REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN AFRICA:A PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF THE EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY (EAC) AND THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS)
Adebile, Oluwaseyi Paul
Department of History
Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo
Abstract
Giving the socio-political contradictions enhanced by the artificial creation of colonial states in East and West Africa, regional integration has remained a management strategy to keep African emergent states running. That notwithstanding, since the early years of colonialism and particularly in post-colonial times, the consequences of an unsolicited integration made by the colonialist in their scramble for and partition of Africa has left with Africa myriads of almost intractable problems to fix, ranging from ethnic rivalries, minority agitations, religious intolerance to civil wars. Unpalatably, these experiences have continuously taken bloodletting, violent and high profiled murderous approaches, to talk less of its influence in clogging the political stability and economic development of the African states in post-colonial times. The current study touches on the integration efforts in East Africa and West Africa since the early years of colonialism in the African space.More importantly, it examines regional integration within the context of existing regional established organizations of integration at the West and East African regional level (EAC in East Africa and ECOWAS in West Africa) with focus on integrative efficiency within their regional milieus. Applying the theoretical prescription of the Mitrany’s functionalist thoughts and its neo-functionalist variant on integration within the narrative and analytical method of historical research, identified the duplication of regional integration arrangements within these sub-regional entities. Hence, to facilitate a comparison of integrative effectiveness in these regions, the study suggests that since regional integration energies in East and West Africa sub-regions are targeted towards achieving similar objectives, sub-regional and parallel regional integration platforms within each of these regions be integrated into the EAC and ECOWAS respectively to create a stronger font for integration within the regions.
Keywords: African Diplomacy, Regional Integration, International Organisation, Inter-state Cooperation, Development
Introduction
Overwhelming empirical evidence shows that none of the countries in West Africa and indeed Africa, can on its own easily overcome many of our collective economic, political and socio-cultural deprivations. Consequently, it has become imperative that we should cooperate at various level, not only to identify the problems of our general underdevelopment but equally important, to seek collective and lasting solutions. (George A. Obiozor)[1]
The theme of regional integration in Africa isone with a long and engaging historical tradition, it could be traced to the early twentieth century when the South African Custom Union (SACU) and East African Community (EAC) was founded, in 1910 and 1919 respectively. Following these developments were the establishments of various integration arrangements in the various regional milieu across Africa, specifically since the second half of the twentieth century. Hence, it may be of some relevance to mention that the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) was thus established in 1975. Now, perhaps there are about ten or more regional economic clusters in Africa such that virtually all countries in Africa are involved in at least one regional integration arrangement.[2]
Integration, in stark terms could imply a cooperative and coercive unification arrangement. It is usually a multilateral effort whereby states let go the interest and ability to conduct foreign and central domestic affairs independently of each other in an attempt to make collaborative decisions or to hand over the decision-making process to new control organs or the evolution over time of a collective decision-making system among nations.[3] This has been the case since the mid-twentieth century when such cooperation to create a supra-national body, which scholars have considered an important strategy to promote economic development and forestall the occurrence of violent conflicts.
Coleman and Rotbery present integration as the progressive reduction of cultural and regional tension and discontinuities….in the process of creating a homogeneous political community.[4]However, Stanley Hoffman distinguishes two levels of integration; under “low and high” polities with two distinctive forms of integration, one is concerned with welfare economics and the other concerned with preventing polities unification.[5] Beyond several existing conceptual thoughts on integration, identifiable studies have been undertaken on both the African and European experiences.[6]The central outcomes of these studies are united on the thrust that domestic, regional and global stability and progress could be achieved and maintained only through effective management of conflict within pluralistic societies through the instrument and strategy of integration.
The essence of integration to the international cooperation has resorted in the development of integration theories. Such theories have focused on exploring the factors that shapes integration since the mid-twentieth century, and by far, the most prominent have been the theories of functionalism and neo-functionalism. It is instructive to note that the first scholar to develop the functionalist theory of integration in its rigorous and systematic form was David Mitrany. In his famous classic, A Working Peace System: An argument for the functional development of international organization, he argued that the major obstacle to integration is sovereignty which states are not always willing to submit to a supra-national body. Mitrany explains further that achieving effective integration is to adopt the functionalist model which means that states intending to engage in collaborative integration should commence the process on social and economic grounds such as trade and commerce, sport and tourism, educational exchanges and technological cooperation.[7] In Mitrany’s opinion, collaboration of these sorts often breeds mutual advantages to cooperating parties and therefore intensifies keen interest in integration. Hence, functionalism dawns on cooperation that has the prospect of creation a regional or global multipurpose inter-governmental organization. Essentially, the idea in the functionalists’ proposition is that cooperation starting with social and economic interplay has the capacity to create a web of entanglement by states involved as they broaden the scope of cooperation in several other areas. By this, they become enmeshed in cooperation and more familiar with each other such that happenings of conflicts are minimized and political collaboration, including the surrendering of sovereignty becomes possible and enhanced.
The functionalist theory of integration was further refined by other scholars such as Ernst Haas, Philippe Schimitter and Joseph Nye in what has been referred to as the neo-functionalist theory of integration.[8] Interestingly, the neo-functionalists adopt the functionalists’ proposition of integration commencing on simple social and economic grounds, corroborating the critical impediment to integration which is the submission of states sovereignty. It however deviated from the functionalist argument to contend that the scope of cooperation, even though commencing with social and economic issues, should be regional rather than global. This, according to their ideal, is because of the ambitious nature of integration which is probably not realistic. Arising from the argument is that functional integration should commence with regional efforts. Therefore, neo-functionalism presents variables that should be considered in context of integration arrangements, some of such include, the background of the countries integration, the levels of development, extent of cooperation among elites as well as existing conditions at the point of cooperation.
