Regional Economic Integration in Africa

For several decades, regional economic integration has focused on fostering international economic relations. Globally, integration is a phenomenon sought after by various regional bodies in a bid to bolster their economies. Due to the many opportunities presented by various forms of integration, States have looked at it as a chance of improving intra-trade and extra-trade with other nations and within the trading blocs.
In the very least, this paper analyses the stages of integration according to the Vinerian model. In particular, it delves into the comparison and distinctions between a Free Trade Area (FTA)  and a Customs Union (CU) as brought forth by Vinerian model. Other theories that build on the Viner’s model of integration are also looked at for comparison purposes.  Also, other regional bodies that have attained these levels of integration are used as examples.

Référence: GUELDICH (H.), "L'Accord portant création de la zone de libre échange continentale africaine", in BEN ACHOUR (R.) et GUELDICH (H.), Intégration et régionalisme en Afrique: où en est l'Union africaine aujourd'hui?, Journée d'étude du 1e novembre 2018, éditions 2019, SIMPACT, pp.112-125

State and Government leaders of the African Union adopt and implement efforts for regional integration as a common strategy for the development of the continent. The objective at continental level is the establishment of the African Economic Community as the last of six consecutive stages, including the strengthening of inter-sectoral cooperation and the establishment of regional free trade areas, monetary union, common market, monetary and economic union, covering the entire continent. Currently there are 15 Regional economic communities in Africa and 7 of them are officially recognized as the foundation for the development of the African economic community. Reviewed are their goals, their main achievements and issues. The study analyses the progress made in the integration process as well as the challenges it faces.

The objective of this paper is to establish through empirical evidence the economic development indicators that contribute to the growth of the manufacturing sector in Liberia. The study used a modified Story (1980) model to do the analysis, with time series data from 1981 to 2016.
To induce normality, the study employed the use of the logarithmic transformation of all the variables contained in the model. To avoid the pitfall of using non-stationary time series data, the study employed the use of the ADF unit root test. The unit root test results revealed that inflation was stationary at levels while per capita GDP was stationary at second difference. All of the remaining variables were stationary at first difference.

Thus a linear model with stationary variables was estimated in which the results show that there is positive relationship between manufacturing value added and each of the following regressors (access to finance, foreign direct investment, real effective exchange rate, and the per capita GDP). On the other hand, a negative relationship was shown between manufacturing value added and the following regressors (inflation and infrastructure). Additionally, all of the estimated parameters, individually (t-test) and jointly (F test) are not statistically significant thereby compromising the predictive accuracy of the model. This can be attributed to the inadequacy of data availability due to years of political instability and the smallness of the sample size as a result of the logarithmic transformation and the differencing to instill stationarity in the model.

Dans cet article, nous nous proposons de faire une lecture
critique des multiples défis auxquels les programmes d’intégration régionale sur le continent font face en ce moment
précis, et les obstacles que l’Afrique doit surmonter pour atteindre ses objectifs dans ce domaine. Parmi les multiples
obstacles, nous nous focaliserons sur quatre principaux facteurs : a) les appartenances multiples de plusieurs États
africains à des différentes Communautés économiques régionales et aux différents « partenaires bilatéraux spéciaux » en dehors de l’Afrique et l’impact de cette situation sur la véritable intégration sur le continent ; b) les questions de paix et de sécurité ; c) la gouvernance ; et d) les questions de
financement. En conclusion, l’article tentera d’avancer
quelques suggestions pratiques en vue de surmonter
les obstacles.

Horn of Africa (HoA) region brushed multiple frontlines for the last four decades; Outsiders were playing proxy politics within the area. Uncertainty and insecurity, extremism and radicalization, poverty and interstate and intra-state conflict become accepted. Besides HoA is one of the most vital shipping lines in the world. Historical breakthroughs emerged in the region when the reformist leader Dr. Abiy becomes the Prime minister of Ethiopia. Proactive moves of ending longstanding disputes and conflicts between the states in the region such as Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict. Therefore, this paper seeks to critically calculate the breakthrough and challenges ahead for the leaders of the region to bring successful regional integration. Specifically focuses on three countries namely Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia. A critical analysis on the tripartite summits among the leaders of the three nations, the declarations, the points of action as well as the ramification of the change envisaged will shed more light on the progress of the social and economic integration in the region. Moreover, this paper will navigate through the challenges and achievements that are likely to be realized from this integration, considering the political diversity that currently exists among these three countries.

