Opening Borders: Extra-governmental Involvement in African Regional Integration

The document argues that African regional integration remains a state-centric process, largely excluding citizens and businesses due to an information deficit and a lack of organized non-governmental constituencies. While some countries like Mauritius show successful business-government integration, most of the continent suffers from low public awareness and underdeveloped civil society organizations. The author recommends public education, high-quality research into stakeholder needs, and infrastructure upgrades to ensure that opening borders provides tangible benefits to the informal sector and private enterprise.

• Regional integration in Africa is predominantly a state-led effort that has failed to meaningfully include non-governmental actors, often being "led by the few and imposed on the many".
• A significant barrier to the participation of African citizens in integration processes is a widespread lack of awareness and information, as exemplified by the Tanzania Country Review Report.
• Institutional mechanisms intended to facilitate representation, such as the Pan-African Parliament and regional assemblies in the East African Community (EAC) and Economic Community of West African States, have had limited impact.
• The business community's involvement is hindered by a lack of formal organization, particularly in the informal sector and in countries like Burkina Faso where business lobbying bodies are still embryonic.
• Mauritius serves as a positive example where a mature and organized business community has been integrated into the government's external strategies and trade negotiations, contributing to economic success.
• To make regional integration durable and meaningful, the author recommends pairing policy initiatives with infrastructure upgrades and targeting the needs of the informal sector.

APA

Corrigan, T. (2015). Opening Borders: Extra-governmental Involvement in African Regional Integration. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Policy-Briefing-129.pdf

Chicago

Corrigan, Terence. Opening Borders: Extra-governmental Involvement in African Regional Integration. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2015. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Policy-Briefing-129.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Corrigan |first1=Terence |title=Opening Borders: Extra-governmental Involvement in African Regional Integration |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=March 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Policy-Briefing-129.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{corrigan2015opening, author = {Corrigan, Terence}, title = {{Opening Borders: Extra-governmental Involvement in African Regional Integration}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Policy-Briefing-129.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }