African Economic Area

Module: Economic Area of the African Civilisation.

The module: “Economic Area of the African Civilisation” consists of nine parts:

1. Introduction to the African Civilisation
2. History of Africa (PDF)
   1. Leadership of Africa in the history of humanity
   2. Slave Trade
   3. Abolition of the Slavery
   4. African Historians
   5. African Diaspora
3. Key economic institutions of the African Civilisation (PDF)
   1. African Union
      1. NEPAD
   2. African Development Bank
   3. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
4. African Business and Economy (PDF)
   1. African Economic Transformation
   2. Intra-African trade
   3. Economic governance in Africa
   4. Frontier Markets in Africa
   5. Africa: Next Emerging Continent
   6. Businesswomen and Businessman of the African Economic Area
5. African Economic Area of the African Civilisation
   1. Nigeria and/or South Africa as the Central States of the African Civilisation
   2. Economic Profile of the African Countries
   3. African Economic Areas and regional integration in Africa
      1. West African Economic Area (2 ECTS) (PDF)
      2. Central African Economic Area (1 ECTS) (PDF)
      3. Southern African Economic Area (1 ECTS) (PDF)
      4. East African Economic Area (2 ECTS) (PDF)
      5. Maghrebian Economic Area (1 ECTS) (PDF)
6. Economic Integration of the African Civilisation (Economic Organisations, Trade Agreements)
7. Transport and Logistics in Africa
8. Interactions of the African Civilisation with the other civilisations
9. Other economic institutions related to the African Civilisation

The objectives of the module “African Economic Area” are the following:

1. To define the characteristics of the Economic Area of the African Civilisation
2. To know the economic profile of the African Countries
3. To understand the influence of African Traditional Religions, Islam and Christianity on the African Economic Area
4. To understand the processes of economic integration of the African Civilisation
5. To analyse the main African business people
6. To know the economic relationships of the African Civilisation with other civilisations (Western, Sinic, Buddhist, Hindu, Orthodox, and Islamic)
7. To analyse the main economic organisations related to the African Economic Area

Preliminary Note: Some scholars, especially in the West, prefer not to consider the existence of the African Civilisation. Our view is the opposite: we believe that indeed there is one or more African Civilisations and sub-civilisations, a view shared by almost all the African Historians. We must also never forget that Africa is the cradle of humanity and from Africa, Homo sapiens colonised the rest of the World.

EENI wish to be part of this African Renaissance and help to explain to the world the fundamental role that Africa has had, has and will have in the history of humanity. Therefore, within this module on the African Civilisation; we have developed a series of the subjects (learning units) about the history of Africa (the African Historians, the slave trade, the African Diaspora) that allow better understand the African reality.

To understand better the economic situation in Africa, five economic areas of the African Civilisation will be analysed.

Opening of the Hispano-African University of International Business

Markets analysed:

Subjects of the module “Economic Area of the African Civilisation”

1- Introduction to the African Civilisation

1. The African continent
2. Geography of Africa
3. African ethnic groups
4. Africa's major languages: English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and Swahili.
   1. Spanish is the official language of the African Union and Equatorial Guinea
5. Trends of the African population
6. Religions in Africa
   1. Islam
   2. Christianity
   3. African Traditional Religions

2- History of Africa.

1. Leadership of Africa in the history of humanity
   1. Common African Origin of Humanity
2. African Prehistory
   1. African Civilisation and the Ancient Egypt
3. Ancient African Civilisations
4. Africa (7th - 11th Century)
5. Africa (12th  16th Century)
6. Africa (16th - 18th Century)
7. Abolition of the Slavery
8. Colonial domination
9. Independence

3- Key Economic Institutions of the African Civilisation.

Economic Integration of the African Civilisation (Economic Organisations, Trade Agreements)

1. Agreements and institutions covering all the economic areas of the African Civilisation
2. Integration in West Africa
3. Integration in Central Africa
4. Integration in Southern Africa
5. Integration in East Africa

African Economic Area and integration of the sub-Saharan Africa. Economic profile of the African Civilisation member countries

From the economic integration of the African Civilisation we can identify the following economic areas that bring together fifty-four African Countries:

1. West African Economic Area
2. Central African Economic Area
3. Southern African Economic Area
4. East African Economic Area
5. Maghrebian Economic Area

Economic Integration of the African Civilisation.

1. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Agreement

Twenty-six African Countries of the East African Community (EAC), the Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have created this innovative agreement of the African integration that allows creating a market of 527 millions of Africans.

1. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) consists of:
   1. Fourteen countries of East Africa: The Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
   2. Three nations of Central Africa: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda
   3. Three Southern African Countries: Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
   4. Libya
2. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) consists of:
   1. Six East African Countries: Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Seychelles, and Tanzania
   2. Two nations of Central Africa: Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
   3. Seven Southern African Countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
3. The Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) consists of the following countries of Francophone Africa:
   1. Nine Western African Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo
   2. Seven nations of Central Africa: Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
   3. One country of East Africa: The Comoros
4. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region consists of:
   1. Five East African Countries: Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
   2. Six nations of the Central Africa: Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda
   3. One country of Southern Africa: Zambia
   4. Guest countries: Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe
5. Nile Basin Initiative
   1. Seven East African Countries: Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
   2. Three nations of Central Africa: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda
   3. Eritrea is an observer country
6. Trade Agreement Southern African Development Community (SADC) - Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia (SADC-MMTZ)
7. Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-TPS)
   1. Of all the African Countries only Morocco has signed the Framework Agreement + PRETAS (Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme) + Rules of origin
   2. Seventeen African nations (Egypt, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan, Somalia, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Comoros, Djibouti, Benin, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast) have signed the Framework Agreement + PRETAS
   3. Chad, Gabon, Libya, Senegal, and Uganda only have signed the Framework Agreement
   4. Algeria, Mali, Mozambique, and Togo have not ratified the Agreement yet
8. The Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) is mainly composed of the African Muslim Countries:
   1. Thirteen Western African Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo
   2. Two Central African Countries: The Central African Republic, and Chad
   3. Five nations of East Africa: Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, and Djibouti
   4. Four countries of the Maghreb: Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia
9. The Niger Basin Authority consists of
   1. Seven Western African Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria
   2. Two nations of Central Africa: Cameroon and Chad

Transport and Logistics in Africa.

1. Infrastructures in Africa
2. African Transport Corridors
3. Marine Transport in Africa
4. African Value Chains
5. Information and communication technologies (ICT) and integration in Africa

Interactions of the African Civilisation with the other civilisations.

1. Islamic Civilisation
2. Hindu Civilisation
3. Western Civilisation
4. Sinic Civilisation
5. Buddhist Civilisation
6. Orthodox Civilisation

Summary of the module - Economic Area of the African Civilisation.

Africa was the cradle of humanity, and according to the UNICEF “The future of humanity is increasingly African.”

1. The current African population is 1,100 million people
2. In 2100, will be 4,000 millions of people.
3. In thirty-five years, 25% of the world's population will be African.

South Africa has been the economic engine and the political leader of the African continent, but Nigeria could become the Central State. Nigeria is already the first African Economy, ahead of South Africa, and with 1,000 million people in 2100.

There is also no doubt that great civilisations and empires have emerged on the African Continent throughout the history of humanity: Nimrod, Carthage, Egypt, the African Empires (Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, Wolof, Songhai)

Maybe if we exclude the Maghreb, Egypt, Sudan, and Djibouti (countries with Muslim majorities, and Arabic race, except the last two), there is no doubt that the rest of the African nations is part a socio-cultural unity.

This African Civilisation is identified in the space and includes Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, above all to belong to a black race the primal of humanity, from which humanity descend.

A civilisation in which most of the borders are the result of the post-colonialism, and certainly; they should disappear in the long-term.

A region with common key challenges:

1. Diseases (AIDS, Malaria...)
2. Poverty
3. Lack of infrastructures
4. Full integration into the global economy
5. “Sinicisation” of Africa (i.e., the Chinese economic colonisation of Africa)
6. Inter-Religious clash (Sudan, Nigeria)

Moreover, with great common opportunities:

1. Negotiation as an African economic bloc to the rest of the World (preferential market access, reduction of subsidies in the EU or the United States)
2. African Integration
3. South-South trade, especially with Asia and Latin America
4. Control of the value chain of exporting raw materials. Stop exporting raw materials to export value-added products
5. Joint exploitation of the vast African energy resources

A civilisation in which the African Union is playing an essential role.

Two countries can surely become the Central States of the African Civilisation: Nigeria (80 million Muslims and 80 million Christians) and/or South Africa (Christianity).

From a cultural perspective we can identify two areas:

1. North Africa area. The Maghrebian space consists of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and the Western Sahara, which also belongs to the Islamic Civilisation. Because of its economic integration (COMESA and the tripartite agreement), Egypt and Libya are assigned to the East African Economic Area
2. Sub-Saharan Africa area (Nigeria/South Africa)
   1. The Christian area, mainly covering the countries south of the Sahel
   2. The Muslim area, mainly covering the Sahel countries (from Senegal to Sudan)

Location of the African Civilisation.

❮ Samples - African Civilisation ❯

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