Ernest Haas theorized this experience in ment, it is hard to envision stability in Africa. There is a renewed impetus to It says that the model should be underpinned by a security regime and should prioritise trade and regulatory cooperation. Regional Integration and Africa's Development Trajectory: meta-theories, expectations and reality RICHARD GIBB Abstract Regional integration remains an integral part of Africa's develop-ment strategy and has underpinned most pan-African development policies for the past 50 years. edition of the Assessing Regional Integration in Africa Series (ARIA) – a joint ECA/AUC/AfDB publication - is dedicated to “Bringing the CFTA about”. But there are competing models of regional economic integration, the market and the develop-mental.The former fosters instability while the latter addresses both the breaking of the `implicit bargain' and the polarization caused by market integration. Political leaders at official conferences and formal summits have long promoted the idea, although with only limited results on the ground. Using southern Africa as an exemplar case study, the paper argues that the various meta-theories focused on explaining the political economy of regionalism, often closely allied to a development theory paradigm, fail to account for the nature, character and evolution of regional integration. However, the linear model of integration from goods markets to monetary and fiscal integration has slowed the progress towards integration in the world economy. Europe was the region of the world, where regional integration started in the early 1950s with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1952. redefined the integration including trade, terrorism and mistrust among member states. Greater African integration has long been a cherished but elusive goal. Regional integration theory seeks to explain the establishment and development of regional international organizations. Regional integration in Africa is seen as a priority by many of the continent’s policymakers. Crucial to implementation is an understanding of the political economy underpinning economic integration in Africa. Key questions are why and under which conditions states decide to transfer political authority to regional organizations; how regional organizations expand their tasks, competencies, and members; and what impact they have on states and societies in their regions. The small, sparsely populated, fragmented, and often isolated economies across Africa make a compelling case for these economies to integrate regionally to, reap efficiency gains, exploit economies of scale, and reduce the thickness of borders. Conceptual issues in this area form the theoretical basis of the report which Second, this Article challenges classical theories and justifications of regional integration and their applicability in the southern African context.10 Unlike the classical justification for integration in Europe, the main justification for integration in post-colonial Africa is emancipation from racial But lack of complementarities among partners and diminishing returns to the exploitation of resources has reduced supply response to market-integration … It also outlines the key findings from the study and presents the main recommendations on how challenges to the integration process can be overcome. Regionalism in Africa has always had a strong political motive. This chapter considers the experience of regional integration schemes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). regional integration is the way ahead as there are many regional externalities that can only be addressed through regional co-operation. 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