[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 6 (Friday, January 10, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E41]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              WILL THERE BE AN AFRICAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY?

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 10, 2014

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the African Union, or AU, is in 
the midst of a long program to create an African Economic Community 
through the eventual merging of existing regional economic communities. 
U.S. policy is to support regional integration in Africa as enhancing 
the success of U.S.-Africa trade by reducing trade barriers and 
creating larger markets. I chaired a hearing yesterday that examined 
the AU effort and its potential benefits for Africa and the United 
States.
   A focal point in U.S.-Africa trade policy is the encouragement of 
integrated markets in Africa. It makes trade with Africa more efficient 
and beneficial for African businesspeople and governments. It also is 
more attractive for foreign investors.
   The AU, a regional grouping of all countries in Africa except 
Morocco, was established in 2002 as the successor to the now-defunct 
Organization of African Unity, or OAU. Its formation was largely 
motivated by OAU members' desire to more quickly achieve the goals of 
the 1991 African Economic Community Treaty. The treaty is intended to 
promote African regional economic integration and socio-economic 
development through the planned creation of a common African market and 
shared political and economic institutions. Make no mistake, this is a 
challenging goal. The example of the European Community demonstrates 
the difficulty even when involving developed nations.
   The current African nations were not created to collaborate with one 
another. Varying languages, conflicting legal and commercial systems 
and often incompatible transportation infrastructures make this worthy 
goal a major challenge, and there are other obstacles that make this 
effort even more daunting.
   Nevertheless, the eight recognized Regional Economic Communities 
have a timetable to which they are generally adhering with few 
exceptions. The Arab Maghreb Union, a trade agreement comprising 
Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia, is inactive and 
frozen due to deep political and economical disagreements between 
Morocco and Algeria regarding, among other issues, the matter of 
Western Sahara independence. The Community of Sahel-Saharan States, 
comprising 28 countries across Africa's Sahel region, is finding 
regional integration difficult because of its members being part of 
other trade blocs that are more advanced in their integration.
   Meanwhile, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, a free 
trade area with nineteen member states stretching from Libya to 
Swaziland, has agreed to an expanded free-trade zone and is also 
considering a common visa scheme to boost tourism.
   The East African Community, an intergovernmental organization 
comprising five East African countries--Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, 
Tanzania, and Uganda--signed a protocol just last year outlining their 
plans for launching a monetary union within 10 years.
   The Economic Community of Central African States, which includes 10 
countries across the middle of the continent, formed a customs union 
with a free trade area between members and a common external tariff for 
imports from other countries as long ago as 1966.
   The Economic Community of West African States, a regional group of 
15 West African countries, is creating a single large trading bloc 
through an economic and trading union and serves as a peacekeeping 
force in the region--all despite operating officially in three co-equal 
languages--French, English, and Portuguese.
   The Intergovernmental Authority on Development is an eight-country 
trading bloc based in East Africa and has transformed from an executive 
group with a focus on development and environmental control to a larger 
structure as a Regional Economic Community.
   The Southern African Development Community began as an anti-
apartheid coalition fighting for majority rule in South Africa in the 
1970s, but since majority rule came to South Africa in 1994, it has 
become a traditional Regional Economic Community, and like its West 
African counterpart, sometimes engages in peacekeeping operations.
   By 2017, a free trade union and customs union is supposed to be 
established in each Regional Economic Community. The process is still 
stalled in North Africa and the Sahel, although there is progress 
elsewhere. This phase is now fully in force in East Africa, as well as 
West and Central Africa.
   In today's hearing, we are looking for recommendations on what the 
Regional Economic Communities and their member countries must do to 
fulfill the AU's ambitious agenda, but we also want to examine what the 
U.S. government, other donor governments and international financial 
institutions can do to enhance their efforts in this regard. 
Ostensibly, this assistance has been ongoing for some time now but we 
want to find out more about why these efforts have not moved farther 
ahead.
   At yesterday's hearing, we had with us experts who have observed 
regional integration in Africa, and in some cases, have worked to 
promote it for more than a decade. We know what governments have said 
about the benefits of regional integration, and we have heard from the 
private sector about their preference for integrated markets. Yesterday 
we heard from those who can provide and have provided the technical 
assistance necessary to make these goals a reality.
   We in Congress currently are working on legislation to extend the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act, and integrated regional markets 
will only enhance the success of this trade process moving forward. We 
hope today's contributions will better inform us on how we can more 
effectively encourage regional integration and the expansion of African 
markets.

                          ____________________