The application of these variables should enhance the success and effectiveness of the process. In short, functionalism and neo-functionalism as variant integration theories have shaped the general understanding on the determinants of integration among political entities since the 1940s. Some practical illustrations of these ideas to integration has been, the European Union which has transformed the continent from a ‘Europe of States’ to a ‘State of Europe’ starting from the mid-twentieth century, particularly in 1952 when the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded. Integration proceeded rapidly in 1957 when European Economic Community was formed and in 1967 when European Community was established and pertinently in 1992 when the European Union was instituted following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty.[9] In the same way, other regions of the global system have taken after Europe and regional integration have proliferated tremendously across the world, particularly from the 1970s. The current study is an evaluation of some of such regional integration effort in Africa with reference to East and West Africa sub-regions.
Again, the scholarship of regional integration has extended beyond its Eurocentric origins and crossed the analytical trend on the European Union to give attention to integration trends in Asia, America, Africa and perhaps elsewhere. The focus in such studies are prominent on political economy and comparative inquiry with multifaceted trajectories such as, the roles of domestic institutions including interest groups, government ideology, public opinion in the causes and consequences of regional integration. For instance, a recent work by Helmut Asche focuses on three core connected aspects of contemporary Africa- the economic, social and political endeavors and provides some perspectives on Africa’s development challenges. The book further explores the past, present and prospects of regional integration in Africa and settles that European approach to profound integration is suitable for more organic integration in the different African regions and perhaps the entire continent.[10]
Meanwhile, AbayomiAkinyeye’s edited book, That they may be One, among other tropical historical themes in African’s nation building experience examines the subject of regional integration in Africa.[11]While YomiAkinyeye in his own chapter examined the African’s past and present regional integration experiences and considers the possible future challenges of regional integration in Africa, Browne Onuoha and Maryam O. Quadri in their co-authored chapter engaged an exploratory and futuristic analysis of the possible contributions of interest groups to African integration and argue that one of the reasons Africa integration is not making meaningful progress is because there are no pressure or interest groups to actively spur the governments towards the goal.[12]Nevertheless, it appears none of the studies in received literature has considered African integration in the actual sense of regional comparison with respect to the integration efforts of the East African Community and Economic Community of West African States; hence, the void this study intends to fill.
Towards a background on Regional Integration in East and West Africa
Regional integration is not a new development to Africa. Africa is home to one of the oldest custom unions in the world; the Trans-Saharan trade connected the north and western part of Africa. History is not silent about some interesting evidences of inter-group relations that transcended the boundaries created during colonial rule. Before the advent of colonialism, there was free movement of persons, goods and services in the East African region. This free movement attracted traders from Europe and China to assess gold from the East African coast. In short, there was a common market in the East African region before the advent of colonialism in the region. On the other hand, the peoples of the West African region existed with a shared history and culture with a strong bond of peaceful co-existence among the various pre-colonial kingdoms and empires that inhabited the region at that time. While the Yoruba and Akan speaking groups inhabits present day in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin Republic and Togo; the Hausa people are also located in modern Niger and Nigeria. Similarly, the Fula or Mandinka peoples are longitudinally dispersed along the boundaries of modern day Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone as well as Guinea and Guinea Bissau.[13]
State formation in Africa was a product of colonialism. Almost, if not all the states in Africa were amalgamations of autonomous kingdoms, chiefdoms and empires into an artificial geographical entity. The people of East Africa had close relations with each other before the beginning of colonialism with the creation of political and geographical boundaries in the region. During the pre-colonial period, the area that is now known as Kenya was inhabited by the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kisii, Luo, Luhya, Masaai, Meru, Wanga, and other ethnic peoples; Uganda southward was peopled by the Ankole, Buganda, Busoga, Bunyoro-Kitara, Toro among several other ethnic groups while varying ethnic clusters such as; Chagga, Gogo, Masaai, Hehe, Makonde, Sukuma occupied present day Tanzania.[14]
With the advent of colonialism and the artificial partition of state borders, ethnic groups were disorderly separated across state borders. By this, many ethnic groups found themselves on both sides of the political borders of colonial-fashioned states in East and West Africa. In East Africa for instance, the Maasai and Kuria ethnic groups are found in both Tanzania and Kenya; the Maasai, who are predominantly pastoralists still graze across the state borders, as was their traditional practice. Besides, the Luhya, also popular as the Samia group are thickly settled in both Kenya and Uganda, just as the Masaai are found in Kenya and Tanzania, not to make a mention of the Luo ethnic people that are scattered across the boundaries of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.[15] Giving the disorganized clusters of ethnic composition in the emergent colonial and post-colonial states, the essence of integration would be indispensable for the management of a complex entangled socio-cultural contradiction created by technocrats of the colonial agenda.
