Regional organisations
Regional organisations are blocs of African countries. They provide the institutional basis for regional integration, allowing countries to work together on issues that transcend national borders, including trade. Regional organisations help coordinate policies and facilitate the movement of goods, services and people across borders. Beyond the African Union, the largest regional organisation, Africa is home to a large number of regional organisations and trade agreements. This makes the overall system more complex and raises coordination issues.
Resources on regional organisations
The African Continental Free Trade Area negotiations on rules of origin for the cotton, textiles and apparel sector: A ‘developmental regionalism’ perspective
By Faizel Ismail for the Journal of African Trade.
19 July 2023
Africa’s cooperation through Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Ubuntu and communitarianism
By Stephen M. Magu for Springer Nature Singapore.
01 January 2023
The effectiveness of AfCFTA rules of origin as a build-up from different existing RECs in Africa
By Levious Chiukira for ON Policy Africa.
19 December 2022
African Continental Free Trade Area: Design of dispute settlement mechanism should reflect preferences and realities of all its member states
By UNCTAD.
09 December 2022
Nigeria and the AfCFTA as a two‐level game
By Bruce Byiers and Sean Woolfrey for The World Economy.
01 December 2022
7 ways to accelerate implementation of the AfCFTA
By Francis Mangeni and Andrew Mold for Brookings.
13 June 2022
The AfCFTA tariff negotiations face unique challenges
By Gerhard Erasmus and Trudi Hartzenberg for Tralac.
11 April 2022
Regional organisations in Africa: What are the political economy dynamics?
Through its PEDRO project, ECDPM has researched the political economy dynamics of regional organisations to better understand and promote discussion of the interests and incentives of the range of different actors who seek to cooperate and integrate around regional agendas and ambitions, including international partners. This introductory summary of our synthesis note sets the scene for two separate pages summarising the research on the above two areas of work.
24 January 2022
Getting partnerships right: The case for an AU strategy
The AU is currently developing a partnerships strategy as part of its ongoing reform process. This paper discusses the challenges lying ahead and looks at how the AU can advance its agency in external partnerships to ensure mutual benefits with win-win outcomes for the continent.
29 November 2021
Making the AfCFTA and the RECs work
By Gerhard Erasmus for Tralac.
03 June 2021
