The Political Economy of Regional Integration and Development in Africa: Rethinking the theoretical models.

I. Introduction:

Regional integration has been on the agenda of policy makers in Africa from independence in the

late 1950s to date. Post independence nationalist leaders like Kwame Nkrumah sees political

integration as a necessary precondition for economic development on the continent1. Although

the idea of a full political integration was shelved for a gradual approach canvassed by the

Monrovia group like Nigeria and Liberia, successive leaders on the continent have never stopped

engaging in what is known among scholars of regionalism such as Fredrik Soderbaum and Tim

Shaw2 as Summitry regionalism as different plans have been made and are still being made for

full integration of the continent.

Regional integration in Africa is informed by the need to address the structural problems created

for African economies by the form of states bequeathed on the continent by departed

colonialists. Apart from the micro and landlocked nature of many of these states, virtually all

the states are externally oriented and unduly integrated into the global capitalist economy. As

Schneider3, contends, Africa is excessively open to the global capitalist system. This is

evidenced in the fact that the ‘ratio of extra-regional trade to GDP in Africa is twice that of Latin

America and nearly four times that of Europe’. Thus, the external orientation of African

economies has weakened the capacity for the actualization of the regional integration agenda. It

is even more problematic that Africa has been encouraged by development agencies such as the

World Bank and the International Monetary Fund4 to specialize in the production of commodities

for exports. Empirical evidences from the Asian countries show that Africa may not be able to

effectively harness economies of scale in production and leverage on large domestic markets that

hold great potentials for economic growth and development on the continent.

The political economy of regional integration and development in Africa relates to the nature and

the character of the state, the degree of commitment of political leaders, institutional capacity of

each state and the theoretical models under which regional integration has been framed in post-

independent Africa. The state in Africa is an artificial creation, whose main objective is

extraction of surplus for the developed economies in Europe, United States of America, Canada

and Japan. It was originally designed as a rental state which lacks capacity for productivity and

manufacturing5. The commitment of political leaders to full regional integration has been

affected by the paradox of nationalism and Pan –Africanism. While the leaders make slogans

about Pan-Africanism, they are conscious of their power base and the privileges that this confer

on them. Perpetuation of such privileges and the protection of the power base underlie the lack of

genuine commitment to a full integration of the African continent both economically and

politically6.

A transformational regional integration requires some level of institutional capacity both at the

national and regional levels. For example, the bureaucracy in each country must be staffed by

people who are capable and buy into the idea of integration7. The most important aspect of the

political economy of regional integration in Africa, which informs this paper, is the theoretical

model that has been adopted in Africa since independence, both at the sub-regional and

continental level. Neo-colonial African leaders, who often act as surrogates of the Transnational

Capitalist Class, to which they belong both by design and default8 have looked to Europe and its

integration process as an exemplar of process to follow in forming regional integration on the

continent.

Lacking in appreciation of the divergence in the evolution of the state in Europe and Africa,

African leaders have formed their integration agenda on the basis of market integration theory,

modernity and prevailing economic orthodoxy. This ‘Western, Euro-centric conceptions of

regionalism, particularly those centred on the market integration approach, have promoted a very

biased understanding of regional integration in many parts of the developing world’, thus leading

to a dismal performance in intra-African trade and making the prospect of a full continental

integration a remote possibility9. Despite the fits and starts of African experience with regional

integration, unfolding events in the global economy and a few instances of endogenous efforts in

enlarging the frontiers of interconnectedness, it remains the most viable path to economic

development as well as social and political stability on the continent today and in foreseeable

future10.

A study conducted by the United Nations Development Programme on regional integration and

human development11 shows the necessity of integration as a strategy for not just economic but

social development. For instance, based on empirical evidence from simulations in some

African and Asian countries, the study finds out that ‘continental integration as opposed to a

sub-regional approach within Africa or integration in global markets-leads to significant

increases in welfare across Africa. In contrast, global integration in the absence of regional

integration may reduce welfare in African regions under certain circumstances’12

Consequently, this paper examines the limitations of the theoretical models that have been

adopted for regional integration and argues for the application of a new theoretical approach

which, at once de-emphasize the centrality of the state in driving the process, and also presents

higher possibilities for the formulation of a context specific and transformational integration.