Historically speaking, it is easy to make mention of two integration adventure in Africa. The first was pedaled by the colonialists to primarily facilitate the economic exploitation of the colonies, while the second was driven by Africans to address post-colonial difficulties towards development.[16] The integration project that was driven by the colonialists did not include local economies; it was at best, a pseudo-integration adventure. The disintegration of African economies which began with pre-colonial trade with Europe was fast-tracked during the colonial period. The economies of the colonies were integrated to the economy of the colonial government. At best, colonial economic integration was thus useful to the degree that it contributed to development of the metropolitan economies.[17]
However, the different political borders created by the arbitrary division of state borders did not actually override the historical bond between the people. Importantly, the existence of inter-group relations between the peoples of East and West Africa during the colonial period, made colonial and post-colonial integration natural and imperative. YoveriMuseveni (a former President of Uganda), underscored the necessity of regional integration as panacea to attendant consequences of the arbitral division of African people into colonial states. According to him,
…the community was the only answer to the colonial irrationalities that divided Africa with artificial borders … East Africa was the most well-placed to lead Africa out of the straight jacket of political balkanisation. A balkanised African continent will not guarantee the future of the black race as well as other African peoples.”[18]
Hence, integration is considered a central instrument through which the African continent could survive the almost intractable malady induced on her socio-political formation by this unreasonable act of balkanization. At this juncture, the study turns to examine the context, complexion and accomplishment of the two identified integration projects in Africa (ECOWASand EAC) with regards to economic and political integration as well as defence and security matters in their different regions.
The Economic Community of West African States in West Africa
Prior to colonial rule, the people of the area identified as West Africa intermingled with one another in terms of trade and commerce. There were contacts between the people of West Africa that transcends the borders of the emergent colonial states far back in pre-colonial times. The ancient Sudanese empire covered some areas in present day Ghana, Mali, Niger, Guinea, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania. Trade, religion and military conquests had large influences on state formation in pre-colonial West Africa. For instance, the Hausa and the Madinka tribes were known for their movement from one place to another for trade and other commercial activities. More so, Oyo, Asante, Dahomey and Benin were formed as a result of migration. While the communities had boundaries which were demarcated with landmarks such as trees and stones, there was little or no restriction of movements across community borders. It is necessary to add that the discriminatory restriction of movement at the borders of West African states was a colonial innovation for administrative ease.[19] In context of the outcomes of the colonial artificial state formation in West Africa, the region could be regarded as the most fragmented region of the balkanized Africa continent. The region is home to several heterogeneous pocket states that are rather too small to be economically independent.
The Economic Community of West African States (hereinafter ECOWAS) is a regional international organisation of fifteen independent West Africa countries established in 1975. As a purely economic community, the organization aims to promote co-operation and integration in the region. Besides, the organization does not intend to undermine the sovereignty of member states in an attempt to form a political union. The ultimate aim of the ECOWAS is the creation of an economic union built on a common market and a monetary and custom union.[20]
It is necessary to mention at this point that ECOWAS was a product of earlier efforts at regional economic integration in both British and French West Africa erstwhile colonies. Following the wave of independence that swept through the region from the mid-20th century, political leaders of the newly independent African states developed a blueprint to reinvent old ties within the region. President Tubman, then president of Liberia, canvassed for integration. Consequently, there was a multilateral agreement between Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in February 1965. However, nothing tangible resulted from the attempt. Another effort was made in 1967, when eleven Africa countries signed the draft for the establishment of the West African Economic Community at a conference on regional economic cooperation, held in Monrovia.
Meanwhile, the French colonial authorities had formed the French West Africa Union in 1895. Ghana and Guinea created the Union of West African States in November 1958 at Accra, while in 1961, Cote d’Ivoire, Haute-Volta, Dahomey and Niger attempted another effort towards it. Still on account of integration, as mention earlier, President William Tubman of Liberia propagated the idea of a free trade zone in the region in the 1960s. This culminated in a signed free trade agreement between Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in February 1965. The Organisation for West African Cooperation that was expected to spring from the agreement failed to emerge, perhaps, owing to the high level of unpreparedness and actual indecision of member states. Despite the failure of Tubman’s idea, efforts at regional integration continued, though differently, along the colonial dominion of the British and French in West Africa.
In French West Africa, the Union Douanière des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouestsucceeded the UnionDouanière de l’Afrique de l’Ouest in January 1966. The Francophone West Africa countries also signed a treaty for the establishment of the CommunautéEconomique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEAO) in June 1972 at Bamako. The CEAO was primarily aimed to promote a relative equitable economic development in member states. On the other hand, British West African states of Sierra Leone and Liberia formed the Mano River Union in 1974.[21] General Yakubu, the Nigerian Head of State at the time and General NnassingbeEyadema, then President of Togo championed the move that resulted to the formation of ECOWAS. They both drew a new programme for economic integration in West Africa and sold it to the other countries within the region. On the 28th of May 1975, in Lagos, the fifteen West Africa countries namely, Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote D’ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone signed the first Economic Community of West African States Treaty (ECOWAS). The treaty was in force from 1975 until 1993 when it was reviewed.[22]
The reviewed contract had the attainment of a common market and monetary union as one of its central objectives. It further established an institutional structure for a West African Parliament, an ECOWAS Court of Justice and an Economic and Social Council. The treaty came into force in 1995. Corroborating Mitrany’s functionalist approach to integration, the review of the 1975 ECOWAS Treaty widened the scope and focus of the Community from the limited sphere of economic integration to a wider range of economic, social, security and political issues. As a result of this change in scope, the ECOWAS Commission announced that,
ECOWAS is an organisation for political and economic integration, quite distinct from what is referred to as regional economic communities which have restricted their scope of intervention to the common market.[23]
The most important institutions and organs of the ECOWAS Community are: ECOWAS Authority; Council of Ministers; ECOWAS Parliament; ECOWAS Commission; ECCJ; ECOWAS Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security; Permanent Representatives of member states to ECOWAS; ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development; Intergovernmental Group against Money Laundering in West Africa; and West African Health Organisation. The Community also has dynamic technical committees along thematic lines: Administration and Finance; Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources; Human and Gender Development; Infrastructure; Macro-economic Policies; Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Trade, Customs, Free Movement of Persons; Legal and Judicial Affairs; and Information and Communications Technology. In general, the institutions of ECOWAS include; the Authority of the Heads of State and Government, the Executive Secretariat, the Council of Ministers, the Community Parliament, the Economic and Social Council, the Community Court of Justice, the Fund for Co-operation and the Compensation and Development (transformed in 2001 into the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development).[24]
Essentially, the Liberia civil war that broke out in 1989 necessitated a paradigm shift from economic integration to regional security. The civil war resultedin the creation of a legal framework for regional security on the community. The absence of a comprehensive and decisive response by the United Nations and other well-meaning international actors foisted the task of finding solutions to the crisis on ECOWAS. From a regional economic integration perspective, it was also rational for ECOWAS to invest in regional security, as economic activities could hardly take place in the context of insecurity; an investment in regional security was therefore not contradictory to ECOWAS’s primary goal of regional economic integration. The development could therefore be reasonedin perspective of complimentary objective and pursuit for the organisation.
