sadc regional integration-(vc oparah, 2005)

8/14/2019 Sadc Regional Integration-(VC Oparah, 2005)

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INTRODUCTION

The post-colonial conundrum of multiple motives and meager means has left developingcountries a slim opportunity to strive to become active participants and claimants in theinternational arena. In early 1990s, Africa and Southern Africa realised the severe constraints onthe freedom of actors (governments) in developing countries during the cold-war periods.African decision- makers were constrained by the need to consolidate power and meet socio-economic demands at home.

1In this essay, I am going to define and explain the nature of

regionalism in Southern Africa on the first part and on the later part, a detailed account of role ofthe Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in the context of the regions integrationstrategies will be highlighted and discussed alongside its merits firstly and then the demerits.Also, I shall conclude by pointing out what need to be done to achieve the much neededcollective goal.

DEFINITION AND THE NATURE OF REGIONALISM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

The playing field in world economic policies had already been determined before the emergenceof most developing states. The monetary economies of these states had been formed throughtheir incorporation as sources of primary products and markets for manufactured goods andservices, within a global structure of north-south trade, dominated and controlled by theircolonial countries.

2So, Southern Africa falls under the developing states and can be defined as

the those twenty-two African countries that falls under the south of the Equator. In 1999, it wasreported to have 280 million people and the size of the region is eleven million square kilometresby ten million square kilometres3. However, for the purpose of this essay, the political economyof the region will be discussed with the 14 member SADC countries

*in focus.

Paramount on the agendas of the developing countries including Southern African countries is touse a multilateral approach to promote development in the developing nations in other to addressthe current asymmetries between the core (north) and periphery (south) countries. Theemergence of regional blocks such as Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)and SADC take a cue from one of the most powerful and enriched regional blocks, the EuropeanUnion (EU). However, the extent to which this gap between the North and the South is beingbridged is yet to be ascertained or determined. Regional integration has been applied in manyforms of economic co-operation between groups of neighbouring countries. This co-operation isoften characterised by contradicting political motives ranging from mere compliance within aworld of independent sovereign states, to projects for complete political and economicintegration.4

1Christopher Clapham, Sub-Saharan Africa, in Clapham, C. (ed.) Foreign Policy in Developing States: AComparative Approach, Praeger, New York, 1977, p. 79.2Christopher Clapham, The changing world of regional integration in Africa in Clapham, C., et al, (eds.) RegionalIntegration in Southern Africa: Comparative International Perspectives, SAIIA, Johannesburg, 2001, p. 60.3McGowan, P. The regional sub-system of Southern Africa in Nel, P and McGowan, P. (eds): Power, Wealth andGlobal Order: An International Relations Textbook for Africa, University of Cape Town Press, Cape Town, I999, P.267.SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.4Clapham, Op.Cit. p.59.


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The idea behind integration is that no state should isolate itself or be an Island of its own butrather individual states must collaborate with each other to achieve the much needed economicbalance and sustainability.

At the end of apartheid, South Africa allayed fears of members of the former members of thedefunct Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) with reassurancethat it has no intention to impose its will by force in the region or form dominance with itsgreater resources and economic power. This led to the formation of the SADC in August 1992SADCC summit meeting in Windhoek, Namibia. Its objectives were to achieve developmentand economic growth; evolve common political values, systems and institutions; promote anddefend peace and security.

5However, the region has struggled to achieve its objectives which

due to different reasons which will be elaborated herein.

Regionalism in Southern Africa is more or less based on the dependency on the core countries of

the North due to the fact that individual states within the region has nothing much to offer. Thecountries are only involved in just the production of primary products and provide markets formanufactured goods and services to the countries of the developed world.6 This can best besummed up as battle of survival with each state trying to outwit each other to attract foreignloans and financial aids. They lack the ability to internally generate funds to improve oncommercial activities and industrial drive.

Again, regionalism demands countries to lose their sovereignties to an extent for the generalgood of the member countries involved. However, most states in the region are mainly concernedwith the upholding of their national sovereignties and also preservation of their own powerswithin their states. Economic integration schemes often raise conflicting issues relating to taxes

and migrant labour.7 Some states such as South Africa still adopt protectionist policies to protecther infants industries (such as textile and vehicle manufacturing plants) even though theneighbouring countries are not able to compete with Pretoria.