The next section examines the political economy of regional integration in Africa and the

challenges confronting the realization of a full continental integration. Section three examines

the various theories that have been applied in the process of driving integration in Africa as well

as their limitations, while section four proposes a nuanced and workable theoretical model that

can assist in both realizing the objective of a continental integration in Africa by 2025 and

making integration transformative, through affecting the lives of ordinary citizens of Africa.

Section five concludes with further recommendations.

II The Political Economy of Regional Integration in Africa.

Studies on regional integration, especially in African context has usually been examined from

the economic point of view13. However, regionalism and regional integration are ‘political

economy phenomenon that requires a more general theory of social and economic

transformation’14. Other scholars such as Bob Jessop and Iver Newmann 15 have established the

intricate relationship between regionalization, regionalism or regional integration and politics.

Whereas Jessop sees regions as emergent socially constituted phenomena, Newmann argues that

regionalism is an inherently political act, which must be reflectively acknowledged and

undertaken as such.

The state in Africa as it is currently constituted is a product of many years of interrelated

domestic and external forces that acted in unison to determine its composition; exploit, extort

and subjugate its very essence. These forces have also shaped the contemporary structure of its

economy, altered its natural boundaries, assaulted its culture and emasculated its capacity for

autonomous development. As Geoffrey Schneider16 argues,

In fostering wars and trade in slaves, other economic endeavours were displaced and contacts between many regions within Africa and other regions both inside and outside of Africa were disrupted. Thus, in a dialectical fashion, while some regions were experiencing globalization, others were increasingly isolated. And the regions with the strongest global linkages were experiencing a destructive

form of trade, rather than developing skills, industries and technologies that might form the basis for future economic successes.

He also notes that:

while colonialism enhanced African integration into the world economy, contacts between African states under rival colonial powers and between Africa and Asia were severed, disrupting long distance trading networks that had existed in much of Africa for centuries and decreasing the scope of products exported from many African countries…colonial powers actively discouraged entrepreneurial activities and manufacturing by Africans, preventing a wider range of African products from being produced and exported17

The structural disarticulation in African economies today is not by accident. As Bade Onimode 18

argues, Africa was forcefully integrated into the global capitalist economy not for its own

purpose of development, but for the sake of the development of the economies of the core

capitalist countries. The raw material export orientation of these ex-colonies was strategically

designed to be so. The forms of infrastructures that the colonialists developed were essentially

geared toward facilitating exports of raw materials. The strategy to keep African economies in a

disarticulated form did not end with colonialism. Former colonial masters such as Britain but

especially France continued to play active roles in playing the former colonies against one

another19 which has kept back genuine efforts toward achieving full integration on the continent.

International development agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF have continue to help

the erstwhile colonial masters in perpetuating their agenda by subtly and directly forcing Africa

leaders to keep their economies open to manufactured products from the west while

concentrating on exports of raw materials, on which according to these agencies, Africa has

comparative advantage.

Unfortunately, post-independence political leaders in Africa have cooperated with their former

colonial masters by involving themselves in primitive accumulation, inept leadership and

subservience to the dictates of the west20. Mismanagement of the economies of various countries

on the continent, with few exceptions created opportunity for the Bretton Woods institutions to

more or less usurp the power for policy making in African countries since the 1980s through

various reform packages and a virulent form of neo-liberal economic doctrine. Post-colonial

African leaders have paid lip service to regional integration because of its potential to undermine

the base of their power and authority. Given the kleptocratic nature of political leadership in

Africa, power confers enormous advantage such as influence, wealth and recognition. To

surrender these privileges willingly without the force of arm, in the name of regional integration

is akin to committing political suicide. The above historical narrative is essential for a full

understanding of the trajectory of regional integration and development in Africa today. Despite

the concerted efforts by agents of modernization to deconstruct and obstruct historical

interpretation of the African condition, history matters for development.

As stated earlier on, African leaders have made efforts to foster integration among the various

countries on the continent. However, such efforts have been informed by the need to follow the

example of European integration. Integration project on the continent has also been constructed

on the basis of creating market access for products from one region to the other. Other pertinent

issues such as industrialization cross border movement of people and cultural integration has not

received the kind of attention that is required to make integration meaningful and

transformational. Cases of xenophobic attacks on foreigners from one African country to the

other continue apace in places such as Nigeria against Ghana in the 1980s, periodic cases of

South Africa against her neighbours such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Nigerians and of late

Kenya against Nigerians.

