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Ecowas: The Ideals And Practice Of Regional Economic Integration
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Indeed regional integration is regarded as beneficial in numerous senses
and serves substantial economic aims in addition to presenting a
stabilizing factor in inter-state relations. Scholars of all
disciplines, however, stress the fact that regionalism as such, is
emerging as a phenomenon in its own right and may not be situated
without extreme care into diverse geographical and socioeconomic
contexts. In this light, regional economic integration may also have
worrying implications. Where it does not play out in accordance with
liberal assumptions of perfect markets and perfect competition, it may
even be sub-optimal in systemic and political terms, in part due to the
fact that grave situational and structural constraints may pose threats
to the functionality of given configurations with alarming implications
for overall stability, efficiency, coherence and trade costs.
Economic
integration still remains one of the key objectives of the Community
and the general continent. The benefits of economic integration are not
in dispute. The urgency with which it should be pursued is expressed in
the following words of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA):
This shift (the global move to integrate economies) is
nowhere more urgent than in Africa, where the combined impact of
relatively small economies, international terms of trade, and the legacy
of colonialism, mis-rule, and conflict has meant that we have not yet
assumed our global market share-despite our significant market size
(UNCTAD, 2009: ix).
However, the limited progress in economic
integration and the pre-occupation of the organisation with human rights
protection, peace and security has drawn the attention of scholars to
the initial ideals upon which ECOWAS was established. The emergent norms
in the practice of the organization since its intervention in troubled
Member States has also raised important questions about the limits an
organisation originally dedicated to economic integration, but whose
mandate has extended to peace and security, and human rights spheres.
The ideals and practices of ECOWAS as an international organisation
within the West Africa region is where the inquest of this study lies.
It is argued that the capacity of community institutions to deliver the
vast mandate in human rights protection, peace and security, and the
rule of law in line with a paradigm shift in regional integration in the
continent is fundamental to the long term success of the organisation.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
ECOWAS,
like most international organisations, is faced with the challenge of
establishing its legitimacy, especially when it concerns delivering on
its mandate of regional integration. At first, the legitimacy of ECOWAS
was hardly contested, perhaps due to Cold War and the limitations it
imposed on the organisation’s role. It was viewed by both its members
and other states as focused on, and established primarily for economic
integration. However, the emergence of violent domestic conflicts which
has had lasting repercussions on the role of ECOWAS in member states has
expanded the understanding of peace and security and human rights in
the organisation. More importantly, the legitimacy question was brought
to the fore primarily due to the military interventions in Liberia and
Sierra Leone.
Going by the tenets upon which ECOWAS was established,
it was supposed to ensure that the countries in the region as member
states get substantial benefits in trade and development. It has been
observed that uniting African economies will permit exploitation of
economies of scale, ensure competitive markets, provide access to wider
trading and investment environments promote exports to regional markets,
provide the requisite experience to compete in the multilateral trade
system, and to provide a framework for them to co-operate in developing
common services for finance, transportation and communication.
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