Regional Integration in West Africa

Regional Integration in West Africa
Author: Eswar Prasad
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0815738544

" Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "

Regional Integration in the Middle East and North Africa

Regional Integration in the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Tarik Oumazzane
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2022-04-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789813364547

This book analyses and assesses the Agadir Agreement’s impact on economic integration, its effect on political cooperation, and its role in promoting peace between participating countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Since the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, the geo-political situation in MENA has further drifted towards instability and uncertainty. Expert analysis of the region seems to lurch from one crisis to another without moving beyond a focus on conflict. Few scholars have recognised that the MENA governments have long regarded regional economic integration as a chief policy objective to facilitate intra-regional trade and promote political cooperation and peace. Realising the shortcomings of the various integrative processes, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan signed the Agadir Agreement in 2004. To this date, it stands as one of the most significant economic agreements in the MENA region. Taking into account this variety of factors, this book offers a new assessment of the pull between unity and disunity in the Middle East and North Africa region

The East African Community

The East African Community
Author: Jean-Marc Trouille
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2021
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781003143666

"This book brings together African and European experts from a variety of disciplines to examine the origins and current state of the East African Community (EAC). Over the course of the book the authors analyse the rich tapestry of intraregional relations in East Africa, the EAC's similarities with the European Union, and the future challenges faced by the organisation. Widely regarded as the most advanced and successful regional integration scheme in Africa, the EAC is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and, since 2016, South Sudan. It is the oldest among Africa's regional economic communities, and among the continent's most promising growth areas, with a long history of integration, punctuated by several false starts and traumas that have profoundly affected its body politics. When initially set up, the EAC model bore a striking resemblance to the process undergone by the European Union. Now, as the EAC continues to establish its own identity, this book argues that whilst Europe's history may provide useful insights for EAC member states, the EAC experience could in turn also offer lessons for the European Union. Covering key dimensions such as integration, cooperation, development, trade and investments, this book highlights the intricate and complex relationships between East African states, and it will be of interest to researchers working on economic development, international relations, peace and security, and African studies"--

Regional Integration in Africa

Regional Integration in Africa
Author: Msuya Waldi Mangachi
Publisher: Safari Books Limited
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2011
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789788431022

The objective of this book is to investigate various initiatives to integrate the East African region from the colonial period to 2000, when the new East African Community (EAC) was formed. The analysis is focused on the process of integration from 1948 when formal institutions of cooperation were created under the East African High Commission (EAHC), and its transformation in 1961 into the East African Common Services Organisation (EACSO). The author argues that efforts made to integrate the British East African colonial territories of Tanganyika, Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar, through these organisations, was largely aimed at consolidating colonial and imperial interests; the concentration of most assets and investments in Kenya resulting in inequitable sharing of benefits. He posits that the continuation of these inequalities were carried over to the East African Community in 1966 and led to its collapse, together with different developmental paths followed by the countries. He argues that the EAC formed in 2000 largely due to pressures of globalistion and trade liberalisation; and makes recommendations as to how the EAC can become a truly regional structure.

The East African Community

The East African Community
Author: Ms.Catherine McAuliffe
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2012-11-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475586310

The East African Community (EAC) has been among the fastest growing regions in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade or so. Nonetheless, the recent growth path will not be enough to achieve middle-income status and substantial poverty reduction by the end of the decade—the ambition of most countries in the region. This paper builds on methodologies established in the growth literature to identify a group of countries that achieved growth accelerations and sustained growth to use as benchmarks to evaluate the prospects, and potential constraints, for EAC countries to translate their recent growth upturn into sustained high growth. We find that EAC countries compare favorably to the group of sustained growth countries—macroeconomic and government stability, favorable business climate, and strong institutions—but important differences remain. EAC countries have a smaller share of exports, lower degree of financial deepening, lower levels of domestic savings, higher reliance on donor aid, and limited physical infrastructure and human capital. Policy choices to address some of these shortcomings could make a difference in whether the EAC follows the path of sustained growth or follows other countries where growth upturns later fizzled out.

