The challenges of Regional Integration: case study of EAC (2000-2019)

Abstract

This study focuses on the challenges of regional integration by looking at EAC. The new East African Community was initiated by its three founder member states i.e Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya in 1999 and came into force the following year. Burundi and Rwanda became members of the community after signing the treaty ascension in 2007. South Sudan managed to join the EAC in 2016. Regional integration has been regarded as a prerequisite of accelerating economic growth and development in the continent. Over-the years, the East Africa Community has been regarded as a driver of Africa’s regional integration process. The EAC collapsed in 1977 and was revived two decades later. The study tries to highlight the challenges faced by the community. The main challenge is that the members of the EAC are involved in other regional organizations such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGAD), and even the Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC). This question the importance of the EAC as a cornerstone of development in these countries, or just as an addition to other regional initiatives. The proponents of multiple memberships as a building block to regional integration have seen it as a mechanism that provides the state multiple fronts for it to achieve its interests in the global stage. However, multiple memberships have been described as a spaghetti bowl conundrum in the continent. These overlaying memberships have created situations of shallow memberships in the continent. As most countries have small and isolated economies, their commitment to pay their annual fees in these REC-s have not been honored. The multiple memberships have also resulted in competition and the lack of establishment of rule-based regimes due to the fragmentation of international law. However, the question remains, how has the issue of multiple memberships in the EAC been addressed. Analysis of management of multiple memberships through the lens of the TFTA has provided various results. On one side, it is seen as a mechanism in which the EAC will solve its partner states memberships in the COMESA and SADC and provide a better environment for them to conduct business. However, the multiple memberships of the EAC partner countries and the other general TFTA member states bring concerns. The EAC, COMESA, and SADC are at varying levels of regional integration. Regional integration has been adopted in a superficial manner whereby the policies look good in paper but are hardly put in practice. Other problems such as competition among member states have had an adverse effect on the TFTA. Another fundamental factor affecting regional integration is poor infrastructure. This has also been highlighted as an impediment in doing trade. Shared economic interests are seen as a driver of regional integration; however, this has not achieved its maximum benefits as there have been limited interests by member states. These factors include lack of enough capital to do trade, divisions among the states, lack of common market, poor road networks etc. This can be re-aligned by expanding the existing initiatives such as the adoption of a single visa to ensure benefits for all member states. Institutions such as the EALA, the EAC secretariat, and the Summit are analyzed. The weighing of more power on the summit has caused difficulties in the implementation of the EAC’s agenda. There is also limitation of the role played by the civil society and the private sector in the EAC decision-making process. The involvement of these actors can lead to the sustainability of the EAC process. Actors such as nation-states involvement in the EAC have been hindered by the multiple memberships in the other REC-s. These can be remedied by actions such as the SADC EAC COMESA tripartite which seeks to harmonize different trade regimes within the EAC. The paper suggests that there is a need for adopting more mechanisms that prompt the member states to honor their commitments in regional integration. External factors such as relations with donors, external debt, and the emergence of MNCs in the region have presented challenges to the EAC and therefore the need for a policy guideline on how to relate with other actors so as to ensure that they don’t destabilize or interfere with the EAC affairs.