Regional integration and the challenge of economic development: The case of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Many African countries consider regional integration as a vehicle for achieving economic development. This could be seen from the many regional integration frameworks aimed at promoting intra-regional trade, investment and development. Several studies have been conducted on the "failure" of regional integration in Africa, focusing on the security arrangements and the static effects of integration. As a result, little has been done on the dynamic effects of regional integration in Africa. This case study focuses on the political and economic aspects of regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. It discusses how harmonization of policy in infrastructure, trade and investment and multilateral negotiations can address the economic development of the region.
Using the case-study methodology, the research considers the measures taken by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) to promote trade, investment, and infrastructure development as well as to advance the goals of the region in multilateral negotiations. The eclectic approach used in the analysis benefits from political science theory on regional integration as well as the customs union theory of economics thus providing a robust approach to the study of Comesa. This includes the use of computable general equilibrium (CGE) models to compute trade creation and trade diversion, intra-regional trade and infrastructure statistics, reports and interviews with stakeholders.
The results indicate that Comesa has made major advancements in establishing the institutional architecture to promote regional integration and development. There is a lot of progress in the harmonization of policy, coordination of multilateral negotiations as well as increased intra-Comesa trade with the establishment of the Free Trade Area. However, inspite of the positive results of CGE models, intra-regional trade remains minimal at 15% of global trade. In addition, the harmonization of policy and development of joint programmes is hampered by lack of political will and limited resources, among other constraints.
The findings suggest new approaches to regional integration in Africa focused on the dynamic effects such as policy harmonization and multilateral negotiations. It further suggests policy recommendations that would address the political, economic and institutional constraints to regional integration in Africa.