The Quest for an African Economic Community

The Quest for an African Economic Community

Author: Wolff-Christian Peters

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9783631610329

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The African Union (AU) aims at creating an African Economic Community (AEC) by 2034. Eight recognized Regional Economic Communities (REC) are supposed to form the building blocs of the AEC. The book shows that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is currently the most advanced and promising REC but still behind schedule in reaching its own integration objectives. If the currently most successful of the African RECs may not achieve sufficiently deep regional integration in time then the chances to establish the AEC by 2034 are slim indeed. Combining economic and political analysis the author examines SADC, its achievements and potential in detail. Special reference is given to the impact of the Zimbabwe crisis on regional integration.


Regional Integration, Trade and Industry in Africa

Regional Integration, Trade and Industry in Africa

Author: Helmut Asche

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-06-14

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 3030753662

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This book examines the past, present and prospects of regional economic integration in Africa. The empirical analysis ranges from unions formed during the years following independence, to the proposed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to remove trade barriers between all 55 African states. In addition, the book explores to what extent Africa’s Regional Economic Communities (RECs) have advanced in accordance with a linear integration model of goods, labor and capital markets. The book subsequently evaluates the suitability of the European model of deep integration with costly institutions for the conditions specific to Africa, considering, for example, the role of informal and non-recorded trade. Stylized cases of regional division of labour with increasing returns and imperfect competition are introduced to support the economic integration logic. Past and current economic policies in Africa are scrutinized to answer the question: how can African regions best foster new manufacturing industries and value chains across the continent? In conclusion, the book outlines content and processes of Common Industrial Policy in the African regions. The book also addresses the controversial issue of international trade agreements between developing countries and the European Union or the USA and investigates whether these agreements impede or promote economic development in Africa. The book includes a detailed roadmap describing how to improve key clauses of agreements for economic partnership in the interest of African countries. In closing, it outlines a new vision of joint sustainable development for Africa and Europe.


Regional Integration in the Global South

Regional Integration in the Global South

Author: Sebastian Krapohl

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-11-23

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 3319388959

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This book presents a theory of economic integration in developing regions, where the level of intraregional economic interdependence is low and the dependence on extra-regional economic relations is high. It argues that the success or failure of regional integration in the Global South is to a large degree dependent on the reaction of extra-regional actors in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. In doing so, it demonstrates that longstanding European integration theories cannot be successfully applied to other world regions, where economic conditions are fundamentally different. By providing detailed empirical analyses that are systematic in their use of a common theoretical and methodological framework the authors fill a significant lacuna in our understanding of these issues. This edited volume will appeal to students and scholars of comparative regionalism, area studies and global governance.


Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V

Assessing Regional Integration in Africa V

Author:

Publisher: UN

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13:

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The fifth of the series (ARIA/V) has come at a time of renewed enthusiasm for shortening the period of the vision of the Abuja Treaty. Its overall objective is to provide an analytical research publication that defines frameworks for African Governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, towards accelerating the establishment of the African Common Market through: the speedy removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, obstacles to free movement of people, investments and factors of production in general across Africa, and through fast-tracking the creation of an African continental Free Trade Area


Legal Reception and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa

Legal Reception and Regional Economic Integration in Southern Africa

Author: Diana Eunice Kawenda

Publisher: Anchor Academic Publishing

Published: 2017-08

Total Pages: 117

ISBN-13: 396067158X

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The dire African economic situation has been a perennial problem for the past six decades. Many problems emanate from slow economic growth, such as poverty and unemployment. There is a need for a collective effort to ensure economic growth, which would be the most viable solution to these problems, and the key to such a collective effort is regional economic integration (REI). This study examines REI within the legal context. It tests the proposition that the law can be used as a means to achieving REI. At the heart of this proposition lies the legal challenge that comes with the different approaches to legal reception and how they impede the realisation of REI. An analysis is performed of the theories related to legal reception, which include the monist, the dualist and the hybrid theories. REI was embraced in Europe and has yielded fruitful results. There is no doubt that the collective efforts to realise economic growth in other continents stem from the inspiration of the European example. Europe is used in this study to illustrate how the obstacles that accompany the different approaches to legal reception may be superseded. The study examines how the law was used in Europe as a means to attain REI. An attempt is then made to understand REI from an African perspective by setting out the legal framework and its shortcomings. Attention is paid to Africa’s sub-region of Southern Africa, and the study examines legal reception within Southern Africa and how the different approaches to legal reception within the two RECs, the SADC and COMESA, impact upon the realisation of REI. It seeks to evaluate the possibility that the African continent, particularly Southern Africa, may be able to use the law to attain REI. A further analysis is made by examining South Africa's approach to legal reception and how this impacts on the realisation of REI.