Africa’s Path to Economic Unity Faces Colonial Echoes and Internal Challenges
In a rapidly fracturing world, regional integration is increasingly viewed as a potential source of resilience for the African continent. The African Union’s agreement in 2019 to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) built upon the foundations laid by eight regional economic communities: the Arab Maghreb Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (Cen-Sad), the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (Eccas), the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
However, progress towards full integration has been slow. A World Bank report from 45 years ago highlighted the potential of a larger African market to boost production and overcome long-term development obstacles such as inadequate infrastructure, inefficient payment systems, and political instability. These obstacles persist today, and a deeper examination reveals several key reasons why the continent’s ambitions for greater economic unity remain largely unrealized.
Based on over three decades of research on regionalism in Africa, four primary challenges stand out. These include the enduring impact of colonial dependency, the complexities of informal economies, the tendency to build integration efforts on top of pre-existing colonial arrangements rather than reimagining them, and a lack of clarity in the overall objectives of these integration efforts.
The Lingering Shadow of Colonial Dependency
The roots of many of Africa’s current economic challenges are inextricably linked to its colonial past. At the Berlin West Africa Conference in February 1885, European powers asserted their right “to regulate the conditions most favourable to the development of trade and civilization … in Africa.” This historical context continues to shape contemporary economic relationships.
A pioneering study of Foreign Investments in the East African Common Market in 1973 concluded that most of Africa’s post-colonial regional integration arrangements were “based on pre-independence links and institutions.” The East African Common Market, for example, was a successor to Britain’s colonial East African Federation and a precursor to today’s East African Community. The EAC’s recent attempts to expand beyond its original geography have, reportedly, come at the price of internal cohesion, potentially endangering its future.
Ecowas stands out as the first regional bloc to transcend patterns of colonial dependency, uniquely encompassing countries formerly colonized by France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. However, even after 50 years, the experience remains uneasy. The post-colonial association agreements between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries contribute to this unease, often facilitating the extraction of raw materials from Africa for processing in Europe, with African nations then importing those processed goods at higher prices – hindering the development of local industries and employment opportunities.
The Challenge of Informal Enterprise
Colonial rule often disrupted or suppressed indigenous enterprise in Africa, forcing many businesses to operate informally to survive. Since independence, many African governments have failed to address this historical pattern, often criminalizing informal economic activity. As recently as 2023, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimated that informal cross-border trade in Africa accounts for between 30% and 72% of formal trade between neighboring countries, effectively excluding a significant portion of African enterprise from the benefits of regional integration.
Integration as an Add-On, Not a Reimagining
African countries often approach regional integration as an addition to pre-existing colonial arrangements, rather than a fundamental reimagining of economic relationships. Notice currently over 156 such arrangements across the continent, a figure that highlights the confounding overlaps in membership and mission for 55 countries. Many have advocated for the rationalization of these arrangements.
The African Union’s recognition of eight regional economic communities was intended to address this issue, but it has not eliminated the overlaps. For instance, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo both belong to the EAC and SADC, while Eritrea and Sudan were simultaneously members of IGAD, Comesa, and Cen-Sad. French-speaking West African countries participate in both Ecowas and the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA).
Addressing Mission Creep and Charting a New Course
Popular resentment against continuing colonial projects in parts of Africa is reportedly high, but transforming this sentiment into constructive energy requires political vision. The recent exits of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from Ecowas, following ruptures in relations with France, demonstrate this dynamic. However, these countries remain members of UEMOA, whose currency system is backed by France.
Shrinking informal trade will require more than just formal rules of market access or tax harmonization. Given that women conduct over 70% of informal cross-border trade in Africa, effective solutions will necessitate improved frontier regimes and policies that encourage women’s participation in lawful enterprise.
Rationalization of Africa’s integration arrangements may already be underway, with a focus on membership overlaps. Ecowas, for example, has lost 25% of its membership since 2000, reducing it from 16 to 12 member states. Rwanda has withdrawn from Eccas, and Eritrea from IGAD.
However, the core issue may be a lack of clarity in the overall mission of Africa’s integration arrangements. These regimes have taken on responsibilities beyond economic issues, including collective security and governance oversight, with outcomes that have been unconvincing and, at times, destabilizing. Without a clear political commitment to a shared future, African governments have struggled to manage the contradictions between economic integration, security, and governance. The time has come for them to prioritize and focus their efforts so that regional integration in Africa can finally realize its potential and improve the continent’s prospects.
