SACU

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.

After a brief reminder of the distinction between regionalism and regionalisation, the chapter describes the landscape of regional economic groupings across the continent before addressing the heuristic value of the notion of integration through hysteresis as well as its articulation with SACU"s new philosophy.

This paper examined the experiences of three African LDCs in mainstreaming trade into their national development strategies: Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Senegal. It found that while they have strengthened efforts to better integrate trade into their national strategies, significant challenges remain, for instance with regard to the inclusion of local stakeholders in the trade policy-making process and in addressing the social impacts of trade reforms on vulnerable groups. Against this backdrop, the paper underscores the need for African LDCs to have a more systematic approach to trade policymaking than in the past to enhance their ability to better use trade in support of development. The paper also draws lessons from the experiences of the three African LDCs for other LDCs.

Co-author: Amelia Santos-Paulino - UNCTAD

The processes at play across the African continent provide crucial insights into the interplay between territory, space and networks. This relates to five specific threads, associated with ideal-types that enable to shift away from binary oppositions (such as old vs new regionalism, integration vs cooperation, regime boosting vs regional integration) in order to focus on the plurality of strategies and processes that coexist within regional organizations and landscapes.

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has existed since November 11, 1969 with the signing of the Customs Union Agreement between South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, thereby replacing the Customs Union Agreement of 1910. Following the formation of the Government of National Unity in South Africa in April 1994, Member States agreed on the renegotiation of the existing agreement in order to democratize the SACU. The block's relations axes have been enlarged and reflect in a certain way, new ideas and perspectives on regional processes.