborated several norms in search of legitimacy in economic competence. However, several political and economic pathogens, including weak institutions, have blighted those efforts. This paper interrogates the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA or CFTA), which is the latest attempt to reboot the integration drive and achieve sustainable development. The CFTA seeks to create a geographic zone where goods and services will move freely among member states by removing trade distortions and boosting factor mobility, competition, and investment. After a rigorous analysis of the relevant normative instruments and examining the vertical and horizontal relationship between the CFTA and regional economic communities (RECs)/member states, the paper articulates some objective criteria for measuring the CFTA's effectiveness. It concludes that, if faithfully implemented, the CFTA could maximize utility and increase welfare. For the analysis and conclusions, the paper deploys principles of public international law as well as economic theories, with a blend of political and moral philosophy.
Unpacking the Significance of African Continental Free Trade Area for Africa and its People
2021
With free trade under attack in much of the developed world, Africa is forging a new path for itself to foster sustainable wealth and development for the continent. On 21 March 2018, AU leaders met in Rwanda to finalise the signing of a new trade agreement creating the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA consists of a framework agreement for its establishment and also the Protocol on Trade in Goods and Trade in Services, and the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes. These developments come on the back of 10 rounds of AfCFTA negotiations concluded in December 2017, with the 11th round underway in May 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The AfCFTA signals the beginning of a new chapter for mega-regional trade relations on the African continent and enhanced efforts at deepening trade and regional integration. This paper gives a snapshot of developments building up to the signing of the AfCFTA and examines the status of the AfCFTA as African gov...
The Review of International Affairs, 2020
Ever since the African states regained their independence in the second half of the twentieth century, there has been an idea among African political elites about mutual cooperation among their independent states. The spirit of Pan-Africanism was a mainstream discourse within African political, intellectual, and cultural elites throughout the twentieth century. The Pan-African idea was soon concretized into the Organization of African Unity, which was replaced in 2002 by the African Union as we know it today. Yet, despite numerous initiatives, monetary unions, regional economic committees, and the establishment of the African Union as an umbrella organization, the effects of African integration were not good enough. The African Union did not have the strength to impose common policies on all its members, funding remained a permanent problem, and regional economic committees were suffering from the "spaghetti bowl effect" caused by numerous overlaps in membership. Perhaps the biggest problem lies in the fact that African citizens have not been able to feel the benefits of integration, despite sporadic improvements in macroeconomic indicators. New momentum in African integration happened in the spring of 2018 with the launch of a new initiative called the African Continental Free Trade Agreement-AfCFTA. The new agreement differs from the previous agreements in the number of signatories. It has been signed by all countries of the continent (except Eritrea), and it has already been ratified by most of them. The agreement has clear implementation strategies and evaluation criteria. However, we must reexamine whether the new agreement will succeed in overcoming the obstacles that have dulled previous regional initiatives and whether it will succeed in overcoming new obstacles that will emerge in the future.
Dialectical & Policy Vistas on African Free Trade Area RL Vol XIII No 419 MMXIX.pdf
Respublica Litereria, 2019
The pact that has evolved in international trade under GATT and WTO tends to focus on free and fair trade but it is not sufficient for inclusive affluence. Trade is inherently buttressed by a reciprocally favourable set of voluntary exchanges that are best conducted as a compliant venture. Rightful complaints undermine the epitome and veracity of free trade. Mending these has proven nauseatingly slow. Hence, the stewardship, management and administration of the trade relations in Africa are marked by uniquely austere organisational-strategic issues. Even under favourable contemporary global conditions, historical, ideological and strategic characteristics internal and external to Africa still would exist that make that transition a costly exercise. Characteristics and problems of this sort can be identified and understood through critical, yet constructive, analysis focused on certain key elements of the African Common Market. There is no simple or immediate identification of the challenges in setting up the African Common Market as they actually are; there is only a definition of them from a certain perspective and towards a certain ‘resolution’. The vision of the founding fathers of African Unity was to promote unity and solidarity, rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid, coordinate and intensify cooperation for development, safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity and promote international cooperation within the framework of the UN Charter. Participants in the complex traffic web of African futures could be torn between professional caution and the genuine desire for a better future. Such loft visions notwithstanding, repeated attempts to dispel the prevailing gloom to check the overall drift towards ‘fragmentation’ have not yielded to popular aspirations. This raises the fundamental question of what do we mean by African integration in the first place and does it has indigenous roots. Lurking in the background of all these questions is the rather disturbing one: is perhaps all this talk of African development an academic or a public relations exercise? If African leaders want an AU that is relevant to the ordinary Africans, AU must implement the declarations so far, not another norm-setting”. The African Common Market will very much depend on free expression of diverse ideas and beliefs, emergence of supportive set of rules and economic and political institutions and financing peace in Africa. Ultimately, the Constitutive Act of the African Union must migrate from “We, Heads of State and Government of the Member States” to “We the People of the African Union”. Key words: African continental free trade area, African Union, Trade, Tariffs, rules & institutions
INSAMER Analysis, 2019
After the ratification process which is expected to be completed until 2019, Kigali declaration might increase the power of Africa in the near future in the global market by boosting the intra-trade. The move is definitely a step forward towards the pan-Africanism ideal. Moreover, it is planned to adopt a new policy for free movement of people and using single currency on the continent. However, it should be noted that Africa needs urgent structural reforms either. As long as the African economy depends on the exportation of mono-mineral or mono-agricultural products, the effect of the agreement on trade volume would be very limited since raw materials of Africa are being used to buy finished products of non-Africans. For a better competition, Africa needs to accelerate its industrialization process.