The PhD thesis is dedicated to the specific processes of regional economic integration in Africa. The main goal is to assess systematically the development and potential of regional economic communities on the continent.
First chapter discusses the definition and typology of economic integration, traditional and new theories on its effects (static and dynamic analysis) while the main focus is on the determinants of integration among developing countries.
Second chapter presents the development of integration processes in Africa, the economy of regional economic communities, the structure and dynamics of their international trade as well as the results and challenges to their integration.
Third chapter systemizes the different channels of impact of the EU on the integration processes in Africa paying special attention on the new framework of trade relations – the Economic partnership agreements.
The conclusion summarizes the general conclusions of the research answering the imposed research hypotheses that:
first, traditional and new integration theories with the drawn in them effects and benefits of integration processes are weakly or not at all applicable to developing countries and in particular to regional economic integration in Africa; 
second, the impact of the EU on regional economic integration in Africa is twofold – it has the potential to give impetus to its development but on the other hand it poses some challenges to the already complicated integration processes.

The development and dynamics of regional integration in Africa are severely influenced by the transformation of the trade relations imposed by the Cotonou agreement. Economic relations now based on unilateral trade preferences provided by the EU are envisaged to be based on Economic partnership agreements that should regulate trade and cooperation establishing new trade regimes between the EU and ACP regions selected by clear criteria. They also promote regional integration efforts and impose measures to support developing partner regions. A decade after the start of the negotiations for the EPAs, the impact on regional integration is still unclear. Although EPAs aim at the promotion of regional integration their immediate impact is even greater fragmentation of existing RECs. The report examines the principles, history, and current state of negotiations as well as the twofold effects of EPAs on regional integration efforts in Africa.

This study examines the impact of East African Community (EAC) integration on trade development and economic growth in the EAC. It also examines whether the initiatives have presented any real benefits from trade liberalization. The findings suggest that the efforts to integrate notwithstanding, the EAC region will realize considerable trade development benefits if full integration and complete openness to trade are achieved, and secondly, challenges of ambitious targets, slow implementation record, linear market integration (focusing on border measures such as import-tariff, with less emphasis on resolving supply-side constraints,), lack of harmonized laws and multiple RTA memberships partly explain the failure of openness to trade and full integration.

The paper briefly presents the concept and framework of regional integration in Africa. It then discusses the principles, history, and current state of negotiations to disclose the effects of EPAs on regional integration efforts in Africa. Then it analyses the trends in international trade relations between the EU and the five EPA regions in Africa aiming to assess if EPAs have the envisaged positive impact on trade for both the EU, the EPA regions and the participating countries. As a conclusion, the paper presents some general questions posed by the analysis on the future development of EPAs and the trade policy of the EU towards Sub-Saharan African countries.

This paper critically assesses whether Nigeria’s position will be strengthened or weakened as a result of it being a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It will assess the legal and economic implication of being a member of a trading bloc, by comparing the European Union (EU) Model to ECOWAS. Thus, will Nigeria gain or loss if ECOWAS should replicate or adopt some of the European Union model features?. Again, this paper will consider the different stages of economic integration, a brief overview of the European Union Model, as well as a comparative study of ECOWAS and the EU model. This essay will indicate the economic integration stage that ECOWAS has attained to present, and whether the EU model is achievable for ECOWAS. Lastly, it will highlight major challenges that is encountered by ECOWAS and whether a complete economic integration is feasible for the sub-region.