Although various reasons which range from criminality to fears of taking over of local jobs are

often adduced for such actions, it goes to show that ordinary African citizens are yet to

understand the benefits of having their brothers and sisters from other countries making a living

in their exogenously constructed territories. The overarching benefits of regional integration has

not been effectively communicated to the rank and files of African citizens, For now, the

subjection of the integration agenda to purely economic imperative tends to cause hostility

against the idea, even at the most micro-level of the society.

The desire for market access creates its own challenges for integration on the continent. For

instance, overlapping integration, in which one country belongs to more than one free trade

areas, is a common feature of regional integration on the continent21 . Other challenges to

regional integration in Africa include infrastructural deficits, especially in sea and airports, road

networks, and rail networks. With the exception of South Africa, and increasingly Ghana,

Burkina Faso and a few other countries, generation and distribution of electricity to households

and industry remain a formidable challenge to majority of the countries in sib-Saharan Africa.

Institutional weaknesses at the national level also hinder effective planning, negotiation and

realization of the integration agenda. As the World Bank notes, in ‘Defragmenting Africa’ there

are various restrictions to the free movement of goods and services as well as of people across

the continent22. Low development of services industries such as finance markets, commodity

markets, capital markets as well as information communication technology also hinders effective

integration in Africa. These factors are responsible for the low performance of intra-Africa trade

today.

.

III. Dominant theoretical models of regional integration in Africa

Theory matters in social discourse as it gives meaning to perspectives and orientations.

According to Fredrik Soderbaum23 theory can be a very practical tool, which enables us to make

sense of the world. Many theories have been proposed for discussing regional integration in

Africa. While some of these theories are essentially related to the old regionalism such as neo-

functionalism, the focus of this section is the analysis of those theories of regional integration

that are essentially deterministic from economic perspective. This section examines four of such

theories, their limitations and implications for the success or failure of regional integration in

Africa.

Market Integration Approach:- The market integration approach to regional integration was

based on the liberalization of intraregional trade which was designed to abolish discrimination

between contracting parties.24 According to van Rooyen 25 ‘market integration involves the

lowering and removal of trade barriers between states in a region in order to increase trade

between them’. Following Ballassa (1962),26 Lee (2003)27 lists the various forms of market

integration to include, free trade areas, customs union, common markets, economic union and

total economic integration. This approach to regional integration is essentially deterministic in

that it only considers the economic aspect without looking at the political and social dimensions

of such arrangements. Besides, this approach essentially favour vertical integration, that is,

North- South integration. It is problematic for regional integration in Africa because of the low

level of industrialization of the economies as well as the concentration on primary exports.

The linear integration model of regional integration is not the most appropriate way to conceive

or structure regional integration in Africa. This is because the barriers to intra-regional trade

have more to do with underdeveloped production structures and inadequate infrastructure rather

than with tariffs or regulatory barriers. Also, many of the structural pre-conditions inherent in

the market integration paradigm are absent in Africa. Despite its limitation, it is the dominant

theoretical model informing regional integration in Africa today. Under some unique

circumstances few countries in Africa such as Mauritius and Botswana owed their continued

economic growth to the application of this model of integration, especially with the European

Community.

The Neoliberal Economic Theory

This theory is in the main, a variant of the market integration approach to regionalism. It

favours North-South integration while at the same time focusing on the integration of peripheral

economies into the global economy. According to Gibb28, this approach prioritizes ‘open

regionalism ….as a mechanism to enhance multilateral liberalization and promote integration in

the world economy. It is underpinned by the principle of comparative advantage, which says that

countries should specialize in producing what they are specially endowed to produce. Given the

specialization of the third world countries in Africa in the production of raw materials, this

theory somehow replicates the regime of what Sarmin Amin29 called unequal exchange between

the North and the South. In agreeing with Gibb, Gamble and Payne30 the neo-liberal theoretical

framework of analyzing integration is open regionalism, which tend to reinforce the detrimental

effects of economic globalization and global capitalism. They also see the contemporary form of

regionalism as a manifestation of economic globalization and prevailing form of hegemony.

