Regional integration in Africa versus higher levels of intra-Africa trade

Abstract

Regional integration arrangements have mushroomed worldwide, both on intra-regional and extra-regional levels. On an intra-regional level, Africa faces a complicated grid of multiple and overlapping membership of several regional integration organisations, aiming to increase intraregional trade and cooperation. In this study, a comparative analysis will be executed, based on an intra-regional breakdown of trade, using the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa classification of countries according to geographical region. The level of intra-regional trade will be determined, whereafter the level of inter-regional trade will be established and, lastly, trade with the rest of the world. It seems that despite the high level of regional integration within Africa, it does not necessarily stimulate intra-Africa trade to expected levels as proposed by literature. A regional integration strategy that would cause deeper integration is crucial if the continent is to play a rightful role in the global arena.

The Dynamics of Regional Economic Integration: A System Dynamics Analysis of Pathways to the Development of Value Chains in the Southern African Customs Union

“…The system dynamics methodology allows for dynamic structures to be included in a model, with key steps that include: 1) the problem articulation; 2) dynamic hypotheses development and formulation of the model; 3) testing; and 4) policy formulation and evaluation. 2 The Southern African Customs Union, the oldest in the world, has as its members Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. SACU member states are linked through a single tariff between member countries, and have zero customs duties for trade between partners.…”

“…This article considers the case of the Southern African Customs Union 2 , as an example of challenges for economic integration to deliver on its promises.…”

“…Further benefits may include coordination and collective bargaining power through regional agreements, improved management of shared natural resources, and a reduced threat of conflict between countries. Under the condition of sufficient substitutes, demand in the region may increase, which may lead to increased competition in the trade zone [1], [2], [6]- [8].…”

Regional Integration in the Inter-City Technology Transfer System of the Yangtze River Delta, China

“…The establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957 achieved the market integration of six countries (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg), which greatly promoted trades and investments among member countries. At that time, the goal of regional integration was to remove barriers to free trade in that region, promoting the free flow of people, labor, goods, and capital [8], which is still the goal that many regions of the world are struggling for in their regional integration [9][10][11][12]. The official establishment of the EU in 1993 and the issuance of euro banknotes and coins in 2002 made that the goal of regional integration, in addition to eliminating trade barriers, was to achieve economic policy reunification.…”

“…Although globalization is often considered as a worldwide phenomenon of regional integration [1], we have to admit that the core-periphery structure of global economy under globalization is becoming more prominent [2][3][4], which means that marginal countries or regions are being more marginalized [5][6][7]. Beginning with the elimination of trade barriers between countries in the same region to achieve economic integration [8], regional integration has been putting emphasis on promoting the economic development of developing and underdeveloped regions [9][10][11][12], and narrowing the gap of internal development within a country [13,14], especially in China [15][16][17][18].…”