Challenges and Prospects of African Regionalism: The East African Experience

Abstract

The contemporary international system is characterised by a heightened tendency of state units to gravitate towards some degree of integration. Regionalism is gradually being inextricably linked to economic development. The establishment of the European Economic Community in 1957 has resulted in the mushrooming of cooperative arrangements the world over including the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), the Association of South-Asian Nations and the Caribbean Free Trade Association, among others. The strategy of regionalism in Africa was given new vitality in April 1980 with the adoption of The Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) and the Final Act of Lagos (FAL) in which leaders hoped to create an independent African economy through sub regional and regional organisations. An African Economic Community is expected to be in place by 2025. This study explores the challenges and prospects of the East African Community (EAC) as one of the building blocks of the African Economic Community. The EAC is taken as an illustration of efforts to establish effective regionalism in Africa, the problems along the way and what the future holds for African integration. It concludes that regionalism is, indeed, an imperative for African development especially now that even the industrialized world is embracing integration as a strategy for further development. Africa risks irreversible marginalisation if its small and poor countries remain fragmented. The hope is in pooling markets, populations and resources to tap economies of scale.