Regional Integration in Africa

EENI- School of International Business

Course: The African Regional Integration. The Economic Communities (e-learning, 8 ECTS, )

Ten subjects compose the Course “Regional Integration in Africa” (distance learning):

1. Introduction to the Regional Integration in Africa (1 ECTS)
   1. The Regional Economic Communities (REC)
2. Status of the Regional Integration in Africa (2 ECTS)
3. The Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade (0.5 ECTS)
4. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Regional Trade and Integration in Africa (0.5 ECTS)
5. Regional financial integration in Africa (0.5 ECTS)
6. Infrastructures in Africa (1 ECTS)
   1. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) (0.3 ECTS)
7. The African Value Chains (0.5 ECTS)
8. The Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) (1 ECTS)
9. The Tripartite FTA COMESA-EAC-SADC (0.1 ECTS)
10. The African Continental Free-Trade Area (CFTA) (0.5 ECTS)

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Download the syllabus of the course “Regional Integration in Africa” (PDF)

The main objective of the course “Regional Integration in Africa” is to understand the irreversible process of the African Integration whose final goal is the creation of the “African Continental Free-Trade Area.”

The specific aims of the course “Regional Integration in Africa” are:

1. To understand the fundamental role of the African Union, the UNECA, the African Development Bank and the Regional economic communities and the overlapping of functions (“Spaghetti Bowl”) in the process of the African Integration
2. To understand the four pillars of the Africa’s Regional Integration
3. To understand the African Economic Community, the African Customs Union and the future “African Common Market”
4. To know the strengths and weakness of the African Integration
5. To know the Status of the Regional Integration in Africa
6. To identify the obstacles to the intra-African trade
7. To be familiar with the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade (to reach 25% of the intra-African trade)
8. To learn about the advantages of Information and communication technologies (ICT) applied to the inter-African Trade
9. To understand the integration of the African Financial system and the role of Cross-border banking
10. To understand the fundamental role of infrastructures (one of the drivers of the African Economic growth) and ICT (“African Mobile Revolution”) in the process of the African Integration
11. To be familiar with the PIDA (Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa)
12. To evaluate the cost of trading in Africa
13. To know how the African enterprises can take advantage of the African Value Chains
14. To learn about two good examples of African Integration: The OHADA (Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa) and the Tripartite Agreement (COMESA-EAC-SADC)
15. To know the paths towards the African Continental Free-Trade Area (CFTA), the benefits for Africa, and the potential scenarios to achieve it

Course intended for all those wishing to understand the path towards the African Continental Free-Trade Area and the socioeconomic implications for Africa.

Sample of the course - Regional Integration in Africa:

Subjects of the Course - Regional Integration in Africa:

Subject 1- Introduction to the Regional Integration in Africa. Syllabus:

This subject consists of four parts:

1- Introduction to the African Integration.

1. History of the Regional Integration Process in the African Continent
2. The Abuja Treaty
3. Towards an African Economic Community (AEC)
4. Treaties and Protocols on Regional Integration

2- Regional Economic Communities (RECs) In Africa (Summary).

1. CEN-SAD (Community of Sahel-Saharan States)
2. COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa)
3. EAC (East African Community)
4. ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States)
5. ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)
6. IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development)
7. SADC (Southern African Development Community)
8. UMA (Arab Maghreb Union)
9. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

3- Other African Economic Groups (Summary).

1. SACU (Southern African Customs Union)
2. MRU (Mano River Union)
3. IOC (Indian Ocean Commission)
4. WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union)
5. WAMZ (West African Monetary Zone)
6. ICGLR (International Conference on the Great Lakes Region)
7. CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa)

4- The Four Pillars of the Regional Integration in Africa.

1. Trade and Market Integration
2. Harmonisation of Sectoral Policies
3. Macroeconomic Policy Convergence, Financial, and Monetary Integration
4. Peace, Security, Stability, and Governance
5. Facts and figures about Regional Integration in Africa

Subject 2- Status of the Regional Integration in Africa. Syllabus:

1. Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) report (the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, and the Africa Union)
2. Developments in the major areas across the RECs (Regional Economic Communities)
3. Free movement of people and right of establishment
4. Macroeconomic policy convergence
5. Physical integration in Africa
   1. Road
   2. Railway.
   3. Air transport
   4. Energy
6. Developments at the inter-REC and continental levels
7. Mainstreaming regional integration
8. Harmonising Rules of origin across Africa
9. Trade Facilitation Measures and Programs
10. Market Access and Services
11. Trans-African Corridors initiatives
12. Best Practices in Regional Integration in Africa

Description of the Course: Regional Integration in Africa.

The Regional Economic Communities are the main customers of the Economic Commission for Africa at the sub-regional level. The commission and its Sub-Regional Office works in close collaboration with the main Regional Economic Communities to harmonise membership, reinforce policy and build technical capacity to pursue Regional Integration in Africa.

There are multiple regional trading blocs in Africa, known as Regional Economic Communities, many of which have overlapping memberships.

The ultimate goal of the Economic Commission for Africa is to create an African Common Market. An area where the Regional Economic Communities have been observed to be more active in trade and market integration.

On average, all the Regional Economic Communities and the intra-intergovernmental organisations registered positive growth in exports to the community members, with the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the CENSAD showing an average increase of 40% or more.

The West African Economic and Monetary Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Southern Africa development community, the Economic Community of West African States, the Arab Maghreb Union and the OIC registered growth in exports to the community in the range of 20-40%.

The Constitutive Act of the African Union makes it clear that the main goal of the African Union is to set up an African Economic Community and assigns to the Regional Economic Communities the primary responsibility. An intermediate stage in this effort is the transition of the Regional Economic Communities into customs unions.

A continuous evaluation of the integration efficiency in Africa is fundamental to gain a deeper understanding of the strengths and weakness of the African Integration efforts. It is from this perspective that the African Union Commission and the Economic Commission for Africa publish the report on Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA).

The cost of doing business in Africa is usually high, due in part to the infrastructure gaps, duplicative border customs procedures and uncomfortable paper requisites. The Paperless foreign trade remains a distant objective. The free movement of people and the right of establishment has advanced in some Regional Economic Communities but remain a paper objective in many other African sub-regions.

The African exports remain heavily concentrated in a few primary commodities, especially fuels and mining products. Of the top twenty products exported by Africa, the vast majority are fuels, fuel products, and mineral products. A few are basic agricultural commodities (sugar, cotton, cocoa, and coffee), and a slight number are manufactured goods.

The International Transport is critical to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (United Nations) and the objectives of the Regional Integration in Africa. It is of particular importance important to intensify Africa's competitiveness in regional and Global Markets by reducing the high cost of doing business in Africa, exacerbated by deficiencies in transport infrastructure.

❮ Samples of the Course: Regional Integration in Africa ❯