PUBLISHER: African Union (https://au.int/en)
The integration of the African continent is well above average with five Regional Economic Communities (RECs) demonstrating progressive efforts towards integration. The East African Community (EAC); Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS); and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) integration scores exceed 0.6 in a rating range between 0 and 1. The other RECs, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD); Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD); and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) are just above the average of 0.5. The lack of defined plans or programmes in certain dimensions of integration such as free movement, financial and monetary integration are the causes for the poor overall performance of the three RECs.