Assessment of Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA II) rationalization of Regional Economic Communities concept paper

Abstract

African countries are increasingly realising the virtue of regional co-operation and integration as a strategy to help them achieve robust and self-sustaining economic recovery and growth and thereby become an important and effective player in the global economy. Throuah this process, the continent can pool its capacities, endowments and energies together to transform itself, and thereby help uplift the lives of the millions of its peoples. To this end, African countries and governments, through the regional economic communities (RECs) and the OAU (now the AU), are doggedly trying to pursue the process of integration along a roadmap of establishing Free Trade areas. Customs Union and Common Markets. Eventually these efforts are expected to converse to an African Union, whereby economic, monetary, fiscal, social and sectoral policies would be totally integrated or become uniform among all countries. Through the wider economic and market space thus engineered, Africa can hope to strengthen its economic independence and empowerment vis-a vis the rest of the world.