On May 30, 1990 during the 13th Submit of the ECOWAS Heads of States, the organization responded by setting up a five-member Standing Mediation Committee to restore peace to war-torn Liberia. The Standing Mediation Committee made up of Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Mali and Togo met at another summit on July 6, 1990, in Banjul, Gambia, the Committee took the unprecedented step of sending a multinational peacekeeping force into Liberia. On July 14, 1990, President Samuel Doe, appealed to the ECOWAS chairman that, “it would seem most expedient at this time to introduce an ECOWAS Peace-keeping Force into Liberia to forestall increasing terror and tension and to assure a peaceful transitional environment”.[25] On August 24, 1990, ECOWAS responded by deploying 3,000 troops of the multinational ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia.
In Africa, ECOWAS was the first Regional Economic Commission (REC) to allow Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to participate as observers in some of its activities. ECOWAS also has institutional frameworks for the involvement of CSOs in its activities. Such frameworks include the CSO desk in the ECOWAS Department of Human and Gender. CSOs are allowed to attend ECOWAS Council of Ministers meetings and make propose programs for the Council and other ECOWAS institutions, with the exception of the ECOWAS authority. The desk is responsible for inviting civil societies and associations whose positions are needed by the commission. ECOWAS also allows CSOs to negotiate memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the Commission[26]
To propagate the participation of civil societies in ECOWAS activities, the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) was established in 2003. The WACSOF is a network of CSOs from the fifteen member states, with the primary purpose of complementing the efforts of ECOWAS towards integration. The forum received the endorsement of the ECOWAS authority, and has been following activities of the Commission. WACSOF have collaborated with ECOWAS to improve governance in member states through the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissioners (ECONEC). The WACSOF articulates and advocates the position of Civil Society groups to ECOWAS through the release of press statements and position papers, advocacy letters and communiqués. Furthermore, WACSOF attends all Ordinary Summits of the Community. For instance, WACSOF was invited to the discussions on the adoption of the ECOWAS Reference Manual on the Culture of Peace, Human Rights, Citizenship and Regional Integration in 2012. WACSOF also contributed to the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework document.[27] Another example of interest group-ECOWAS partnership is the establishment of ECOWAS Early Warning System (ECOWARN). ECOWARN is the result of a partnership between the West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) and ECOWAS on conflict prevention).[28]
The East African Community in East Africa
The history of regional integration in East Africa can be traced to the late nineteenth century, at the wake of colonialism in the region. As noted in the preamble to the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, the formal and social integration in the region can be traced to the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railways from 1897–1901, the establishment of the Customs Collection Center for Uganda in Mombasa in 1900, and the East African Currency Board and the Postal Union, in 1905. These were later followed by the establishment of the Court of Appeal for East Africa in 1909, the Customs Union for Uganda, Tanganyika and Kenya in 1919, then under British administration, among other regional integration arrangements. Perhaps, the most significant event in the process of regional integration at this stage was the formation of the East African High Commission in 1948. The commission was established to enhance economic relations among the three countries by establishing uniform income tax for the three countries.[29]
The commission was replaced by the East African Common Services (EACS) Organization in 1961. The EACS was established for the primary purpose of organizing existing regional organisations, such as the East African Posts and Telecommunications, the East African Railways and Harbors, the East African Airways, the East African Air Aviation Services and the East African Development Bank. Thus, in 1967, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda signed the treaty that established the East African Community (hereinafter EAC). The three nations agreed to pool resources together towards mutual socio-economic developments. The EAC was effective at the time that it was seen as model for other regions. Also, the level of integration was so deep that the community was referred to as “… a Federal Government.”[30]
However, the EAC collapsed barely a decade after its establishment. The dissolution of EAC in 1977 was the result of a confluence of many events and circumstances, which were due to the lack of regional balance between the member countries (the polices of the community led to high inflation and massive trade deficits in Tanzania and Uganda while Kenya gained industrial dominance), unequal distribution of benefits and lack of compensatory arrangements for Tanzania as well as contradictory economic policies and irreconcilable political differences under the leadership of Idi Amin of Uganda and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.[31] The regional integration achieved by the community could not be sustained due to the lack of political unity which hindered the possibility of forming a strong political framework for the community to thrive.