The dire need for economic integration in the small and developing economies of West Africa in the 21 st century cannot be over emphasized. ECOWAS is a manifestation of the desire for cooperation among the people of West Africa to find for themselves a common platform that will address the undesirable and miserable conditions of underdevelopment in which they have found themselves. Despite the intensive efforts made by the various governments towards integration and the apparently enriched content of the ECOWAS Treaty; trade barriers still thrive among West African countries. This paper analyses the ECOWAS Treaty, appreciates the models of integration, observes and recommends ways to further strengthen and foster the economic integration in West Africa on a sustainable basis as an option for rescuing the peoples of the region from their current deplorable living and economic conditions.

Danau Chad merupakan sumber daya alam yang sangat penting bagi mahluk hidup di sekitarnya, termasuk masyarakat dari 4 negara yang mengapit danau tersebut. 4 negara itu adalah, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon dan Chad. 60% dari total masyarakat 4 negara yang tinggal di sekitar danau berprofesi sebagai petani. Berdasarkan data dari African Research Review, dalam jangka 20 tahun danau Chad telah menyusut dari 25.000 km2 menjadi hanya 2000 km2. Perubahan ini terbilang sangat drastis dan tentunya berdampak dalam sisi sosial,ekonomi dan politik dari keempat negara. Apalagi air dalam bidang pertanian sangat dibutuhkan dalam keperluan irigasi. Adapula fungsi lainnya adalah sebagai sumber pembangkit listrik, tak lupa dengan spesies-spesies ikan di dalamnya, dan beberapa sumber daya alam tersembunyi seperti minyak dan gas. Ini mengindikasikan betapa kayanya Danau Chad dan tak heran apabila perubahan danau ini akan memberikan imbas negatif pada masyarakat yang bergantung. Hal lain yang tak kalah penting adalah pergolakan stabilitas di kawasan Afrika Barat yang akhir-akhir ini digemparkan oleh kelompok radikal, Boko Haram juga merupakan hasil dari menyurutnya Danau Chad. Bagaimana implikasinya kedua hal yang kerap dilihat sebagai 2 aspek yang berbeda akan dijelaskan secara analitis melalui paper ini.

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the "Africa in Focus" (AIF) Show programme (2014-2016), Head of Research and Communications Unit of AIF decided to commission a series of publications that help to continue demystifying, unpacking, and explaining Africa's continental integration.

The first of the publications, this Paper seeks to help readers appreciate the complexities inherent in conflict prevention, resolution and management of regional conflicts by the regional and continental counterparts. The focus is on ECOWAS and AU responses on selected conflicts between 2011 and 2017

The paper uses the experience of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to advance the debate about civil society engagement with regional organizations, especially whether such engagement contributes to legitimizing the status quo or signifies new and/or alternative forms of regionalism, thereby directly or indirectly questioning conventional regionalism. The paper argues that transformations in the architecture of regional interactions over the past two decades in West Africa have included the emergence of civil society organizations (CSOs) as part of a "new regionalism" being co-constructed by states and non-state actor. In this"new regionalism," CSOs involvement with regional governance does not necessarily conform to notions about "model" regional integration arrangements.Secondly, there are over 3,000 organizations, networks, and groups working at different levels of region-centric goals, strategies, activities and organization, but extant scholarship (especially in the functional institutionalist perspective) tends to ignore or underestimate the strength and density of their engagement with regional integration and governance processes in West Africa. Using the perspective of regionalism as a socially constructed project, the paper demonstrates strong evidence of dense and relatively effective efforts by CSOs to engage with ECOWAS policy processes. The paper first conceptualizes civil society and social constructivism as analytical frameworks; followed by a survey of the landscape of regional CSOs, the range of their activities and strategies and modes of engagement; and highlights possible recent trends toward policy engagement, as well as counter-hegemonic engagement that may or may not constitute evidence of "alternative regionalism." This largely exploratory study is based on field data collected in West Africa in 2012 and 2013.

This book surveys the socio-economic, intellectual and security related dimensions of African regionalisms since the turn of the 20th century through a discussion of the grammar and languages of African regionalisms. It argues that the continent deserves to be considered as a crucible for conceptualizing and contextualizing  colonial legacies, the emergence of specific integration and security cultures, the spread of cross-border regionalisation processes at the expense of region-building, the interplay between territory, space and trans-state networks, and the ambivalence of frontier and emergence narratives. This is emphasized through the  identification of distinctive 'threads' of  regionalism that, as they  focus on genealogies, trajectories and ideals transcend the binary divide between old and new regionalisms. The book opens new avenues for the study of African agency in  international relations and the contribution of Africa to International Relations as a disciplin.

