2019 African Regional Integration Report: Towards an integrated and prosperous and peaceful Africa

Abstract

This report first presents the historical context of the African integration process and the progress of African leaders towards achieving a united, integrated and prosperous continent under the Abuja Treaty and AU Agenda 2063. The Abuja Treaty, signed in 1991, lays the groundwork for the creation of African Economic Community (AEC), whereby the economies of the member states of the AU will be fully integrated and an African Economic Community created. The goal of the AEC is to transform the fifty-five (55) African economies into a single economic and monetary union, with a common currency and free mobility of capital and labour. The Sirte Declaration, signed in 1999, and the Constitutive Act of the African Union aim at fast-tracking Africa’s integration through the creation of key institutions such as the African Central Bank, an African Monetary Fund, an African Investment Bank, the African Court of Justice and the Pan-African Parliament. Establishing the three continental financial institutions has been slow because member states have been slow to ratify the relevant instruments. Although the other institutions—the African Court of Justice and the Pan-African Parliament—are in place, they have limited powers to carry out their mandates specified in the Abuja Treaty. According to the Abuja Treaty objectives, Africa’s integration process is expected to be completed by the creation of the African Economic Community (AEC), following a six-step sequential approach over 34 years. With the AU Commission playing a coordination role, the realisation of the AEC is predicated on the progress achieved by regional economic communities (RECs), the key pillars of Africa’s integration process.....