The three member states of the defunct EAC pursued different socio-economic policies in the early years of independence. Julius Nyerere-led Tanzania adopted the Arusha Declaration, which ushered in a socialist era, with emphasis on self-reliance and little interest in foreign investment. In the same vein, President Milton Obote of Uganda opted for the Common Man’s Charter, which is an ideological agreement with Nyerere’s Tanzania. In contrast, despite adopting African socialism, Kenya opted for an open, liberal economy that was open to foreign investment. In addition to the ideological differences, Tanzania failed to recognize the Military regime of Idi Amin, which toppled the democratically elected government of Milton Obote.[32] As a result, Tanzania viewed the continued participation of Idi Amin’s Uganda in the EAC as illegal. These and many other factors contributed the collapse of the EAC in 1977.
In a bid to revive and restructure the collapsing Community, certain inhibiting factors were identified as expressed thus;
…lack of strong political will, lack of strong participation of the private sector and civil society in the cooperation activities, the continued disproportionate sharing of benefits of the Community among Partner States due to the differences in their levels of development and lack of adequate policies to address the situation.[33]
Following the collapse of the Community, jointly owned projects and properties (such as airlines, harbours, postal services, ports and railways) were given to the member states within whose borders those projects were located. However, the Community was dissolved with the possibility of a future revival; the Mediation Agreement of 1984, which managed the division of the community’s assets and liabilities, inserted a clause for the future re-establishment of the Community.[34]
Efforts towards the revival of the EAC began in early 1990s. In 1991, Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania and YoweriMuseveni of Uganda issued a formal report, committing them to revive the East African Cooperation during the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit in Harare Zimbabwe. A committee of Foreign Ministers was set up to work out the details. In 1993, efforts were made to revive the EAC. Two submits of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda head of states were held in the same year (1993) and 1997. At the 1993 submit, a Tripartite Commission for Cooperation was mobilized for the drafting of a treaty for the establishment of the EAC. Following the draft of the treaty by the commission, the heads of state of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania signed the treaty for the re-establishment of the EAC on November 30, 1999. However, the treaty became effective on 7th July 2000. The new EAC is larger than the defunct one; its membership comprise of six countries, against three countries in the defunct community. Rwanda and Burundi became members of the community in 2007, while South Sudan became member in 2016.[35] The New EAC covers a land mass of 2,467,202km2 (952,592 sq mi), with a total population of 183,625,246 (as at 2019).[36]
According to Article 5(1) of the founding treaty of the community, the community aims at “widening and deepening cooperation among Partner States in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defense, security and legal and judicial affairs for mutual benefit”. The new EAC is aimed at deeper integration than its predecessor. The new EAC ultimately aims at a “…prosperous, competitive, secure and politically United Eastern Africa.”[37]EAC has been able to achieve most of its objectives. It has established a Customs Union in 2005 and a Common Market in 2010. The community is also in the process of establishing a monetary union. The EAC is modeled after the European Union (E.U) by adopting the EU’s institutional framework. The EAC also has a provision for the prevention of the mistakes that led to collapse of the defunct EAC in its founding treaty. The provisions include; a slow but steady approach to integration; decentralization of powers from the Summit to the Council of Ministers; provision for people-centered and private-sector driven integration; and stringent withdrawal procedures. The EAC is based on the following principles; People Centeredness, Balanced Sustainability, Mutual Benefit, Variable Geometry and Consensus. The organs of the community include; The Council of Ministers, The Coordinating Committee, The Sectorial Committees, The East African Court of Justice The EACJ, The East African Legislative Assembly, and The Secretariat.[38]
As stated earlier, the treaty that revived the EAC, identified a “lack of strong participation of the private sector and civil society in the co-operation activities” as one of the factors that led to the collapse of the defunct EAC. Despite this admission, the process of reviving the EACgave no decisive provision for the involvement of CSOs and NGOs. It took the efforts of Non-Governmental Organisations Coalition for East Africa to prevail on the political actors in making concessions that allow the participation of interest groups. Consequently, Article 5 (3 (g)) of the EAC treaty provides for a cooperation between the community and interest groups. EAC’s Department of Gender, Community Development and Civil Society is the link between EAC and interest groups from the region. There is also a regional platform for CSOs in East Africa, as in West Africa. The East African Civil Society Organisatons’ Forum (EACSOF) was formed in 2005, following the efforts of the East Africa Law Society, led by Don Deya.
To further intensify the participation of civil entities in the activities of the EAC, the Community made provisions for the grant of observer status to civil and interest groups in 2001. Fifteen (15) civil/interest groups have been granted observer status by the EAC. The groups include: East African Business Council (EABC); East African Local Government Association; East African National Networks of Aids Service Organisations (EANNASO); East African Support Unit for NGOs; Society for International Development – Office for East Africa; East African Trade Union Congress; Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute; Association of Professional Societies in East Africa; Africa Women’s Economic Policy Network; East African Communities’ Organization for Management of Lake Victoria Resources; East African Centre for Constitutional Development Forum; East African Human Rights Institute; East Africa Law Society (EALS); and East African Magistrates and Judges Association.[39]
In essence, some interest groups have had more direct influence on the activities of the EAC by signing MOUs with the Community. Some of the areas whereby interest groups have partnered with the Community through MOUs include: Formulation of the East African HIV and AIDS Prevention and Management Bill led by EANNASO; Formulation of the Gender Protocol led by EASSI; Formulation of the East African Human Rights Bill led by Kituo Cha Katiba; Formulation of the Consultative Dialogue Framework for Civil Society and Private; Sector Participation in the EAC Integration Process; and Cross-border activities. The EAC also partners with interest groups through the CSO Mobilisation Strategy. The strategy seeks to engage interest groups in Policy formulation and analysis; Policy negotiation and identification; and Packaging and distribution of high development impact information and materials to citizens at all levels of orientation.
