Africa's integration and economic development: the journey so far

Abstract

The study was on efforts made to integrate African countries and its contribution to the economic development of the region. In a quest to halt the marginalization of Africa in the world economy, African leaders have at various times made efforts to pursue African economic integration as an integral part of African unity. These efforts led to the emergence of regional economic communities (RECs), which are the building blocks of the Africa's integration project. There are currently, 14 RECs in Africa, many of which overlap. Their performance in intra-regional trade has been less than satisfactory, partly as a result of low incomes, high proportion of GDP represented by agriculture and low level of industrialization. Of the 14 RECs, in terms of pace of integration, UEMOA is the star performer, followed by ECOWAS and SADC, while the poor performers are CEPGL, ECCAS, IOC and MRU. Although the integration process may appear slow, a number of achievements have been recorded. These include subregional peace and security, infrastructural development, financial and monetary cooperation as well as liberalization of trade and free movement of people, goods and services. ------........