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Conference: Prospects for Regional Integration in Africa – A Comparative Perspective (Stellenbosch)

MIASA’s first international thematic outreach conference was held at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in South Africa from 13-15 September 2021. The Institute is a member of the Point Sud network, which works closely with MIASA on these events in other parts of Africa. The conference and the associated book publication project were convened by Prof Andreas Freytag of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and the Ghanaian director of MIASA, Prof Abena Oduro, in collaboration with Dr Marko Scholze, the conference coordinator for MIASA in Frankfurt.

Political and economic integration on the African continent

The main topic of the interdisciplinary conference was the analysis of different attempts of political and economic integration on the African continent. It also discussed what lessons could be learnt for Africa from integration processes in Europe (especially the EU), Asia and Latin America. In the run-up to the conference, 17 potential authors (seven of them women) were selected from 86 applications for the book project. The authors came from Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Germany, Austria and Brazil. Their contributions were presented and discussed at the conference by a wider audience of invited experts from Africa, Europe, South America and Australia, and complemented by other expert presentations.

MIASA CC-BY-SA: group picture of onsite participants, conference in Stellenbosch, Sept. 2021

The interdisciplinary conference looked at various attempts at regional political and economic integration on the African continent, such as ECOWAS, the AU and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It also discussed the lessons for Africa from integration processes in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The presentations showed that one of the main obstacles to regional integration is the challenge of overlapping memberships in regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa, which often have divergent and sometimes conflicting political and economic policies and lack coordination. But there are other and more diverse factors that slow down or even prevent regional integration in Africa. These range from inadequate resources and poor infrastructure, a lack of legal frameworks and language barriers, to a lack of political will, often influenced by a perceived loss of sovereignty. Other integration models, such as the EU, ASEAN or Mercosur, are of limited value for Africa, given its specific historical development and colonial legacy.  

Due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, the conference was held under a strict Covid hygiene regime by STIAS and in a hybrid format. Nevertheless, 37 of the 48 participants were present in Stellenbosch, while 10 participated virtually. The contributions to the discussions and the findings from the presentations and the keynote speech will be summarised in a volume intended for a wide readership and, in particular, for decision-makers in African integration. The volume will be published in September 2024 in the STIAS series by African Sun Media. It will be edited by Abena Oduro and Andreas Freytag.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Marko Scholze (November 19, 2021). Conference: Prospects for Regional Integration in Africa – A Comparative Perspective (Stellenbosch). Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa - Blog. Retrieved March 26, 2025 from https://miasa.hypotheses.org/2531


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