However, aside the Customs Union and the Common Market, some of the other EAC protocols that have been ratified so far are: Environment and Natural Resources Management Protocol; Protocol for the Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin; Peace and Security Protocol; Protocol on Combating Drug Trafficking in the East African Region; Protocol on Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Metrology and Testing; Protocol on Foreign Policy Coordination; and Protocol on Establishment of a Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency.
The EAC organs include; The Heads of State Summit; The Council of Ministers; The Coordinating Committee; Sectorial Councils and Committees; The East African Court of Justice; The East African Legislative Assembly; and The Secretariat. The EAC also have specialized institutions established by Article 9 (2) of the EAC Treaty. The institutions include: Lake Victoria Basin Commission; East African Science and Technology Commission; East African Health Research Commission; East African Kiswahili Commission; East African Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA); Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA); Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO); and East African Development Bank (EADB).
In addition, the Community has sectorial committees/councils that coordinate the implementation of the community’s’ programs in specific sectors. These committees include; Sectorial Council on Agriculture and Food Security; Sectorial Council on Cooperation in Defence; Sectorial Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports; Sectorial Council on Energy; Sectorial Council on Environment and Natural Resources; Sectorial Council on Finance and Economic Affairs; Sectorial Council on Foreign Policy Coordination; Sectorial Council on Gender, Youth, Children, Social Protection and Community Development; Sectorial Council on Health; Sectorial Council on Interstate Security; Sectorial Council on Legal and Judicial Affairs; Sectorial Council on Ministers Responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning; Sectorial Council on the Monetary Union; Sectorial Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment; Sectorial Council on Tourism and Wildlife Management; and Sectorial Council on Transport, Communications and Meteorology.
Comparative Discourse on Integration in East and West Africa
Thus far, the integration arrangements of the ECOWAS and EAC in West and East Africa respectively have been assessed in perspective of its history, structure and modus operandi as well as some of it achievements, particularly as it touches integration. The present section of this study will attempt a comparative discourse based on the evidences and findings illustrated in previous aspects of the study.The West Africa region has been categorized along colonial legacies and linguistic heritage (Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone), ideologies (capitalist and pro-Westversus socialist and pro-East) as well as by economic development models and by military alliances. West Africa is the most fragmented region in Africa.[40] ECOWAS is therefore riddled with these differences. The different colonial legacies within the community are one of the factors that hinder effective integration within the region. For instance, a monetary union in ECOWAS is hampered by the existence of a monetary union (UMOA) for the Francophone West African Countries. While the East African Community comprise of countries with different colonial legacies (Uganda and Kenya, South Sudan were colonised by Britain, Germany colonised Tanzania while Rwanda and Burundi were colonised by Germany and Belgium), post-colonial differences along colonial legacies are not as pronounced in the EAC as in ECOWAS.
Another difference between ECOWAS and EAC is the ultimate goal of integration. While ECOWAS was created strictly for social and economic integration, the EAC has political integration as its ultimate goal. Article 5 (2) of the EAC Treaty provides for a political federation. After the Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union, a Regional Political Federation is the fourth step in the EAC integration road map. The EAC has taken active steps towards a political federation for the community. At a special EAC submit held on the 27th-29th August, 2004, the Heads of State from member states established the Wako Committee to work out modalities for the federation through a broad-based consultation. Consequently, the office of the Deputy Secretary-General for Political Federation was established in 2006. In addition, the EAC Heads of State adopted Political Confederation as a model for the potential political federation.[41]It is needful to mention that the EAC in recent times havefuelled its objectives, not just towards creating a single East African currency but also in drafting an East African constitution, with the ultimate goal of a unified political federation.Thishas beenone of the core agendas of the most recent summits of the heads of state;perhaps, the reason why the EAC is considered the most successful of Africa’s regional bloc.[42]
The EAC appears smaller than ECOWAS in terms of size, population, and infrastructural development. The EAC is comprised of six member states, covering a land mass of 2,467,202km2 and an estimated population of 183,625,246 as at 2019. The GDP of the community stands at $439.039 billion, with a per-capital of $1,282.01.[43]In contrast, ECOWAS is comprised of fifteen member states, covering a land mass of 5,114,162km2 and an estimated population of 407,678,789 in 2022.[44]The GDP of the community stands at $1.483 trillion, with a per-capital of $1,985. Despite the huge physical disparities between the two in this context, the EAC appears to have achieved a much deeper level of economic integration than the ECOWAS.
The EAC and ECOWAS are affected by similar challenges. Both communities are faced with uneven development among member states and poor infrastructural development. However, the level of uneven development is less pronounced in the EAC. Unlike ECOWAS, where Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast are the major destination for immigrants, in the EAC, all the EAC countries are equally appealing to immigrants from within the community. Both communities also have ambitious goals and aspirations that are quite promising but difficult to implement. Some of the proposals of both communities lack decisive evaluation and implementation mechanisms. In most cases, policies in both communities are based on an emerging, rather than prescriptive strategy; new policies are usually made without the implementation of previous ones. For instance, the implementation of ECOWAS protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment has been difficult. Many of the member states of the community continue to ignore the protocol by enacting national laws that restrict free movement of goods, persons and services. The EAC’s implementation of its 2009 Common Market Protocol has also been hampered by inconsistent national policies.
