The Enablers of Common Market Implementation: Evidence from the East African Community

Common market implementation in Africa could potentially alleviate poverty and grow economies. However, despite numerous trading blocs existing in Africa, challenges persist in common market implementation. This book investigates the enablers which could make an important difference, using the East African Community (EAC) as a case study. Drawing on detailed analysis and extensive original research, this book considers the development of East African regional integration, which aims to foster collective economic advancement via the free movement of goods, people, capital, services, labour, and the rights of residence and establishment. It suggests that there are various enablers to integration which are often underutilised, such as funding models, public participation, regional decision-making models, anticorruption initiatives, common market laws, automated processes, sanction mechanisms, and research and information symmetry. The book argues that correctly harnessing these enablers would have a transformative impact both on the EAC and on other trading blocs in Africa, such as the SADC, ECOWAS, COMESA, and AfCFTA. This book will be an important read for researchers and practitioners in international trade, regional integration, African development, and economics.