Economic Regionalization in Africa: Challenges and Per-spectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA)
Session
Management, Business and Economics
Description
Since the year 1980, there has been a noticeable increase in nations' propensity to regionalize their economies. The author claim that because region-alization and globalization are intertwined processes, this regionalization either reflects countries' determination to defend themselves from the negative effects of globalized free trade or it is a new type of worldwide free trade. Since then, the number of regional trade agreements that bring about this economic region-alization has skyrocketed. The reasons behind this explosion are that, in theory, regionalization should enable better integration and increase household welfare by removing tariff and non-tariff obstacles in a region. Africa has a number of regional economic organizations that frequently overlap, adding to the global phenomenon of regionalization (Caricom, CIS, EU, Mercosur, NAFTA, ASEAN, TTIP, TPP, etc.). There are currently fourteen significant, largely linked Regional Economic Communities (RECs) throughout Africa. Eight of these or-ganizations—UMA, COMESA, CEN-SAD, EAC, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC—have received recognition from the African Union as RECs. Intra-African trade continues to be among the lowest in the world despite all of these institutions that are meant to increase it. Africa continues to be a minor player in global trade; the continent has not yet emerged and integrated. Despite this ad-mission of failure, nations in Africa still hold on to the hope that economic re-gionalization will save them from failure and enable their economic integration and development. Because of this, the African Union established the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In order to avoid making the same mis-takes as the early African regional organizations, this study sets out to emphasize the challenges that AfCFTA must overcome as well as the opportunities that would arise from this enormous continental regionalization.
Keywords:
Economic Regionalization, Free Trade Area, African Continental Free Trade Area.
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-550-95-6
Location
UBT Lipjan, Kosovo
Start Date
28-10-2023 8:00 AM
End Date
29-10-2023 6:00 PM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2023.149
Recommended Citation
Abdullahi, Kamal Tasiu, "Economic Regionalization in Africa: Challenges and Per-spectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA)" (2023). UBT International Conference. 2.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/IC/MBE/2
Economic Regionalization in Africa: Challenges and Per-spectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA)
UBT Lipjan, Kosovo
Since the year 1980, there has been a noticeable increase in nations' propensity to regionalize their economies. The author claim that because region-alization and globalization are intertwined processes, this regionalization either reflects countries' determination to defend themselves from the negative effects of globalized free trade or it is a new type of worldwide free trade. Since then, the number of regional trade agreements that bring about this economic region-alization has skyrocketed. The reasons behind this explosion are that, in theory, regionalization should enable better integration and increase household welfare by removing tariff and non-tariff obstacles in a region. Africa has a number of regional economic organizations that frequently overlap, adding to the global phenomenon of regionalization (Caricom, CIS, EU, Mercosur, NAFTA, ASEAN, TTIP, TPP, etc.). There are currently fourteen significant, largely linked Regional Economic Communities (RECs) throughout Africa. Eight of these or-ganizations—UMA, COMESA, CEN-SAD, EAC, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD, and SADC—have received recognition from the African Union as RECs. Intra-African trade continues to be among the lowest in the world despite all of these institutions that are meant to increase it. Africa continues to be a minor player in global trade; the continent has not yet emerged and integrated. Despite this ad-mission of failure, nations in Africa still hold on to the hope that economic re-gionalization will save them from failure and enable their economic integration and development. Because of this, the African Union established the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In order to avoid making the same mis-takes as the early African regional organizations, this study sets out to emphasize the challenges that AfCFTA must overcome as well as the opportunities that would arise from this enormous continental regionalization.