In East and West Africa, there is a proliferation of sub-regional economic communities. In West Africa, there are three sub-regional economic communities in addition to ECOWAS. The sub-regional economic communities are; West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Mano River Union (MRU), and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD). With the exception of Ghana, every West African country is a member of at least two sub-regional economic communities. In the same vein, The East African Community (EAC) runs parallel with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Kenya and Uganda belong to both EAC and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Tanzania (a member of the EAC) left COMESA in 2001 to join Southern African Development Community (SADC). The overlap and duplication of regional integration efforts within both regions have resulted in the duplication of programs and have overstretched the commitment of member states to their different integration societies.[45]
Both the EAC and the ECOWAS have allowed the participation of civil societies or interest groups in their activities. However, the participation of interest groups in EAC activities is weak. Policy formulation and implementation in the EAC is still largely a prerogative of state actors. SekouToureOtondi (a researcher of EAC) underscores the lack of effective participation of interest groups in EAC activities thus;
…the limited engagement by the general public, especially of CSOs’ has led to indifference among EAC residents, who due to lack of adequate information tend to pander to the views of their governments…without necessarily interrogating the proposed regional integration policies.[46]
Conclusion
The evaluation so far has shown that regional integration in East and West Africa is a phenomenon that preceded the creation of modern states in the region. Post-independence regional arrangements were more or less attempts at reconnecting the specks of pre-colonial integration that was severed by colonialism. It is also worthy of note, according to the study that the activities of the ECOWAS and EAC in their various sub-regions pursued integration deeply into the grassroots by engaging interest groups in partnership through their openness to civil societies and groups within their regions. While both the EAC and ECOWAS developed mechanism for theparticipation of interest groups, the interest groups in the two regions appeared more generallyconcerned with issues of local concerns than that of regional matters. In order to make regional integration more effective in the East and West Africa regions, the current study recommends that sub-regional and parallel regional integration platforms within each of the regions be integrated into the EAC and ECOWAS respectively to create a stronger font for integration within the regions. In addition, the paper suggests that member states should create ministries of regional affairs to coordinate the harmonization of local policies with regional policies. These suggestions could be helpful in developing healthy interest group-state relations as well as aid a more satisfying outcome in African sub-regional pursuit for integration.
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[1] George A. Obiozor is a renowned academic in the area of international relations. He was once the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) between 1991 and 1999 and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the State of Israel and the United State of America from 1999 to 2003 and 2004-2008 respectively. See Ike Nwachukwu and George A. Obiozor, Nigeria and the ECOWASSince 1985: Towards a Dynamic Regional Integration, Fourth Dimension Publishing Company: Lagos, 1991.
[2]AlemayehuGeda and Haile Kibret, Regional Economic Integration in Africa: A Review of Problems and Prospects with a Case Study of COMESA. SOAS Working Paper, January, 2022. 2. Available at http://www.soas.ac.uk/economics/reasech/workingpaper/file28853.pdf (Accessed 30th, August 2022).
[3] For details on theories of regional integration, see Ernest Haas, “The Study of Regional Integration: reflections on the Joy and Anguish of Pretheorizing”, International Organisation, Vol. 24, Auntumn 1970: 607-648; E. Haas, et al., “International Integration”, in The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, Shills ed., London, 1968; D.J. Puchala, “International Transactions and Regional Integration”, Autumn, 1970: 32-63.
[4]See J. S Coleman, and James Samuel Coleman.Nigeria: Background to nationalism. University of California Press, 1958.
[5]Stanley Hoffmann, “International Organisation and the International System ” in International Organisation , Vol . 24 ( 1970),391.
[6] Studies on African and European integration experiences include,K. Deutsch, Political Community and the North AtlanticArea:InternationalOrganisation in the Light of Historical Experience.Princeton University Press.1957;E.HHaas, “The Unity of Europe and the Uniting of Latin America.”Journal of Common Marketing Studies.vol.5 No.4 Dec. 1967; David Mitrany, A Working Peace System: An Argument for the Functional Development of International Organization,…;J.S Nye Jr., Pan- Africanism and East African Integration. Harvard University Press, 1965.
[7]David Mitrany, “A Working Peace System: An Argument for the Functional Development of International Organization.”, 1998, see also, David Mitrany,”A working peace system.” The European Union. Palgrave, London, 1994. 77-97.
[8] See, Ernst Haas, Uniting of Europe: Political, Social, and Economic Forces, 1950-1957. University of Notre Dame Press, 2020; Philippe C. Schmitter, “A revised theory of regional integration.”International organization 24, no. 4 (1970): 836-868; andJ. S Nye, Peace in parts: Integration and conflict in regional organization. Boston: Little, Brown, 1971.
[9] Details on the historiography of European integration, see Ivan T. Berend, The History of European Integration: A New Perspective. Routledge, 2016 and Alasdair Blair, The European Union since 1945.Routledge, 2014.
[10]Helmut Asche, Regional integration, trade and industry in Africa. Springer, 2021.
[11] See YomiAkinyeye, (ed.). That they may be One: African Boundaries and Regional Integration, Essays in Honour of Anthony IjaolaAsiwaju, African Regional Institute, Imeko, Ogun State, Nigeria, 2008.
[12]YomiAkinyeye, “Regional Integration in Africa: Past Experience, Present Reality and Future Challenges”, in YomiAkinyeye (ed.) That they may be One, African Regional Institute, Imeko, Nigeria. 2008, 131-144 and Brown Onuoha andO. Quadri Maryam, ”Interest Groups and African Integration in the 21st Century”, in YomiAkinyeye (ed.) That they may be One, African Regional Institute, Imeko, Nigeria. 2008, 164-185.