In 2005, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) was established aiming to harmonize the regional economic community programmes in the areas of trade and infrastructure. It is anticipated that the TFTA will enhance the intra-REC trade, expand market for Tanzania products and services.This paper assesses the impact of TFTA on Tanzania’s agricultural commodities export performance, examines and recommends which agricultural commodities to export to the TFTA.

The key findings indicate the top ten world largest exporters of agricultural commodities to the TFTA as South Africa, United States, Brazil, Argentina, Russian Federation, India, China, Ukraine, Indonesia, and France; Tanzania at  41 position.  Tanzania largest export to TFTA is Product Mil. Industries amounting to USD.2.4 Trillion, other main exports include Cereals, coffee, tea, mati and spices ,Fish, Crustacean, mollusk, edible vegetables and certain roots and wool, fine/ coarse animal hair and horns. However Tanzania also imports a significant amount cereals and animal vegetable oils and fats relative to its exports. Tanzania’s main imports from TFTA are Sugar, confectionery, beverage, spirits and vinegar.

It recommends thatTanzania needs to audit strategiesutilized on export of fish crustacean mollusk and analyze the possibility to replicate in export of other products to TFTA. Moreover, improve: production capacities; transport infrastructure; communicating the challenges and benefits of TFTA to stakeholders in agriculture sector; relationship with neighboring countries; enforcement of existing trade commitments in RECs and trade policies that support agro based value addition industries and production of niche products to be competitive.

WAI-ZEI Paper No. 22 analyzes the regional integration process in Southern Africa, which is one of the oldest examples of regional integration. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), which was initially founded as a stronghold against the Apartheid regime in South Africa, has become a frontrunner among the so-called Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa. Due to the disputed role of Zimbabwe in the region, to the weakness of regional institutions and to the membership of some countries in more than one REC, there are however deficits with regard to the practical implementation of regional goals. They particularly concern the transition from a Free Trade Area to a customs union. Against this background, members of three RECs in Southern and Eastern Africa, SADC, COMESA and EAC, have decided to adopt a so-called Tripartite Agreement in 2011. Through this agreement, a Free Trade Area for more than 600 Mio. people was established. This step was seen as an opportunity to re-boost the regional integration process in the southern part of Africa.

Lo sviluppo di una dimensione regionale dell'organizzazione internazionale è uno dei fenomeni politici più rilevanti delle relazioni internazionali con-temporanee. Organizzazioni come l'Unione Europea, l'Unione Africana o l'ASEAN hanno acquisito competenze multidimensionali, e svolgono fun-zioni che in alcuni campi specificano o sono complementari a quelle del sistema ONU. Universalismo e regionalismo non sono in contraddizione, e oggi si assiste a una crescente cooperazione tra organizzazioni regionali e universali, in un contesto in cui è in aumento la domanda di governo della globalizzazione e delle sue conseguenze. Peraltro, la dialettica e l'interdi-pendenza tra esse ha caratterizzato il percorso storico dell'organizzazione internazionale fin dalle sue origini. Il volume, da una prospettiva storica ma con aperture multidisciplinari, rico-struisce come, a partire dalla fine della prima guerra mondiale, lo sviluppo di un sistema di istituzioni universali sia stato accompagnato da processi di regionalizzazione della società internazionale e di edificazione di sistemi di governance su base regionale. Esso discute in particolare come, nei progetti di intellettuali e nella politica internazionale, si siano create le premesse per la nascita di organizzazioni regionali attive nei campi più diversi, da quello del mantenimento della pace e della sicurezza a quello della promozione dello sviluppo, a quello della tutela dei diritti umani; quali rapporti si siano sviluppati tra queste esperienze e le organizzazioni universali e come queste ultime, in particolare l'ONU, ne abbiano incentivato lo sviluppo; come sia avvenuta una regionalizzazione all'interno delle stesse organizzazioni uni-versali; come, infine, gli obiettivi e i principi delle organizzazioni universali abbiano trovato accoglimento, declinazione o resistenza a livello regionale.

