Institution Building for African Regionalism

Gilbert M. Khadiagala ()
Additional contact information
Gilbert M. Khadiagala: Department of International Relations, Postal: University of the Witwatersrand 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, , Braamfontein 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa

No 85, Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: Since the 1960s, African states have embraced regional integration as a vital mechanism for political cooperation and for pooling resources to overcome problems of small and fragmented economies. In building meaningful institutions for regionalism, however, Africans have faced the challenges of reconciling the diversities of culture, geography, and politics. As a result, African regional institutions are characterized by multiple and competing mandates and weak institutionalization. This study illustrates these themes by comparing two continental institutions—the African Union and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and subregional institutions—the Economic Commission of Central African States, the Economic Community of West African States, the Common Market for East and Southern African States, the Community of the Sahel-Saharan States, and the Arab Maghreb Union. By focusing on the institutional structures, mandates, and contributions of these organizations in their geographical domains, the study probes the links between policy articulation and outcomes. The conclusion focuses on lessons that African regionalism can inform Asian integration experiences.

Keywords: African Regionalism; Regional Integration; Africa; African Union; United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 F55 N55 O19 O55 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2011-08-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://aric.adb.org/pdf/workingpaper/WP85_Khadiagala_Institution_Building.pdf Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:adbrei:0085

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration from Asian Development Bank Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivan B. de Leon ().