The Enigma of African Economic Integration

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Economic Integration This content downloaded from 154.59.124.54 on Wed, 29 May 2024 15:25:35 +00:000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Abstract The paper is devoted to a critical examination of the aims set out in the Constitutive Act of the African Union (2000) and the Abuja Treaty of 1991 creating the African Economic Community within the general context of the proliferation in African economic integration schemes and the espousal by Africa of the New Partnership for Africais Development (NEPAD). Although the paper is sympathetic with the aims and aspirations set out in these documents and asks for more, it argues that they are not carefully thought out since the drafters seem to have been more impressed by the mere enumeration of items rather than their consistency. Hence, it fears that all indications suggest that Rob son (1997) may prove correct when he states that 'reculer pour mieux sauter is not a dictum that seems to carry much weight among African governments involved in regional integration. On the contrary, if a certain level of integration cannot be made to work, the reaction of policy makers has typically been to embark on something more elaborate, more advanced and more demanding in terms of administrative requirements and political commitment'.