Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson

Published in International and Public Affairs (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Received: 20 December 2019 Accepted: 27 January 2020 Published: 16 September 2020

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Abstract

The recently launched (July 2019) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose setup begun in 2015, is widely seen as the crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa. The concluded agreement establishing the AfCFTA provides rules that will govern the movement of merchandise and services across the continent. It sets up the institutional framework that will guide and regulate the CFTA implementation processes. There is a recognition that the current path of economic regionalism in Africa is encouraging but has serious fractures on the continent and the global trading system. In the attempt to achieve an overarching continental strategy for continuous development, there are vestiges of regional economic integration schemes, in the areas of multiple economic alliances, overlapping schemes, the non-implementation of protocols and many other fractures. In an attempt to alleviate these vestiges, the latest wave of continental innovation – AfCFTA – raises a long-standing conundrum for continental order: when are regional organizations useful, and even essential complements to the ends of continental governance for benefit, and when do they threaten or undermine the achievement of these goals? This paper’s contention is that regionalism within Africa is anchored on many theories of integration, among them are functionalism, neo-functionalism, and intergovernmentalism, and based on the European integration experience. But drawing lessons from the enormous, political and economic as well as, security challenges confronting the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), how viable and ready can the RECs be used as ‘vehicles’ in support of the achievement of continental integration in Africa, when they are so ‘gullible’ themselves?

Published in	International and Public Affairs (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15
Page(s)	53-62
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Regional Economic Communities (RECs), “Building blocs”, “key pillars”, Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, African Union

References

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Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. (2020). Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. International and Public Affairs, 4(2), 53-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. Int. Public Aff. 2020, 4(2), 53-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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AMA Style

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. Int Public Aff. 2020;4(2):53-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15,
  author = {Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson},
  title = {Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration},
  journal = {International and Public Affairs},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {53-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ipa.20200402.15},
  abstract = {The recently launched (July 2019) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose setup begun in 2015, is widely seen as the crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa. The concluded agreement establishing the AfCFTA provides rules that will govern the movement of merchandise and services across the continent. It sets up the institutional framework that will guide and regulate the CFTA implementation processes. There is a recognition that the current path of economic regionalism in Africa is encouraging but has serious fractures on the continent and the global trading system. In the attempt to achieve an overarching continental strategy for continuous development, there are vestiges of regional economic integration schemes, in the areas of multiple economic alliances, overlapping schemes, the non-implementation of protocols and many other fractures. In an attempt to alleviate these vestiges, the latest wave of continental innovation – AfCFTA – raises a long-standing conundrum for continental order: when are regional organizations useful, and even essential complements to the ends of continental governance for benefit, and when do they threaten or undermine the achievement of these goals? This paper’s contention is that regionalism within Africa is anchored on many theories of integration, among them are functionalism, neo-functionalism, and intergovernmentalism, and based on the European integration experience. But drawing lessons from the enormous, political and economic as well as, security challenges confronting the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), how viable and ready can the RECs be used as ‘vehicles’ in support of the achievement of continental integration in Africa, when they are so ‘gullible’ themselves?},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration
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Y1  - 2020/09/16
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VL  - 4
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Author Information

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson

Department of Research, Innovation & Programs Development ORID), Catholic Institute of Business and Technology (CIBT), Adabraka, Accra, Ghana

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Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. (2020). Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. International and Public Affairs, 4(2), 53-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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ACS Style

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. Int. Public Aff. 2020, 4(2), 53-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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AMA Style

Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson. Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration. Int Public Aff. 2020;4(2):53-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15,
  author = {Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson},
  title = {Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration},
  journal = {International and Public Affairs},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {53-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ipa.20200402.15},
  abstract = {The recently launched (July 2019) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose setup begun in 2015, is widely seen as the crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa. The concluded agreement establishing the AfCFTA provides rules that will govern the movement of merchandise and services across the continent. It sets up the institutional framework that will guide and regulate the CFTA implementation processes. There is a recognition that the current path of economic regionalism in Africa is encouraging but has serious fractures on the continent and the global trading system. In the attempt to achieve an overarching continental strategy for continuous development, there are vestiges of regional economic integration schemes, in the areas of multiple economic alliances, overlapping schemes, the non-implementation of protocols and many other fractures. In an attempt to alleviate these vestiges, the latest wave of continental innovation – AfCFTA – raises a long-standing conundrum for continental order: when are regional organizations useful, and even essential complements to the ends of continental governance for benefit, and when do they threaten or undermine the achievement of these goals? This paper’s contention is that regionalism within Africa is anchored on many theories of integration, among them are functionalism, neo-functionalism, and intergovernmentalism, and based on the European integration experience. But drawing lessons from the enormous, political and economic as well as, security challenges confronting the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), how viable and ready can the RECs be used as ‘vehicles’ in support of the achievement of continental integration in Africa, when they are so ‘gullible’ themselves?},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Africa’s Free Trade Area: An Assessment of the Readiness of Regional Economic Communities in Continental Integration
AU  - Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson
Y1  - 2020/09/16
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15
T2  - International and Public Affairs
JF  - International and Public Affairs
JO  - International and Public Affairs
SP  - 53
EP  - 62
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-4192
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ipa.20200402.15
AB  - The recently launched (July 2019) African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whose setup begun in 2015, is widely seen as the crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa. The concluded agreement establishing the AfCFTA provides rules that will govern the movement of merchandise and services across the continent. It sets up the institutional framework that will guide and regulate the CFTA implementation processes. There is a recognition that the current path of economic regionalism in Africa is encouraging but has serious fractures on the continent and the global trading system. In the attempt to achieve an overarching continental strategy for continuous development, there are vestiges of regional economic integration schemes, in the areas of multiple economic alliances, overlapping schemes, the non-implementation of protocols and many other fractures. In an attempt to alleviate these vestiges, the latest wave of continental innovation – AfCFTA – raises a long-standing conundrum for continental order: when are regional organizations useful, and even essential complements to the ends of continental governance for benefit, and when do they threaten or undermine the achievement of these goals? This paper’s contention is that regionalism within Africa is anchored on many theories of integration, among them are functionalism, neo-functionalism, and intergovernmentalism, and based on the European integration experience. But drawing lessons from the enormous, political and economic as well as, security challenges confronting the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), how viable and ready can the RECs be used as ‘vehicles’ in support of the achievement of continental integration in Africa, when they are so ‘gullible’ themselves?
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download