About Observatory on Regional Integration in Africa

The Observatory on Regional Integration in Africa is a “one-stop-shop” source of comprehensive information, facts and figures on Africa’s regional integration agenda, including achievements, milestones, challenges and constraints, across regional economic communities. In particular, there are eight regional economic communities recognized by the African Union Heads of State and Government as constituting the building blocks of the African Union: the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Moreover, the observatory aims to promote sharing of best practices and experiences among the communities in order to improve the implementation of treaties and protocols. It will therefore present information and knowledge sharing activities of prevalent and valuable data, facts and figures on Africa’s regional integration agenda, especially across regional economic communities and member States. This will immensely contribute to the harnessing of ideas and perspectives that are useful to improve the discussion of Africa’s development in general, and the integration process in particular.A core objective of the observatory is to provide a holistic source of information and interactive discussions on Africa’s integration agenda for the general public and stakeholders to participate in. The online discussions and debates, which are embedded in the architecture of the observatory, will create a forum for the general public to express their views and perspectives on Africa’s integration agenda. It will also serve as a central platform to discuss key activities and publications of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union, the regional economic communities and other partner institutions.

In this context, the observatory concentrates on the exploration of five broad pillars of regional integration observable in treaties, protocols and proceedings of the African Union and the regional economic communities to fulfil the aforementioned objectives.