Dependency or Development Cooperation Approach

This developed as a reaction to modernization theory of the 1950s. Modernization theory was

developed by Western scholars studying the political economies of the newly independent states

of Latin America, Asia and Africa. They attributed the development challenges of these

countries to low political culture and undeveloped institutions. One of such scholars was W.W

Rostow 31 who attributed the development problems of the new nations as typical of countries at

their levels of development. He concludes that these countries possess the characteristics of

traditional societies, which will change to modern societies as they follow certain five stages,

which he termed stages of economic growth.

Dependency theory countered such postulations and tagged them a-historical. With particular

regard to a strategy for economic development, it emphasized development cooperation using

import –substitution industrialization strategy and protectionism32. According to Spero and

Hart33, due to the relative important position of developing countries in the 1970s (a result of the

oil crisis) this approach was adopted as a counter-poise to neo-classical approach. Its importance

is echoed by the strong voice of the call for a New International Economic Order (NIEO)

However, because like the neo-liberal approach, dependency is also essentially economistic, it

fails to capture other non-economic factors such as politics, history of state formation and

diversities among states, that drive regional integration. Therefore, as far as regional integration

in Africa is concerned, this approach has not facilitated economic development.

New Economic Geography Theories of Regional Integration.

The contribution of this theory to the issue of regional integration is premised on the prediction

that while all countries in South-South cooperation have a comparative disadvantage in

manufacturing relative to the global economy, there will be one with less of a disadvantage than

the others (i.e the regional growth pole)34. This will result into a situation where industrial

activities will be relocated to the country that is relatively advantaged at the expense of others.

As Draper35 further argues, due to reduction in tariff in the regional economic community,

countries that suffer from relocation of industries will experience trade diversion. The overall

effects of these could include generation of political tensions, loss of economies of scale and

retrogression in regional integration36.

The summary of this theory is that rather than encourage horizontal integration, that is, among

South-South countries, the underlying political friction and the loss of economic benefits to

weaker members of Regional Economic Cooperation (RCC) will undermine economies of scale.

African countries that are so characterized by integral weakness and structural problem are

encouraged to focus on forming vertical integration, that is, with advanced capitalist economies

of the North37. Interestingly, regardless of the benefits or loss to African countries from regional

integration, political elites on the continent have been more inclined to following the prescription

of this theory.

The end result of the market approach to integration in Africa is the low level of intra-Africa

trade, ‘the continent’s structural deficiency, which manifests itself in the dichotomy between the

traditional and modern sectors in the excessive dependence on external inputs, and in external

rather than domestic markets, as the principal mover in the development process’38. According to

WTO39 intra Africa trade has consistently remained low, averaging 10-12 percent in the last

decade. Africa lags behind other regions in the world in terms of intra-regional trade. For

instance, in 2009, intra-European trade was 72 percent, intra Asian trade (52 percent), intra-

North America trade (48 percent), intra-South and Central American trade (26 percent).

The tendency to see regional integration purely as economic activities such as preferential trade

area or a customs union obscures other aspects of the concept and limits its application as a

development strategy40

IV. Regional Integration Theory and Praxis: Towards a workable Model in Africa.

Against the backdrop of the failure of the afore-mentioned theoretical models to drive

transformational integration and economic development in Africa, it becomes imperative to re-

examine the basis of integration on the continent. Regional integration as a development strategy

flows from regionalism. But regionalism is not a neutral spatial phenomenon. It is both a

response and a reactive process to the hegemony of global capitalist order. As Amin41argues, the

industrial development of capitalism has been to gradually move from the local to the global, and

at each step to create new polarizing tendencies. To be able to improve their economic positions,

peripheral countries have had to delink themselves from the global system and adopt alternative,

countervailing strategies, one of which is regionalisation. And as Allen Scott 42notes, ‘the

continual expansion of capitalism over the very long run makes it extremely mutable in

geographic terms’.

As the debates between what constitute old and new regionalism unfolds, perhaps a good

understanding of what constitute new regionalism might be helpful to lay a theoretical model that

will be adaptable for regional integration and development in Africa. Varynen43 made a balanced

analysis of the dominant literature on the process of regionalization and how that can lead to a

regional arrangement that fosters not just economic cooperation, but political trust and cultural

belonging. As he explains, ‘the process of intraregional change is often called regionalization

and depicted conceptually as a multidimensional (economic, security, cultural and

environmental) process that proceeds simultaneously on several levels.