Africa is the continent with the highest density of regional organizations. Besides a continental/regional organization-the African Union-there are at least 18 sub-continental/sub-regional organizations which have proliferated over time without a centre which could coordinate them and give the whole picture a rational direction. This process has resulted in a messy system of overlapping integrative schemes with partially conflicting political and economic paradigms. This article analyzes the historical roots and drivers of this institutional disorder, focusing on the dynamics of unification and fragmentation under colonial rule, the political debates and the power politics among African states after their independence, the features of the African state system, and the role of external actors. The article also deals with the historical process of rationalization of the African integration system, comprising two interconnected dimensions: a horizontal one, which relates to the improvement of the institutional picture at the sub-regional level, and a vertical one, related to the relationship between the OAU/AU and sub-regional organizations.

The process of how a constitution is made is as important as the words it contains. This is a delicate and drawn out task when the process involves negotiating an end to a bloody conflict and rebuilding institutions in a society ravaged by violence. Past wrongs must be addressed, trust must be established between former enemies. According to Brandt et al (2011:2), there is no single correct way of designing a constitution or a constitution-making process. Each post-conflict society must chart its own pain-staking process to try and build a lasting peace with robust institutions that can sustain a democratic society.
This paper provides a comparative analysis and a tour d’horizon of constitution-making in post-conflict Rwanda and Zimbabwe. The paper is divided into three sections. The present Section 1 provides an introductory overview to the challenges of constitution making in post-conflict societies and introduces the thesis question. Section 2 analyses the constitution making process in Zimbabwe leading to the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement and the legacy of that agreement. It discusses how issues of democratic transition and reconciliation were dealt with within the constitution. It contrasts this by looking at the same questions in constitution-making process in Rwanda. It highlights some of the key differences between the two countries in the constitution making approach, and the treatment of the democratic transition, reconciliation and justice. Section 3 concludes by setting out a few lessons learned from the two countries’ constitution-making processes that can inform future constitution-making in other post-conflict countries for both scholars and policy makers.

Regional integration is a development priority for Africa. All Africans, not just
policy makers and decision makers, have a role to play in making integration a
reality for the continent.
Integration matters in Africa. It affects what people can buy; the variety of what is
on offer at the local market; how easily citizens move between countries; where
individuals travel for leisure or for work; how cost-effective it is to keep in touch;
where people choose to study or look for a job; how to transfer money to family
or get start-up capital for a business.
Regional integration is about getting things
moving freely across the whole of Africa.
This means getting goods to move more
easily across borders; transport, energy
and telecommunications to connect more
people across more boundaries; people
to move more freely across frontiers, and
capital and production to move and grow
beyond national limits.
Africa’s integration journey towards a more connected, competitive and business-
friendly continent is underway and its roadmap is, in some areas, under
construction. Africa’s Regional Integration Index is an action tool measuring the
progress of an Africa on the move.

The book is dedicated to the specific processes of regional economic integration in Africa. The main goal is to assess systematically the development and potential of regional economic communities on the continent. First chapter discusses the definition and typology of economic integration, traditional and new theories on its effects (static and dynamic analysis) while the main focus is on the determinants of integration among developing countries. Second chapter presents the development of integration processes in Africa, the economy of regional economic communities, the structure and dynamics of their international trade as well as the results and challenges to their integration. Third chapter systemizes the different channels of impact of the EU on the integration processes in Africa paying special attention on the new framework of trade relations – the Economic partnership agreements. The conclusion summarizes the general conclusions of the research answering the imposed research hypotheses that: first, traditional and new integration theories with the drawn in them effects and benefits of integration processes are weakly or not at all applicable to developing countries and in particular to regional economic integration in Africa; second, the impact of the EU on regional economic integration in Africa is twofold – it has the potential to give impetus to its development but on the other hand it poses some challenges to the already complicated integration processes.

