Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community

Regional economic integration efforts in Africa have, over the years, yielded varied results. For the most part, they have not been as successful as hoped, often encountering crippling challenges. These challenges have been as varied as the blocs that have existed on the continent since the early co...

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Main Author: Masiko, Timothy Bryan
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56763/
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author Masiko, Timothy Bryan
author_facet Masiko, Timothy Bryan
author_sort Masiko, Timothy Bryan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Regional economic integration efforts in Africa have, over the years, yielded varied results. For the most part, they have not been as successful as hoped, often encountering crippling challenges. These challenges have been as varied as the blocs that have existed on the continent since the early colonial years. The main hindrance has been the considerably different abilities, intentions and political will with which regional economic integration has been approached. This, however, appears to have changed with the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is Africa’s most ambitious effort geared at establishing the Africa Common Market (ACM) – an aspiration pursued incrementally since 1980. In this thesis, I examine the relationship between flexible regional economic integration in the East African Community (EAC), through its application of variable geometry, and the establishment of AfCFTA as a continent-wide form of integration. I argue that the use of flexible integration in the EAC is at the same time affected by, and has an effect on, the pace of regional economic integration in Africa. I use a historical, political, legal and economic analysis of the processes that led to the adoption of flexible regional integration in Africa, with particular regard to the EAC. This is done in the inescapable context of pan-Africanism, showing how regional integration efforts in Africa have been based on pan-Africanist ideals, and how an evolution of these ideals has led to an evolution in the goals of integration. I argue that indeed, flexible economic integration is inherently pan-African, and I make the case for its regulated application.
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spelling nottingham-567632025-02-28T14:31:54Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56763/ Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community Masiko, Timothy Bryan Regional economic integration efforts in Africa have, over the years, yielded varied results. For the most part, they have not been as successful as hoped, often encountering crippling challenges. These challenges have been as varied as the blocs that have existed on the continent since the early colonial years. The main hindrance has been the considerably different abilities, intentions and political will with which regional economic integration has been approached. This, however, appears to have changed with the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is Africa’s most ambitious effort geared at establishing the Africa Common Market (ACM) – an aspiration pursued incrementally since 1980. In this thesis, I examine the relationship between flexible regional economic integration in the East African Community (EAC), through its application of variable geometry, and the establishment of AfCFTA as a continent-wide form of integration. I argue that the use of flexible integration in the EAC is at the same time affected by, and has an effect on, the pace of regional economic integration in Africa. I use a historical, political, legal and economic analysis of the processes that led to the adoption of flexible regional integration in Africa, with particular regard to the EAC. This is done in the inescapable context of pan-Africanism, showing how regional integration efforts in Africa have been based on pan-Africanist ideals, and how an evolution of these ideals has led to an evolution in the goals of integration. I argue that indeed, flexible economic integration is inherently pan-African, and I make the case for its regulated application. 2019-07-23 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56763/1/TBM%20-%20The%20Thesis%20Final%20Version.pdf Masiko, Timothy Bryan (2019) Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. International economic law Africa pan-Africanism Pan-African studies East African Community flexible regional economic integration variable geometry legal history African economic law regional integration integration theory
spellingShingle International economic law
Africa
pan-Africanism Pan-African studies
East African Community
flexible regional economic integration
variable geometry
legal history
African economic law
regional integration
integration theory
Masiko, Timothy Bryan
Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title_full Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title_fullStr Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title_full_unstemmed Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title_short Flexible regional economic integration in Africa: A historical look at the East African Community
title_sort flexible regional economic integration in africa: a historical look at the east african community
topic International economic law
Africa
pan-Africanism Pan-African studies
East African Community
flexible regional economic integration
variable geometry
legal history
African economic law
regional integration
integration theory
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56763/