Regionalisation evolves into regionness, which according to Hettne44 implies the degrees of

regionalization that have occurred in terms of spatiality, cooperation and identity. The above

falls into the conceptual and empirical orientation of the new regionalism approach. This

approach to the explanation of inter-state cooperation is not limited to economic activities.

Rather, it incorporates social, political, security and environmental concerns. Importantly, it is

process that is driven from below with the cooperation of non-state actors such as civil-society

organizations and the private sector. Olivier45 lend credence to this approach when he amplifies

that under ‘New Regionalism Approach ‘integration is conceptualized as a multidimensional

and socially constructed phenomenon, wherein cooperation occurs across economic, political,

security, environment and other issues. It involves not only state actors but also private industry

and civil society’. Mistry46 argues that in contrast to conventional economic integration theory,

the New Regionalism theory is not a second best but actually a first best solution (to the

problems of the South), in response to dysfunctional multilateralism and globalization.

In view of the broad based coverage of the New Regionalism Approach, its benefits to all parties

and in particular the ownership of the process by the private sector and the civil society, this

paper argues that this approach should be the underlying force that drive regional integration in

Africa. The suitability of this approach to the discourse on regional integration in Africa is based

on some valid assumptions. One, since it has been proved above that unwillingness to let go their

power base has been responsible for the lackluster attitude of political leaders to integration in

Africa, pressures from the civil society and the private sector will make them to act in

accordance with the continental integration of the continent. Two, the failure of the economic-

centric approach to integration can be mitigated by making the integration agenda to be all-

encompassing, to include plans for political cooperation, security, cultural identity and

environmental sustainability.

On the issue of security for instance, the emergence of cross-national terrorist organizations like

Boko Haram, Al Shabab, Ansaru in the East and West African regions has shown that a

continental approach to security is of absolute necessity. Third, as argued above, pre-colonial

African nations related well among themselves and they have some cultural and linguistic

affinities, which can be harnessed at the supranational level. The new approach to regional

integration in Africa should incorporate recognition of these socio-cultural and linguistic

relations. The structure of the current state and regions are not sacrosanct and they can be

changed. To the extent that socially, culturally and politically constructed affinities facilitated

cross border flow of goods and services as well as movement of people from one region to the

other in pre-colonial times, they could help to enhance integration of the continent today.

As Hettne47theoretical formulation of New Regionalism connotes, regions are processes, which

involve making or unmaking as well as shifting in boundaries. Using a constructivist approach,

he contends that regions comes to life as we talk and think about it. The import of this theory is

that given the shifting nature of what today constitutes regions of the world both in spatial and

structural terms, concern for development should warrant an obliteration of the artificially

constructed boundaries both at the regional and national levels. The New Regionalism Approach

falls under the critical-constructivist theory of international political economy, which challenge

the existing theories such as neorealism and neoliberalism

Despite the various set-backs in meeting the deadline for fusion of Regional Economic

Communities in Africa as indicated in the Abuja Treaty48, recent developments in East Africa

portend prospect for a full integration in Africa. Countries like Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and

Burundi have already started making moves to convert the EAC into a federal union. The sixteen

countries of the Economic Community of West African States have also made tremendeous

progress in building regional institutions on monetary, health, legislative and judicial issues.

According to UNECA49 , the top four RECs which actively pursued intra-REC exports were

SADC (accounting for 34 percent of intra-REC trade), CEN-SAD, (26 percent), ECOWAS (15

percent) and COMESA (11 percent).

The report also notes that growth in intra-COMESA trade has been particularly impressive with

value of exports increasing from US$1,701 million in 2002 to US$8,587 million in 2010. The

Southern African Development Community and Southern African Union, which is the most

development regional economic community on the continent, are both anchored on some

institutions, which can facilitate easy integration. The impressive performance of this region is

based on what Schneider50 called autocentred economy, which favour manufacturing and

production, rather than the prevalent emphasize on commercialization and removal of barriers to

trade and investment.