This paper is about the proposed COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA. It examines how formation of the Tripartite FTA will create a wide free market for the 26 member countries that stretches from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt. Taking a case study of Uganda, the paper examines the impact the tripartite FTA will have on member countries‟ export performance and by looking at EAC‟s inter regional and intra regional trade with COMESA and SADC for the period 2003-2007, the paper examines the impact of the proposed COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA on inter and intra regional trade. Lastly, the study concludes with a highlight on how the proposed COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA will help solve the problem of overlapping membership in the three RECs by harmonizing the conflicting agendas and objectives of the three individual RECs. The study also highlights the factors that may constrain some member countries like Uganda from exploiting the opportunities created by the wider Tripartite FTA market and makes recommendations on how to overcome these constraints.

State and Government leaders of the African Union adopt and implement efforts for regional integration as a common strategy for the development of the continent. The objective at continental level is the establishment of the African Economic Community as the last of six consecutive stages, including the strengthening of inter-sectoral cooperation and the establishment of regional free trade areas, monetary union, common market, monetary and economic union, covering the entire continent. The stated by African leaders in 2012 intend to create a continental free trade area may be seen as an opportunity for significant progress in the process of continental integration. The report analyzes the prerequisites, conditions, benefits and challenges of creating such a free trade area.

The development and dynamics of regional integration in Africa are severely influenced by the transformation of the trade relations between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU, imposed by the Cotonou agreement. Economic relations now based on unilateral trade preferences provided by the EU are envisaged to be based on Economic partnership agreements (EPAs) that should regulate trade and cooperation establishing new trade regimes between the EU and ACP regions selected by clear criteria. They also promote regional integration efforts and impose measures to support developing partner regions. However a decade after the start of the negotiations for the EPAs in Africa, the impact on regional integration is still unclear. The EPA negotiations do not cover the existing regional economic communities (RECs) which complicates the already delicate situation of dispersed capacity. Although EPAs aim at the promotion of regional integration their immediate impact is even greater fragmentation of existing RECs. The report examines the principles, history, and current state of negotiations as well as the twofold effects of EPAs on regional integration efforts in Africa.

Since the emergence of nation-states as primary actors in the international system, relations among states have been defined and guided by their strategic interests in all areas of interaction. International economic relations, particularly, became inevitable because no state is self-sufficient or able to meet its domestic economic needs entirely. Consequently, countries depend on one another to meet economic needs through the medium of international trade and economic cooperation among other means. However, the need to safeguard the domestic economy, maximise trade opportunities and engender economic growth necessarily compelled states to develop rules of engagement that clearly defines how, individually, they intend to engage with the rest of the world through trade and other forms of economic cooperation and interdependency within the global economic system. Trade policy is a major instrument to achieving this end. Adopting a historical approach, this chapter examines Nigeria’s trade policy and trading objectives since 1960. It explores the role of trade in Nigeria’s bilateral and multilateral relations as well as the trajectory of her trade policy since independence. It highlights some of the observed trends and pattern in the development of the policy and concludes that Nigeria needs to evolve a trade policy that encapsulates her long-term development interests as she engages in international trade relations.

This edited book provides a comprehensive and comparative analytical overview of parliamentary bodies and civil society in Africa, both at the regional and national
level, and their role in the ongoing regionalisation processes on the African continent. Gathering contributions from African and European experts, the book offers a collection of actual and historical facts and information, critically analyses the evolution, potential and effective place of parliamentary bodies and civil society in the context and development of regional cooperation and integration, and discusses major challenges that still need to be overcome.

The countries comprising the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are currently not very integrated into global value chains (GVCs), potentially missing out on important development opportunities. Accordingly, we explore high level options for promoting their integration. Given East Asia’s spectacular success with integrating into GVCs, we first assess the probability that SACU can copy their flying geese pattern. That was initiated by Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) investing in successive East Asian countries thereby becoming the lead geese, to be joined subsequently by MNCs from other countries. We argue that the conditions for pursuing a flying geese approach are difficult to replicate in SACU. Therefore, we proffer and explore the proposition that South Africa could serve as the gateway for harnessing MNC geese flying from third countries into the SACU region, in time propelling regional development through knowledge and investment spillovers, and serving as a condu...

