The Political Economy of Regional Integration in Southern Africa

This policy paper analyzes the political and economic regional integration in Southern Africa, focusing on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), and South Africa's pivotal role.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

The research method involved analyzing political and economic regionalization trends, focusing on Southern Africa and the main regional integration entities, SADC and SACU. It included examining economic imbalances, South Africa's role, and the success factors for regional integration.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

The report examines the political economy of regional integration in Southern Africa, with a focus on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). It highlights the economic imbalances within SADC, skewed in favor of South Africa, and discusses South Africa's dominant role within SACU. The paper argues that while South Africa has legitimized its role in SACU, replicating this in an enlarged SACU is unlikely due to ongoing regional tensions within SADC. The success of regional integration depends on South Africa's ability to fulfill its responsibilities as a hegemonic power. The paper also explores the dynamics of regional integration, the new SACU agreement, and the implications of Free Trade Area (FTA) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations.

(Generated with the help of GPT-4)

Categories: English publication language | Southern Africa geographic scope | economic imbalances | economic partnership agreements | economic regionalisation | free trade area | hegemonic status | political economy | political regionalisation | regional integration | regional leadership | sacu | sadc | south africa | southern africa | trade relations