African Economic Area

EENI- School of International Business

Module: Economic Area of the African Civilisation. Syllabus:

The module: “The economic area of the African Civilisation” consists of nine parts:

1. Introduction to the African Civilisation
2. History of Africa
   1. Leadership of Africa in the history of humanity
   2. Slave Trade
   3. Abolition of slavery
   4. African historian
   5. African Diaspora
3. Key economic institutions of the African Civilisation
   1. African Union and the NEPAD
   2. African Development Bank
   3. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
4. African Business and Economy
   1. Economic Transformation of Africa
   2. Intra-African trade
   3. Economic governance in Africa
   4. Frontier Markets in Africa
   5. Africa: the 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 Area and regional integration in Africa
      1. West African Economic Area
      2. Central African Economic Area
      3. Southern African Economic Area
      4. East African Economic Area
      5. Maghrebian Economic Area
6. Economic Integration of the African Civilisation (institutions, agreements)
7. Transport and Logistics in Africa
8. Interactions of the African Civilisation with other civilisations
9. Other economic institutions related to the African Civilisation

Preliminary Note: Some scholars, especially in the West, prefer not to consider the existence of 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 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 subjects (learning units) on the history of Africa (African historians, the slave trade, the African Diaspora) that allow better understand the African reality.

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

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

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 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 businesspeople
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 institutions related to the African Economic Area

Markets analysed:

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

1- Introduction to the African Civilisation

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

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 to the 11th Century)
5. Africa (12th to the 16th Century)
6. Africa (16th to the 18th Century)
7. Abolition of slavery
8. Colonial domination
9. Independence

3- Key economic institutions of the African Civilisation.

Economic Integration of the African Civilisation (institutions, 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

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

From 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. The 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 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 Eastern 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 countries of Southern Africa: Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
   4. Libya
2. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) consists of
   1. Six countries of East Africa: Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, the Seychelles, and Tanzania
   2. Two nations of Central Africa: Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
   3. Seven countries of Southern Africa: 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 countries of West Africa: 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 countries of East Africa: 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. The Nile Basin Initiative
   1. Seven countries of East Africa: 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. The Trade Agreement Southern African Development Community (SADC) - Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia (SADC-MMTZ)
7. The 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, 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 African Muslim countries:
   1. Thirteen countries of West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo
   2. Two countries of Central Africa: 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 countries of West Africa: 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 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 UNICEF “The future of humanity is increasingly African.” The current African population is 1,100 million people. In 2100, will be 4,000 millions of people. 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 1,000 million people in 2100.

There is also no doubt that great civilisations and empires have emerged on African grounds throughout the history of humanity: Nimrod, Carthage, Egypt, 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 African nations is part a socio-cultural unity.

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

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. The “Sinicisation” of Africa (i.e., almost economic colonisation of China in 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.

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 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. Christian area, mainly covering the countries south of the Sahel.
   2. Muslim area, mainly covering the Sahel countries (from Senegal to Sudan)

Location of the African Civilisation.

❮ Samples - African Civilisation ❯