Two men side by side this evening of December 21, 2019 to announce the end of the CFA franc and the birth of the Eco: French President Emmanuel Macron and Ivorian President Alhassane Ouattara. The first wants to turn the page on a France-Africa and a neocolonialism decried both by Europeans and by Africans. The second, using his technical skills, works with the heads of member states of the UEMEAO to attenuate this mounting animosity towards the former colonial power and to show their peoples that the Africans have taken control of this union. monetary.

An economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1968, A. Ouattara continued his post-master studies at the University of Pennsylvania and obtained a state doctorate in economics in 1972. After going back and forth between the Central Bank of the States of West Africa (BCEAO) and the IMF, he became governor of the latter in November 1984.

The change in continuity. The successor to the CFA franc, L'ÉCO will be indexed to the euro according to fixed parities.
Will the announcement of the end of the CFA franc be followed by panic? It is a change of facade and calm must prevail.
The ECO will be born in 2020 and will sound the death knell for the deposit of foreign exchange reserves on the operating account with the French treasury. It is also the end of the presence of French representatives in African monetary authorities.La grande question est comment des accords de 46 ans peuvent être remplacer en quelques mois par l'éco ?

In total, the change will be made Under the leadership of UEMEAO
But under warranty from the French State.

France must stop overvaluing "African risk", focus on shared growth and see in Africa only a market for raw materials or consumers. Among the controversial subjects, the monetary relationship between France and the franc zones. Indeed, the CFA franc was created on December 26, 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War, by General de Gaulle. In his book “Getting Africa out of monetary servitude: who benefits from the CFA franc? ", Demba Moussa Dembélé criticizes this single currency and its failure to facilitate regional integration, arguing that trade between WAEMU member countries does not exceed 15% of their total trade. In Cémac (in Central Africa), these exchanges are less than 10%. In terms of development, out of the 14 African countries that use the CFA franc, 10 are classified among the “least developed countries” (LDCs) by the United Nations. And their development indicators are among the lowest in the world, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Countries are required to deposit half of their foreign exchange reserves with the French Treasury. During my travels in West Africa (since 1996), I have noticed and heard the dismay of Africans after the 1994 devaluation which was decided in Paris without consultation with African heads of state. Within the CDEAO, only eight countries use the CFA franc. The latter are said to be creating a single currency by 2020, integrating Cape Verde, Guinea, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It is a given that no country wants to create its own currency, the source of successive forced devaluations and destabilizing inflationary pressures. Sixteen countries use the CFA franc. The BEAC (Bank of Central African States) supervises CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community) for the six member states, namely Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Chad. The BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States) manages the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) which includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

The two central banks of the franc zone had in 2005 more than 3,600 billion CFA francs (about 72 billion euros) with the French Treasury. Some people wonder: is the CFA franc an obstacle to the development of the African countries which use it? What is embarrassing for proponents of a single African currency is that it is out of reach today.

I noticed and analyzed the causes of the weak engagement of banks with SMEs and households. This is the story of the egg and the chicken. Bankers, most of whom are representatives of subsidiaries of major international banks, complain about the obscurity of information from loan applicants, misgivings and misleading statements about corporate accounts. Entrepreneurs complain about the lack of risk-taking on the part of the banking system. The solution would be to seek in the institution of mechanisms for guaranteeing bank loans with the support of the central banks of the CFA franc zone and in turn the French Treasury. Several SMEs use self-financing to invest, which limits their development; there is no leverage. We know that the companies that have reached critical size, some of which have become multinational firms, have operated thanks to the existence of more abundant bank and financial financing. In Africa, banking intermediation dominates the financing of the economy due to the weakness of regional stock markets. Pending the establishment of a common regional currency, depending on the economic zone, the CFA franc is the optimal solution. However, several modes of operation of this banking system should be improved. The fixed exchange rate between the euro and the CFA franc creates distortions for African economies. When the euro is overvalued against the dollar, some exportable products are less competitive and vice versa. A depreciation of the euro against the US currency increases inflation. But a more detailed study on our part highlights the limited impact of variations in the exchange rates of the euro on the economies of the CFA franc zone, for several reasons. There is almost no price elasticity of demand for most African exportable goods, since they are mainly composed of raw materials whose prices are fixed on international markets and invoiced in dollars and do not depend on external demand. Non-petroleum products from franc zone countries are exported to the EU, therefore in euros. The Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, said: "We regularly conduct economic studies on the value of the CFA franc compared to economic levels, on the value of the CFA franc which is neither undervalued, neither overvalued ”, quoted by Reuters on September 30, 2016. For his part, Lucas Abaga Nchama, the governor of the BEAC, specified that“ the current difficulties of Cémac, [its growth will not exceed 2% this year (2017 )] are budgetary and linked to the exogenous shock caused by the fall in oil prices. This is hardly a monetary crisis "(quoted by Jeune Afrique on January 16, 2017).


