Applying Sense to Regional Integration

Regional and market integration has the capacity to unleash untapped potential in Africa especially from an economic point of view. The creation of a unified policy on trade can help remove trade barriers between neighbouring states and foster economic cooperation at a greater level. In the long run, it can increase intra-African trade, which is considered as one of the best ways the continent can extricate itself from over-reliance on trading with the West.

From a political and security point of view, regional bodies present the opportunity for countries in a region to create a single strategy for ensuring security of a region and the ability to formulate lasting solutions to conflicts, be they internal or trans-border conflicts. But here, a qualification must be made: it is one thing for opportunities to be present, and it is a different thing to utilise them.

Regional integration and the case of Southern Africa:

In Southern Africa, the regional body; the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has not been very successful in its quest for deeper economic integration. The Trade Minister of South Africa said, “Market integration is well-advanced in the SADC. The SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) should be fully implemented in 2012, with almost all tariff lines [products that have tariffs imposed on them] traded duty-free”. But as we speak, such progress has not yet been achieved in the region. Davies also mentioned that a successful implementation of a deeply integrated region also depended on member nations addressing the problems of poor infrastructure, small markets, and a lack of diversity of industries, all of which are responsible for the low levels of intra-African trade. Highlighting the importance of market integration in Africa Davies said, “A larger, more underpinning approach for continuing to enhance intra-African trade integrated and growing market would enhance the interest of foreign investors in Africa and provide an important”.

Yet it must be mentioned that in general, there has tended to be haste in Africa when dealing with market integration and this has presented problems. For example, there are some regional bodies in more or less the same region that have an overlapping membership. This presents a problem because these regimes may not necessarily have similar rules of engagement. Swaziland finds herself in such a predicament – she is part of SACU, SADC and COMESA. All of these regimes serve more or less the same purpose, even though they are at different stages of integration. Swaziland cannot currently benefit fully from her membership in COMESA because she has obligations under SACU. Herein lies the problem; it is not beneficial to have multiple regional bodies serving the same purpose because this flies in the face of the principles of efficiency and economies of scale, which market integration seeks to achieve.

Therefore I believe there should be a conscious effort to rethink market integration at both regional and continental level so that unnecessary replication may be eliminated; with the intention being to move towards strong complementary regional bodies executing their functions effectively. In the long run, a comprehensive market integration policy coordinated at the AU level would be the ideal thing to have. It is important to note that politics often impede the success of such regimes. It can be argued for example, that the lethargic steps towards regional integration in SADC have to do with the fact that some leaders fear losing direct control over their economies and political process, and by extension losing part of their strangulating grip over the electorate, especially during elections. And also, there is fear of a backlash from the public in cases where goods from stronger economies in the region will flood the markets of weaker ones, thus putting locals out of competition.

In relation to security, regional bodies have also had a mixed record of success. As some scholars have argued, there is a preoccupation towards the security of the state and its leaders, to the detriment of ordinary citizens.  For example, the October 2012 Africa Report states that even though the SADC region remains one of the peaceful regions in Africa, it faces acute challenges characterised by tensions between member states, resource deficits, citizens’ exclusion, social discontent and limited internal and external coordination.

The regional body has not been very successful in solving the conflicts of Madagascar and Zimbabwe. Its intervention in these two countries has exposed the region’s limited capacity to enforce agreements it has brokered, and the tangential role that civil society organizations have in SADC processes. Also, the culture of political solidarity among member states fostered by a common liberation struggle history and a stated commitment to non-interference in the internal politics of others has proved disadvantageous in many instances. This has inhibited effective preventive diplomacy and provided justification for non-engagement in cases of potential conflict and security threats.

But, Webster Zambara opines that as 2012 came to an end, two important events that could potentially reshape the SADC peace and security architecture took place in Tanzania. Firstly, on November 20, SADC launched the revised strategic indicative plan for the organ, which was originally adopted in 2004 as an ambitious five-year plan to co-ordinate peace and security issues through SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, also referred to as the organ. Secondly, on December 7 and 8, the SADC extraordinary summit of heads of state and government discussed the crisis situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as the stalled situation in Madagascar and the slow progress in Zimbabwe. The highlight of the summit, without doubt, was the pledge to soon deploy a 4000-strong SADC military force as a “neutral international force” to deal with the ethnic-Tutsi March 23 Movement (M23) in eastern DRC, to which South Africa limited her contribution to “logistics support”.

Indeed, there also has to be a significant shift within SADC towards a people-centred security approach as defined in the African Union Charter on Human and People’s rights. This will entail a closer association of civil society groups, academia and other relevant stakeholders, in the process of conflict-resolution. Lastly, there should be a focus on post-conflict resolution in order for sustainable peace in the region to be achieved.