Similarly, all neighbouring countries in SADC except until recently Mozambique visit SouthAfrica with valid visas which are not supposed to be the case. South Africans in the other handobtain visas whenever they are going to some of these other countries. The region is suppose tofollow the example of ECOWAS and EU travel legislation which allows people from membercountries of the region to travel within the region without visa restrictions The delays and timeexpended on the process of acquiring these visas could be channeled towards making businesstrips and trade negotiations. South Africa claims that most of the visitors snicking illegally into

the country through its boarders are from the region. This claim is yet to be ascertained as thereare still illegal immigrants from other African countries coming in through the boarder. TheImmigration Acts of most of these countries do not encourage economic developments, neitherare foreign skills and investment attracted. Companies are in most cases mandated by laws to pay2% or more remuneration penalties to employ foreigners even in positions where the countrieslack local skills.

5SADC (1995) Declaration Treaty and Protocol, Gaborone.6Ibid. p.60.7Ibid. p. 60.


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Besides, the cumbersome routes of these foreigners to obtain work permits have resulted in mostjob applicants loosing out of the available jobs.8

Furthermore, there are some ideological differences among member countries in the region withrelation to political issues. Some tend to take the path of socialism as against capitalist strategiesof economic development. Countries like Angola and Tanzania in the past adopted socialisteconomic policies and from time to time defend their stands during trade negotiations. Othersargue that South Africa and her African Renaissance approach have some hidden agendas. Thesedisparities in ideologies and also to a great degree colonial countries influences on thesecountries have impacted negatively on member countries to fully liberalise their respectiveeconomies.

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Regional institutions tend to have one thing going for them which include intra-regional freetrade. Southern African Custom Union (SACU) is ensuring free movement of the factors ofproduction (excluding labour). Paradoxically, Pretoria has dominated trade in the region with80% of regional supplies to her favour between 1995-2000. This is contained in recent report bySADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI). Some are quick to point out that thecurrent situation could result in reluctance in the part of certain governments to lower tradebarriers as some might fear their local industries would not survive competition from SouthAfrican firms.10

THE INTEGRATION STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY THE SADC REGION SO FAR

HAS ITS MERITS AND DEMERITS

The aftermath of the cold war further marginalised Africa politically and economically at theworld stage. France, Great Britain, the US, the World Bank and International Monetary Fundincreasingly took the stance that Africas political and economic decay was homemade. Thestrategies propounded to solve these problems were good governance and StructuralAdjustment Programmes.11 Despite the problems in liberalising the economy of the region, theSADC has moved towards open, integrated and liberal market system by internationalising thefactors of production and consumption. With six countries of the 14 member countries of SADCclassified under the United Nations (UN) least developed and particularly disadvantaged to thevagaries and dichotomies in international trade, The region realises that it has to put more effortsin other to challenge effectively the unusual decline in commodity prices, limitations on marketaccess conditions in product lines of export interest to SADC countries, and the negative impactof these on their balance of payments.12 Through multilateral trading system, member countriesare promoting liberalisation through various mechanisms.

8George Van Niekerk, Labour Matters: Changes to Immigration Act will be good for business in Sunday TimesBusiness Times, Johannesburg, 26 September 2004, p. 4.9Clapham, Op. Cit. p. 61.10

Richard Gibb, The state of regional integration: The Intra- and Inter-regional Dimensions in Clapham, C., et al,(eds.)Regional Integration in Southern Africa: Comparative International Perspective, SAIIA, Johannesburg,2001.p.71 &79. and Moyiga Nduru, Business in Africa tough in News 24.com, 3 October, 2004.11Roger Pfister, South Africas Recent Foreign Policy Towards Africa: Issue and Literature in Center forInternational Studies, Zurich, 29 August 2000, p. 5.12Garth le Pere, Doha, South Africa and the SADC Subregion in South African Yearbook of International Affairs,2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg, p. 206


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Firstly, they have participated in ensuring that the trade agreements made in Uruguay Round areimplemented through the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Following the failure of the WTOministerial meeting in Seattle in 1999, the SADC members participated in trade negotiations in

Doha and Cancun respectively to deliberate on Uruguay Round agreements. It could be recalledthat the Uruguay Round was conducted under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffsand Trade (GATT). The common goals of these SADC member countries include:

reducing a range of protective and support measures to inefficient grandfather industries and

sectors in the economies of the developed countries and thereby follow a relocation of

production and investment to developing countries which possess comparative advantages in

these areas.13

The trade negotiations is still going on at different for and at any given opportunity to improveon prices of exports to the developed countries as well as make them to cut the subsidiescountries like US and those from EU are offering their respective local farmers.