[13]WanyamaMasinde and Omolo Christopher O. “The Road to East African Integration.”East African Community Law. Brill Nijhoff, 2017. 9.
[14]Dickson Kanakulya, Governance and Development of the East African Community: The Ethical Sustainability Framework. PhD Thesis (Applied Ethics).Department of Culture and Communication, Linköping University Electronic Press, 2015. 69,99,105.
[15]J.N. Arita, “Awareness Levels of the Integration Process In East Africa; A Case Study Of Kenya” M.A Dissertation, Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies (Idis), University Of Nairobi. October 2014. 39.
[16] In a quite exploratory study on the East African Community (EAC), Korwa unravels the ideology behind early integration projects in Africa. See, G.A. Korwa, “East African Community,” in Finizio, G. et al (eds), The Democratisation of International Organisations. Centre for Studies on Federalism. 2011.
[17] For details see, Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, 1972.
[18] See, Musoke, et al, “Rwanda, Burundi formally joins EAC,” The New Vision, June 18, 2007.
[19]JerryUkaigwe, ECOWAS Law. Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2016, 6.
[20]See Ike Nwachukwu and George A. Obiozor, Nigeria and the ECOWASSince 1985: Towards a Dynamic Regional Integration, Fourth Dimension Publishing Company: Lagos, 1991, 11,12.
[21]“The Civil Society Guide to Regional Economic Communities,” 2015 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), 2015, 50.
[22]JerryUkaigwe, ECOWAS Law. Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2016, 8.
[23]“The Civil Society Guide to Regional Economic Communities,” 2015 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), 2015, 50.
[24] “ECOWAS Is Dead – Long Live ECOWAS: A study of Ghana and regional integration.” Association of Ghana Industries and DI International Consultancy, September 2000. 20-30. Also see, Ike Nwachukwu and George A. Obiozor, Nigeria and the ECOWAS Since 1985: Towards a Dynamic Regional Integration, Fourth Dimension Publishing Company: Lagos, 1991.
[25]See C. Ero, “ECOWAS and the Sub-regional Peacekeeping in Liberia,” September 25, 1995.
[26]T. Reinold, “Civil society participation in regional integration in Africa: A comparative analysis of ECOWAS, SADC, and the EAC,” South African Journal of International Affairs, (2019). 30-31.
[27]“The Civil Society Guide to Regional Economic Communities,” 2015 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), 2015, 80.
[28]See, T. Reinold, “Civil society participation in regional integration in Africa: A comparative analysis of ECOWAS, SADC, and the EAC,” South African Journal of International Affairs, (2019). 41.
[29]O. P Adebile, andPelumiBenjamin.“East African Community (EAC) and Economic Development in Africa” in GboyegaAjayi, et al (eds.) Themes in Humanities and African Experience. Ben Quality Prints, Ibadan. 2021. 193.
[30]WanyamaMasinde and Omolo Christopher O. “The Road to East African Integration.” East African Community Law.Brill Nijhoff, 2017.73.
[31]Oluwaseyi P Adebile and Pelumi Benjamin.“East African Community (EAC) and Economic Development in Africa” in GboyegaAjayi, et al (eds.) Themes in Humanities and African Experience. Ben Quality Prints, Ibadan. 2021. 194.
[32]G.LMakungu, “The Role of the East African Community in The Economic Development of the East African Region”. M.A Project, 2015,36.
[33]WanyamaMasinde and Omolo Christopher O. “The Road to East African Integration.” East African Community Law.Brill Nijhoff, 2017.73.
[34]WanyamaMasinde and Omolo Christopher O. “The Road to East African Integration.” East African Community Law.Brill Nijhoff, 2017.73, 44.
[35]O. P Adebile, andPelumiBenjamin.“East African Community (EAC) and Economic Development in Africa” in GboyegaAjayi, et al (eds.) Themes in Humanities and African Experience. Ben Quality Prints, Ibadan. 2021. 169.
[36]See, Dickson Kanakulya, Governance and Development of the East African Community: The Ethical Sustainability Framework…2015.
[37] For details on the objectives and structure of the EAC, see the Treaty establishing the East African Community (EAC) Available at:https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/international-investment-agreements/treaty-file/2487/download(Accessed 30th, August 2022). Also visit, Wikipedia. East African Community.https://en.m.wikipedia/East_Africa_Community(Accessed 13th, June 2022).
[38]Again, see Dickson Kanakulya, Governance and Development of the East African Community: The Ethical Sustainability Framework. PhD Thesis (Applied Ethics).Department of Culture and Communication, Linköping University Electronic Press, 2015. 92-93.
[39]“The Civil Society Guide to Regional Economic Communities,” 2015 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), 2015
[40]Political Federation.East African Community: https://www.eac.int/political-federation (Accessed 13th, June 2022).
[41] Ibid.
[42]A political union for east Africa?The Economist :https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/02/09/a-political-union-for-east-africa (Accessed 21st, September 2022).
[43]Wikipedia.East African Community.https://en.m.wikipedia/East_Africa_Community(Accessed 13th, June2022).
[43] See https://countryeconomy.com/countries/groups/economic-community-west-african-states
[45] See, United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa…- , United Nations. Economic Commission for AfricaAfrican Union, and African Development Bank United Nation. .Assessing Regional Integration in Africa IV: Enhancing Intra-African Trade. Vol. 4.United Nations Publications, 2010. 50-52.
[46]See, T. Reinold, “Civil society participation in regional integration in Africa: A comparative analysis of ECOWAS, SADC, and the EAC,” South African Journal of International Affairs, (2019). 50.