Notwithstanding the reality of current tension and the possibility of future concerns by smaller

countries in the SACU, as pointed out by Alden and Soko51, the uniqueness of this regional

economic integration in terms of ability to establish a manufacturing corridor as well as well

developed infrastructure could serve as a basis for greater expansion, but importantly as learning

example for other regional economic communities that have been based solely on removal of

barriers to trade or commercialization. Political tensions that may arise in the process of

consolidating the gains recorded from such integration efforts can be mediated by non-state

stakeholders like the private sector and the civil society. As Mattli52 notes, demand factors

emanating from business leaders in a region are more decisive than the supply side actions of

politicians. The overall benefits from a more functional and transformative integration in Africa

should stimulate more pragmatic and concerted action among non-state actors to fast-track the

full implementation of all treaties, protocols and agreements made under the auspices of the

African Union Commission. But as it has been noted above, the focus should not just be

economic consideration but social, cultural, linguistic and political integration.

V. Summary and Conclusions.

This paper has examined the prevailing theoretical orientations that underlie ongoing attempt

at forming regional integration in Africa. It has examined the political economy of Africa,

using as a point of departure, the historical foundations of the current asymmetric

relationship with the advanced capitalist countries. The paper argues that integration efforts

on the continent has, while following the European model of integration, focused excessively

on the economic imperative. It contends that by neglecting the political and social dynamics

of African societies, the various theories such as market integration, liberal, new geography

thesis or even dependency have failed to foster integration on the continent. The low intra-

Africa trade that have been recorded since the launch of various integration schemes are a

function of the structural weaknesses in the domestic economies of African countries, and

the undue focus on commercialization at the expense of manufacturing.

It is the central contention of this paper that the desire to establish African Community

Market and an African Economic Community may not be realized unless a new theoretical

approach to integration is adopted at the level of conceptualization of the drivers of the

process and the focus of the integration agenda. While establishment of free trade areas may

be the fad in Europe and the United States of America with more developed economic and

institutional structures, the particular condition of Africa in terms of the structure of the

economies, weak state institutions, sovereignty and power conscious political elites, and fear

of domination by the bigger countries calls for a new approach to regional integration.

Examples from integration in Asia show that removal of trade barriers among contiguous

countries is not enough. Production and manufacturing that is anchored on developmental

industrial and trade policy are critical elements. As UNDP study shows53 formulation of a

regional industrial policy could encourage skills upgrading for value added in agriculture and

other manufacturing opportunities. Examples from the support given by Association of

South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to small and medium enterprises for building

an integrated economic space by unbundling production across countries could be a

benchmark on industrial policy in Africa.

The New regionalism approach which embraces the involvement of more stakeholders, and

which provokes regionalism from below is deemed to be more appropriate. The state-centric

approach to regional integration is fraught with multiple complexities that undermine its

utilitarian values. As Boas, Marchand and Shaw54 have argued in respect of the importance of

a multi-stakeholder approach to regionalism,

There is so much more to current regionalization process than whatever can be captured by a focus on states and formal regional organization. In many parts of the world, what feeds people, organizes them and construct their world views is not the state and its formal representatives (at local, national, or regional level), but the informal sector and its multiple networks, civil society, new movements and associations. Of course people participate not solely in the formal or the informal sector. Rather, they move in and out of both and its precisely this kind of interactions and

the various forms of regionalism that they create, which studies of regionalization should try to capture

Flowing from the above, it is imperative for all stakeholders to be involved in driving a

continental integration that is capable of bringing about transformational development, which

encompasses social, economic, cultural and political development in Africa.

At the level of the economy, regional development corridors that focus on industrialization

are necessary to be established in the various regions under a very strong public-private

partnership. This will require more investment in infrastructures across the continent. As

political elites are unlikely to yield their power base to the control of any supranational

authority, it is incumbent on the civil society organizations and the private sector to advocate

for a transformational integration in Africa. As Oloruntoba and Gumede 55have

recommended, one of the ways through which a transformational integration can be achieved

on the continent is through a deliberate effort by African Union Commission to be involved

in spear-heading the fusing of various Regional Economic Communities into one. Successful

completion of the fusion of one or two RECs would be followed by others.