In another related development, SADC members are in agreement to liberalisation and openregionalism leading to SADC Free Trade Areas Protocol of 2000. This protocol encouragesincrease free trade in the region, discourages protectionist policies, encourages competitionamong members, and ensures comparative advantage policies.14

Furthermore, SADC Council of Ministers meeting in Malawi in August 2001 acknowledged thefact that the region is faced with enormous challenges in economic and human developmentspheres which have to be addressed. These include; high levels of malnutrition, abject poverty,unemployment problems, and declining life expectancy. The reaffirmation for economic growthand development was also made by the regional body in Johannesburg, South Africa during the2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) with strong emphasis ondevelopment strategies for full economic integration in the region and beyond.15

The New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) provides avenue for the region topursue better deals. The region is increasingly conforming to the objectives of NEPAD in areassuch as harmonised free trade across Africa, systems of trade, customs, taxation, financial rulesand infrastructural standardisation.

16The realisation that good governance is a key to success of

the aforementioned has encouraged member countries to move towards democratic rules. Mostof the countries are also putting their houses in order so as to conform to agreed political,economic and corporate governance values, socio-economic development codes and standards of

the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of NEPAD.17

13Ibid. p. 205.14le Pere, Op.Cit. p. 211 and Gibb, Op.Cit. p. 72.15Natashia Chhiba, The Southern African Development Community: An Overview in South African Yearbook ofInternational Affairs, 2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg, p. 69.16Ross Herbert, The African Union and Nepad in 2002: A Pivotal Year in South African Yearbook ofInternational Affairs, 2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg, p. 241.17NEPAD, Guidelines for Countries to Prepare for and Participate in the African Peer Review Mechanism, inNEPAD/APRM/Pannel3/guidelines/11-2003/Doc8 .


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The regional body is seen and behaving as an integral part of the African continent and theWorld communities. It adept to strengthening mechanisms for conflict resolution in differentcountries of Africa such as Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, and

Burund.The region has taken Africa and world problems as its own through preventivediplomacy, peace enforcement, peace making, peacekeeping, and post-conflict peace buildingmeasures.18

The Windhoek Declaration mention, providing a framework of co-operation forstrengtheningregional solidarity, peace and security

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Further in Africa, these strategies are also being constructed in African Union (AU), leading tothe creation of Peace and Security Council (PSC) protocol. All things being equal, PSC protocolwhen ratified will ensure that military and financial contributions are made by member countriesof Africa. It has also contributed immensely towards the formation of a Pan African Parliament

(PAP).20

One other interesting development is that SADC members have agreed to adequately act onissues of common regional concern such as HIV/AIDS. The negative impact of this pandemic isrecognised globally as one of the most profound cog to human and social development. Theregion of Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be affected with disease by 25.3 million people.SADC Parliamentary Forum has formed a standing committee on HIV/AIDSS to address thishuman health problem and there have been summits to this effect. For instance, there was SADCsummit in South Africa in June 2001 organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF).Subsequently, countries like South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe to name a few haveintroduced the use of anti-retroviral drugs to people infected by this disease.21

Everything that has merits equally has demerits. Mutual vulnerability means member countriesare affected by one anothers actions. Political instability and wars have a way of spreadingacross a regional block. The Zaire/DRC war threatened to destabilise the entire region ofSouthern Africa with the influx of refugees into different neighbouring countries. The economiesof these countries came under pressure as a result of this leading to political tension in theseneighbouring countries like Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Angola.22

Again, the views of member countries do not always tally as there are usually stalemates anddisagreements on policies and mandates. Sometimes, they do not trust each other due toideological differences as discussed in the first part of this essay. Hitherto, there has been no

concrete stance or decision taken by the regional body on the Zimbabwe crisis. Differentcountries support different parties to the quagmire, putting Zimbabwe into economic collapse.

18Garthe le Pere, and Anthoni van Nieuwkerek, Facing the New Millennium: South Africas Foreign Policy in aGlobalising World, in Korwa, G. and Rok Ajulu (eds.) Globalisation and Emerging Trends in AfricanStatesForeign Policy-Making Process: A Comparative Perspective of Southern Africa, Ashgate, 2002, p. 157.19James Barber, Mandelas World: The International Dimension of South Africas Political Revolution, 1990-99,David Philip, Cape Town, 2004, p. 19220Herbert, Op. Cit. p.249.21Chhiba, Op.Cit. p.71.22

Nel, Op.Cit, p. 282


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Country like South Africa is threading very carefully so as not to be seen to interfere in theinternal affair of a Sovereign state rather than lead the crusade for economic sanctions to putpressure on the Zimbabwe government for political reforms.