But do the sixteen countries of the franc zone have the capacity to have a single currency other than the CFA? The fact that the member states of the monetary zone deposit their reserves with the French Treasury is a
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a form of solidarity between them and a guarantee that a single currency will not be created ex nihilo from the astronomical quantities of banknotes. Articles have caricatured this monetary system by giving fanciful figures, as on the Silicon Africa site in January 2014: there is described a "diabolical" system from which France would not want to leave, since it would bring it "around 500 billion dollars for his treasury every year from Africa ”. But the author, himself admits, does not yet have all "the details of the amounts, the valuation and the means of payment" of this colonial tax. A little further, in the same article, it is no longer "500 billion dollars each year", but a stock of "500 billion currencies of African countries" (sic) that France would hold. It should be noted that these are investment reserves remunerated at a rate of 0.75%, while central banks in Europe serve negative rates. Several virtues of the CFA franc zone are to be highlighted: - the stability of exchange rates ensures individuals, businesses, banks and investors not to suffer from erratic fluctuations in currency prices and allows visibility on the medium and long term. Indeed, companies do not use the hedging mechanism against exchange rate risk; investors will not fear a fall in the national currency which would depreciate their financial assets, - unlimited convertibility within the zone, - controlled inflation rates, - the possibility of fixing interest rates compatible with the levels of investment desired, - the absence of a parallel currency market, - the ban on the use of money printing, a factor of hyperinflation and the collapse of the national currency, - the convertibility of the CFA franc within the regional monetary area.

My proposal is to linking the Eco, the successor to the CFA franc, on a basket of currencies the dollar, the euro and the Chinese yuan.
African countries export raw materials in dollars and import Chinese and European products in euros. Financial flows, whether from tourism, transfers from Africans living abroad or foreign direct investment, are often denominated in euros.

Dr. Camille SARI
Economist
www.camille-sari.fr

The dynamism of Africa's transborder networks and spaces offers a sharp contrast with the modest achievements of the regional organisations . This paper reviews how transborder forms of regional integration depend and build upon the preservation of tariff and non-tariff barriers. The adoption of trade liberalisation policies, far from bringing to an end the
exploitation of cross border differentials within Africa, has encouraged the internationalisation and, at times, the criminalisation of the products and networks involved.
Regionalisation also proceeds from the defragmentation of economies and markets. Frequently depicted an alternative to the stalled 'integration agendas of the RECs,defragmentation reflects upon a changing political landscape whereby unilateral policy initiatives, combine with enhanced state capacity to enforce public policies and a private sector friendly climate stimulated by the African frontier syndrome. The rehabilitation of transport corridors or the effects of the dissemination of cell phone technology represent tangible contributions to the deepening of Africa's global integration. It is, however, too early to conclude whether this will also contribute to the build up of enhanced regional capacity. If the 12 year long EPA negotiations with the EU are to be considered as a stress test for the RECs, only two, ECOWAS and the EAC, passed. In Southern Africa, a reinforcement of SACU has been operated at the expense of SADC. The failure of the remaining RECs to demonstrate an ability to make sense in the negotiations does not inaugurate well of their future at a time when Africa needs to craft its own responses to the scramble for 'deep' and quasi-multilateral (mega-regional) agreements.