Communication of the benefits of integration to all the stakeholders will be very instrumental

to the achievement of full integration in Africa. The people who are the focus of development

will buy in into the agenda if they know that they will derive benefit from the process. This

will require the development and deployment of both hard and soft communication

infrastructure on the continent. Another critical point of emphasis is the need to boost

indigenous industrialists in Africa. While foreign direct investment can stimulate

development, experiences of this in Africa over the past decades show that foreign direct

investment concentrate their activities in extractive sectors such as oil and gas and mineral.

As important as this sector is, their multiplier effects on Africa’s economy is very minimal.

Indigenous companies like Dangote Group, MTN and others should be given incentive to

expand their operations to different parts of Africa. This can increase learning effects, create

job opportunities, boost skills acquisition and expand the value chains agro-allied businesses,

mineral processing and technology transfers across the various regions.

1 Nkrumah (1963)’s famous statement ‘seek ye first the political kingdom and all that things shall be added underscore the importance that was attached to political integration in Africa.2 Summitry regionalism here refers to the various meetings among African Heads of States and Government to forge ahead with the project of integration in Africa. Examples of such summits include the Lagos Plan of Action, Abuja Treaty, African Economic Community and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) See Soderbaum, F and Sbraiga, A. 2010. Linking European Integration and Comparative Regionalism. Paper for UACES Conference. Bruges3 Schneider G, 2003 ‘Globalisation and the poorest of the poor’.2003:p5.4 Ibid.5 Ake, Claude, 1980. The Political Economy of Africa, empahises this point and show how the colonial government deliberately encouraged cash crop farming and concentration on raw material as against industrialization.6 Olivier, G ‘2010’. Integrative Cooperation in Africa.7 Kaplan, S 2006. West African Integration: A New Development Paradigm? Kaplan gives a detailed account of how bureaucrats, who feel threatened by the establishment of supra-national organisation, which regional integration requires deliberate act to frustrate such projects.8 Robison, W 2004 ‘The Theory of Global Capitalism’ describes the Transnational Capitalist Class as owners of foreign capital, their corporations, the international agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the National Bourgeoisies in neo-colonial states. These elites, on account of personal benefits make policies that favour the multinational corporations, even if such as sub-optimal to their people. 9 Gibb, R, 2009, p 701. ‘Regional Integration and Africa’s Development Trajectory: meta-theories, expectations and reality. Gibb argues that various theoretical models that inform regional integration in Africa are essentially based on market integration. The result of which is the failure of such endeavours. However, Schneider, 2003, qualifies this general assumption by alluding to the relatively successive integration programme in Southern Africa, where manufacturing, technology and skills development was considered important and applied. 10 Olivier, G, 2010, World Bank, 2012: Defragmenting Africa, UNECA, 2004. Regional Integration in Africa. These studies show that regional integration is the most viable option to development in Africa11 UNDP, 2011: Regional Integration and Human Development: Pathway to Africa. New York: UNDP. This study emphasise the relevance of continental integration to African development. Apart from economic issues, it stresses that regional integration can actually contribute to social development in education, health and environmental sustainability 12 Ibid p813 World Bank, 2012, Draper, 2010. These studies concentrate on the economic variables that drives regional integration. Draper for instance focuses his study on the issue of economic agglomeration, size of the market and the possibility for competition by firms. 14 Gibb, R 2009,p 70215 Jessop, B. 2005, The Political Economy of Scale and the Construction of Cross-Border Micro-regions, Newmann, I, 2005. A Region Building Approach. 16 Schneider, G 2003, p 390 17 Ibid, p 391.18 Onimode, B 1988. A Political Economy of African Economic Crisis. . Onimode creatively linked the crisis of development in Africa today to the disarticulation caused by the tripod of slave trade, imperialism, and colonialism. This is being accentuated today by post-colonialism. 19 Asante, S.K 1986. The Political Economy of Regionalism in Africa: A Decade of ECOWAS. New York20 Joseph, R. 2013 ‘The Logic and Legacy of Prebendalism in Nigeria in Adebanwi, W , and Obadare, E. Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: Critical Interpretations. New York: Palgrave Macmillian. What is true of Nigeria is true of many countries in Africa.

