Chapter (6): Integration in Africa
6.6. Conclusion
Institutions matter a great deal if we are to achieve effective economic integration. How far they can facilitate economic integration greatly depends on how they relate to the institutions within member states. How far this has been perceived and appreciated by the framers of the AEC Treaty and other laws is open to debate. With what was presented in this chapter, two main lessons can be drawn as conclusion.
Firstly the creation of an independent institution with enough power in proposing policies along with implementation of the AEC’s decisions would be preferred. Secondly, to achieve a successful economic integration in Africa, it is paramount important to reconstruct the court along with other relevant institutions. And to reach that end in case of Africa, the economic integration processes ought to be isolated from that of the political integration agenda.496
Of the 14 regional economic communities in Africa, only eight are recognized by the African Union (AU) namely: AMU, EAC, CEN-SAD, COMESA, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC among which four of them were the focal point of this Chapter. One of the AEC’s objectives is to establish an African central bank and single currency in Six Stages that are to be achieved by 2028. Since the RECs are considered the building blocks of the AU/AEC, they play a significant role to this process and accordingly their success greatly depends on the overall success of the AU/AEC agenda.497 Hence, it would be of paramount importance for the member states to grant supremacy to REC provisions so as to be recognized at all levels of governments. Without such strategy it would be very difficult for the AU/AEC to achieve the
“Pan-African Single Currency.”
When analyzing economic integration, relational issues of law are considered endemic.498 The relational issues are in fact the focal point of interactions among community, national, regional and international legal systems. The stage that such issues have been effective depends on the level of integration. Such relational issues have proved to play an important role in economic development and effectiveness, and the challenges posed by relational issues also relate to different relational principles and mechanisms as part of the legal framework in addressing relational issues.
The path to move forward should include inter alia an environment where relations are relatively rationalized between different communities while overcoming the canker of multiple memberships of the
496 Oppong, p. 186-187.
497 Salami, p. 681.
498 Oppong, p. 318.
communities, and putting the path towards forming the AEC on solid legal foundations in which the relations between the communities and the AEC would be regulated within a clear legal framework.499 After all, as the communities move towards deeper integration in Africa, relational issues become more important and therefore the sooner states, policy-makers, communities, businesses and scholars devote some time to such relational issues, the better it will be for Africa.500 The CFTA as a good platform and a gleam of hope can address such important issues. Such relational paradoxes are apparent in case of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well which is the subject of the coming chapters of this dissertation. Therefore, similar profound strategies to tackle such relational problems and the role of law and policies in playing their part should also be taken seriously into consideration for the MENA region.
Put it differently, what has been presented in this Chapter, is the emphasis on the establishment of formal institutions (laws) at community level along with a coordinating link with those of national laws. Once the institutions in both formal rules and informal constraints are well developed within the national boundaries, it would pave the way for further regional cooperation especially when it is presented within a regional context of similar language and culture.
To summarize, the regional integration as discussed in this PART (II) contained important lessons to be learned from each region. The progressive steps in legalization of the southern bloc, MERCOSUR along with TA/Olivos Protocol and the establishment of a judicial mechanism (Permanent Review Court) similar to that of the EU model is exemplary although far from perfect yet reflecting the important steps taken towards deeper integration. NAFTA with its structure as designed peculiar to the needs of trade for the three countries in North America is another example. The role of the rule of law and more legalization through an economic constitution with a social contract in case of ASEAN rendered good lessons along with successful model of its IPNs. And finally, the intertwined web of communities in Africa and the role of private and public international law in structuring relational issues are among the lessons to be learned and possibly applied in particular to the case of developing countries such as the MENA region.
Moreover, in fact, abiding by international laws in forming and practicing community laws would be important for such community involvement and their relational issues. Relational issues can be improved through the establishment of a social contract with a proper polity of democratic freedom in which citizenry rights as well as property rights are well defined while the status of individuals are guaranteed.
499 Oppong. p. 319.
500 Ibid.
As such, the improvement of institutions along with the establishment of an adequate social contract can greatly serve the formation of an effective economic integration within the framework of regional communities in Africa and likewise in MENA. As reiterated, we focus on this latter with more details in the coming chapters.