Africa's efforts at regional integration have been under-resourced, UN says
Despite the many protocols signed in Africa linking national and regional transportation, telecommunications, capital and labour mobility, regionalization has never been given the financial and human resources to succeed while trade among the continent's countries remains low, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says in a new report.
The report, called "Assessing Regional Integration in Africa," says the ambitions outlined by African political leaders in the mandate of the regional economic commissions have never been matched by their capacity to deliver.
The 14 commissions, spreading their limited resources thinly, sometimes pursued similar mandates and, by forming groupings within larger blocs to speed up integration, had overlapping membership, according to the study.
It points out that while protocols are needed to put treaties into effect, many member States have been slow in signing and ratifying these pacts.
In some cases, the protocols are contradictory, the report notes, recommending that the African Union (AU) play a role in rationalizing these legal instruments and aligning them to continental objectives.
The study notes that while operational funds could be raised by such self-financing mechanisms as community levies and special airport taxes, more resources are needed for the African trunk road network and an African railroad network. The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) should be the driving force for these initiatives.
"To be effective, integration must be part of an overall development strategy," the report says.
In a joint statement, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare, and ECA Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako say, "A rapidly changing global economic environment demands that we move swiftly, and strategically, to achieve regional integration."
"Our longstanding commitments to cooperation across borders compel us," they add. "And the needs and aspirations of our people compel us."