Tag: Regional Integration

The West African region is undeniablya strategic and important Sub-region in Africa. However, it has become one of the most volatile regions in Africa today. Amidst these challenges emerged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975 with the laudable goal of economic integration. However, the economic integration efforts of ECOWAS have been challenged by new global dynamics and regional challenges. Since integration requires an organisation of socio-economic activities on a much larger scale, the study finds out that trans-border crimesremain a fundamental challenge to the regional multilateral economic paradigm. Trans-border crimes prevalent in the West Africa region include the smuggling of small arms and light weapons, armed robbery, money laundering, smuggling of contraband goods and commodities, human trafficking, trans-border terrorism and insurgencies, and drug trafficking. The study argues that the proliferation of trans-border crimes has posed a significant challenge to integration agendas such as Free Trade Area, Free movement, Customs Union, Monetary Union, and economic integration. The study, using historical methodology relies on content analysis of secondary data, sourced from peer-reviewed journals, books, and official publications of ECOWAS and other relevant multilateral institutions.The study finds out that trans-border crimes have contributed to the challenges facing the regional integration agenda in West Africa. Given the above findings, concludes the need for a joint collaborative multi-stakeholder approach to tackling these crimes which will help in deepening regional integration.

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