Journal of African Trade

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Volume 8, Issue 2 (Special Issue), December 2021, Pages 115 - 132

Proving Hegel Wrong: Learning the Right Lessons from European Integration for the African Continental Free Trade Area

Authors
Andrew Mold*, ORCID
Regional Integration and AfCFTA Cluster, Office for Eastern Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Kigali, Rwanda
*Email: mold@un.org
Corresponding Author
Andrew Mold
Received 8 March 2021, Accepted 27 August 2021, Available Online 30 September 2021.
DOI
10.2991/jat.k.210908.001How to use a DOI?
Keywords
AfCFTA; European Union; single market programme; deep integration
Abstract

This paper sets out to disprove the German philosopher Hegel’s dictum about people learning nothing from history, by looking at the lessons to be learned for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from the European Union’s experience of regional integration. Since its foundation in 1957, European integration has had a chequered history, with its fair share of triumphs and setbacks. This paper focuses on the evidence from economic studies and the lessons to be gleaned from the Single Market Programme (SMP), which was initiated in 1993 and ushered in the creation of a unified European market. The parallels are far from perfect: structurally, in the level of development and resources available to support regional integration, there are major differences between the SMP and the AfCFTA. Nevertheless, this paper highlights nine major lessons for the African continent from the SMP, including the scale of benefits to be expected, the role of multinational corporations, the need for an effective competition policy and the importance of public buy-in to the process.

Copyright
© 2021 African Export-Import Bank. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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<Previous Article In Issue
Journal
Journal of African Trade
Volume-Issue
8 - 2 (Special Issue)
Pages
115 - 132
Publication Date
2021/09/30
ISSN (Online)
2214-8523
ISSN (Print)
2214-8515
DOI
10.2991/jat.k.210908.001How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2021 African Export-Import Bank. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Andrew Mold
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/09/30
TI  - Proving Hegel Wrong: Learning the Right Lessons from European Integration for the African Continental Free Trade Area
JO  - Journal of African Trade
SP  - 115
EP  - 132
VL  - 8
IS  - 2 (Special Issue)
SN  - 2214-8523
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/jat.k.210908.001
DO  - 10.2991/jat.k.210908.001
ID  - Mold2021
ER  -