21 Ott, A and Patino, O, 2009. Is Economic Integration the Solution to African Development? Int. Adv Econ Res. 15: 278-295. The author shows the various regional economic communities ion Africa. While others are deriving benefits, some stay as laggards.

22 World Bank, 2012 Defragmenting Africa: Deepening Regional Trade Intergation in Good and Services. Washington, DC. World Bank. The study shows that the huge potentials in cross border trade is lost in Africa due to the various obstacles to free movement of goods and services.

23 Soderbaum, F, 2004. Introduction: Theories of New Regionalism. In Soderbaum, F and Shaw, T. Theories of New Regionalism: A Palgrave Reader. London: Palgrave Macmillan24 Gibb, 2009: p705

25 Rooven, V 1998: p128.Regional Integration as a Development Strategy: The Case of SADC. Africa Insight. Vol. 28. No.3/4

26 Ballassa, B.1962, The theory of Economic Integration. London: Allen and Urwin. His stage approach to regional integration is still very prominent today.27 Lee, M, 2003. The Political Economy of Regionalism in Africa. Cape Town: UCT Press28 Gibb, 2009, p70829 Amin, S 1976. Un-Equal Development: An Essay on the Peripheral Formation of Capitalism. London: Harvester Press

30 Gamble, A and Payne, A, 2005 ‘The World Order Approach’ 31 Rostow, W 1960. Stages of Economic Growth: A Non Communist Manifesto32 Frank, A, 1966. The Development of Underdevelopment. Monthly Review. September, pp 17-3533 Spero and Hart, 2010, The Politics of International Economic Relations34 Draper, 2010, p 18 Rethinking the (European) Foundations of sub-Saharan African Regional Economic Integration: A Political Economy Essay. Working Paper 293, Paris: OECD. 35 ibid36 Collier and Venable, 2008. Trade and Economic Performance. Does African Fragmentation Matter? Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics.37 World Bank, 2000. Trade Blocs. Policy Research Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press38 UNECA, 2013. Eight Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration. Report on International and Intra-Africa Trade. 6-8, February. This report assesses the performance of Regional Economic Cooperation in Africa. It shows that intra-Africa trade has been specifically lower than trade with the outside world, especially Europe. 39 WTO 2011. World Trade Organisation (WTO). World Trade Report40 Varynen R, 2003. Regionalism: Old and New. The author argues that Economists think regionalism is only limited to Preferential Trade Agreements or Customs Union. It is instructive that this economic view has been the dominant paradigm for viewing regional integration in Africa since independence era.41 Amin , S 199642 Scott, A 1998,p 25. Regions and the World Economy: The Coming Shape of Global Production.43 Varynen, R 200344 Hettne, B 199945 Olivier, G 46 Mistry, P. 2005, ‘New Regionalism and Economic Development’ In47 Hettne, B, 2005. The New Regionalism Revisited’ In.48 Ibid. Olivier shows how the Abuja Treaty highlights the roles of Regional Economic Communities as building blocks for political and economic integration in Africa.49 UNECA, 2013, Eight Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration. Report on International and Intra-Africa Trade. 6-8,50 Schneider, G 2003. The emphasis on manufacturing is particularly relevant to the African situation because it is through production that jobs can be created. 51 Alden, C and Soko, M, 2005. South Africa’s Economic Relations with Africa: Hegemony and its discontents. Journal of Modern African Studies. Vol. 43: 3,pp 367-392. These authors detail the perceived overbearing influence and undue advantage that South Africa has over smaller countries like Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland in terms of revenue from duties. They also advised that it might be in the interest of all for South Africa to make room for some compromises such that these smaller countries can derive more benefits from the union.52 Mattli, W, 1999. The Logic of Regional Integration: Europe and Beyond. New York: Cambridge University Press53 UNDP, 2011 p954 Boas, M, Marchand, M and Shaw, T 200. The Weave World: The Regional Interweaving of Economies, Ideas and Identities. In In Soderbaum, F and Shaw, T. Theories of New Regionalism: A Palgrave Reader. London: Palgrave Macmillan

55 Oloruntoba and Gumede, 2013. Regional Hegemons as catalyst for continental integration. A Comparative analysis of the roles of Nigeria and South Africa in Africa’s Integration and Development. Paper prepared for the 3 rd Colloquium of Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute, University of South Africa, August 22-24,

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