23

Regional integration can lead to unbalance in trade and increase inequalities among countries. Inthe case of SADC, instead of attracting direct foreign investment and a high volume of measureof trade in goods and services among member countries, South Africa is the major tradingpower. 63% of the regions export and 59% of imports are accounted for by South Africa. This isa clear case of unequal trade which makes South Africa to have most of the trade surpluses at thedetriment of other member states. In FDI, South Africa makes investments in other countries ofthe region but there is no SADC investment in other SADC countries or in South Africa. Forexample, South Africas investment in 1997 in Zambia is estimated at US$180 millionrepresenting the largest FDI in Zambian economy that year.24 Also, regionalism suppose tocreate interdependence among member countries but in this context, it has created dependency

relationships. For instance, the development of Lesotho is distorted because its economy isstructured to provide migrant labour to South African mines.

25The above assertion is not to be to

hard on South Africa and does not really represent a Marxists view but to show how things are inthe region.

CONCLSION

This essay has clarified the nature of regionalism in SADC enclave and the integration strategiesemployed noted with its merits and demerits. The obstacles to intensifying trade within theregion have to be tackled if much progress is to be made in the regional alliance. Pan-Africanism, regionalism and continentalism are terms usually used in Africa out of an urgency to

deal with political, economical and social crisis facing the region in particular and the continentin general. The SADC should continue to stress developmental approach to integration andrecognise the fact that the social and human development is fundamental to the regionsintegration process. With the rising oil price and falling of export income in world trade, theregion has to use a more cut out approach to meet some other domestic challenges of respectivecountries in the commission and further.

They should put into consideration this quote by a leading South African Economist, AndreRoux:

The opening up and expansion of trade is often the first step to solid and sustainable economic

growth and development but developing countries that rely heavily on primary commodities asa major source of income are unlikely to share in the benefits of economic globalisation they

therefore need to change the entire structure of their economies and focus more on the

production of goods and services that the world want to buy.26

23Ibid. p. 192

24Nel, Op.Cit, p. 28225Graaff, J.: Introduction to Sociology: Poverty and Development, Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 2003, p. 36.26

Andre Roux, Everyone,s Guide to the South African Economy. (7ed.), Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2002, p. 163


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barber, J.: Mandelas World: The International Dimension of South Africas Political Revolution, 1990-99, David Philip, Cape Town, 2004.

Chhiba, N. The Southern African Development Community: An Overview in South African Yearbook of

International Affairs, 2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg.

Clapham, C. Sub-Saharan Africa, in Clapham, C. (ed.) Foreign Policy in Developing States: A

Comparative Approach, Praeger, New York, 1977.

Clapham, C. The changing world of regional integration in Africa in Clapham, C., et al, (eds.)

Regional Integration in Southern Africa: Comparative International Perspectives, SAIIA, Johannesburg,

2001.

Gibb, R. The state of regional integration: The Intra- and Inter-regional Dimensions in Clapham, C.,

et al, (eds.)Regional Integration in Southern Africa: Comparative International Perspective, SAIIA,

Johannesburg, 2001.

Graaff, J.: Introduction to Sociology: Poverty and Development, Oxford University Press, Cape Town,

2003.

Herbert, R. The African Union and Nepad in 2002: A Pivotal Year in South African Yearbook ofInternational Affairs, 2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg.

le Pere, G. Doha, South Africa and the SADC Subregion in South African Yearbook of International

Affairs, 2002/03, Vol. 7. Johannesburg.

le Pere, G. and van Nieuwkerek, A. Facing the New Millennium: South Africas Foreign Policy in a

Globalising World, in Korwa, G. and Rok Ajulu (eds.) Globalisation and Emerging Trends in African

StatesForeign Policy-Making Process: A Comparative Perspective of Southern Africa, Ashgate, 2002.

McGowan, P. The regional sub-system of Southern Africa in Nel, P and McGowan, P. (eds): Power,Wealth and Global Order: An International Relations Textbook for Africa, University of Cape Town

Press, Cape Town, I999.

NEPAD, Guidelines for Countries to Prepare for and Participate in the African Peer Review

Mechanism, inNEPAD/APRM/Pannel3/guidelines/11-2003/Doc8.

Nduru, M. Business in Africa tough in News 24.com, 3 October, 2004.

Pfister, R. South Africas Recent Foreign Policy Towards Africa: Issue and Literature in Center for

International Studies, Zurich, 29 August 2000.

Roux, A. Everyones Guide to the South African Economy.(7ed.), Zebra Press, Cape Town, 2002.

SADC (1995) Declaration Treaty and Protocol, Gaborone.

van Niekerk, G. Labour Matters: Changes to Immigration Act will be good for business in Sunday

Times Business Times, Johannesburg, 26 September 2004.


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sadc regional integration-(vc oparah, 2005)

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