Economic Integration in Africa

Economic Integration in Africa
Author: Richard E. Mshomba
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-05-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781316637128

In this work, Richard E. Mshomba offers an in-depth analysis of economic integration in Africa with a focus on the East African Community (EAC), arguably the most ambitious of all the regional economic blocs currently in existence in Africa. Economic Integration in Africa provides more than just an overview of regional economic blocs in Africa; it also offers a rich historical discussion on the birth and death of the first EAC starting with the onset of colonialism in the 1890s, and a systematic analysis of the birth, growth, and aspirations of the current EAC. Those objectives include forming a monetary union and eventually an East African political federation. This book also examines the African Union's aspirations for continent-wide integration as envisioned by the Abuja Treaty. Mshomba carefully argues that maturity of democracy and good governance in each country are prerequisites for the formation of a viable and sustainable East African federation and genuine continent-wide integration.

East African Community Law

East African Community Law
Author: Emmanuel Ugirashebuja
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 553
Release: 2017-03-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004322078

East African Community Law provides a comprehensive and open-access text book on EAC law. Written by leading experts, including the president of the EACJ, national judges, academics and practitioners, it provides the most complete overview to date of this increasingly important field. Uniquely, the book also provides a systematic comparison with EU law. EU companion chapters provide concise overviews of EU law and its development, offering valuable inspiration for the application and further development of EAC law. The book has been written for all practitioners, judges, civil servants, academics and students faced with questions of EAC law. It discusses institutional, substantive and jurisdictional issues, including the nature of EAC law, free movement and competition law as well as the reception of EAC law in Partner States.

Regional Integration and Migration in Africa

Regional Integration and Migration in Africa
Author: Vusi Gumede
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2020-06-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004411224

This comparative book debates migration and regional integration in the two regional economic blocs, namely the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The book takes a historical and nuanced citizenship approach to integration by analysing regional integration from the perspective of non-state actors and how they negotiate various structures and institutions in their pursuit for life and livelihood in a contemporary context marked by mobility and economic fragmentation.

Regional Economic Communities

Regional Economic Communities
Author: Olutayo, Akinpelu O.
Publisher: CODESRIA
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2015-12-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 2869786328

This book examines how the existence of overlapping regional institutions has presented a daunting challenge to the workings of various Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the African continent. The majority of the African countries are members of overlapping and, sometimes, contradictory RECs. For instance, in East Africa, while Kenya and Uganda are both members of EAC and COMESA, Tanzania, which is also a member of the EAC, left COMESA in 2001 to join SADC. In West Africa, while all former French colonies belong to ECOWAS, they simultaneously keep membership of UEMOA, an organization which is not recognized by the African Union (AU). Such multiple and confusing memberships create unnecessary duplication and dims the light on what ought to be priority. Various chapters in this book have therefore sought to identify and proffer solutions to related challenges confronting the workings of the RECs in different sub-regions of the African continent. The discourses range from security to the stock exchange, identity integration, development framework, labour movement and cross-border relations. The pattern adopted in the book involves devolution of related discussions from the general to the specific; that is, from the continental level to sub-regional case studies.

Borders, Mobility, Regional Integration and Development

Borders, Mobility, Regional Integration and Development
Author: Christopher Changwe Nshimbi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2020-06-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030428907

This book examines social, economic and political issues in West, Eastern and Southern Africa in relation to borders, human mobility and regional integration. In the process, it highlights the innovative aspects of human agency on the African continent, and presents a range of empirical case studies that shed new light on Africa’s social, economic and political realities. Further, the book explores cooperation between African nation-states, including their historical socioeconomic interconnections and governance of transboundary natural resources. Moreover, the book examines the relationship between the spatial mobility of borders and development, and the migration regimes of nation-states that share contiguous borders in different geographic territories. Further topics include the coloniality of borders, sociocultural and ethnic relations, and the impact of physical borders on human mobility and wellbeing. Given its scope, the book represents a unique resource that offers readers a wealth of new insights into today’s Africa.