ABSTRACT
Africa's economic development is plagued by dented gross domestic product (GDP) growth, reduced capital inflows, and non-streamlined markets affecting the level of integration within African states. This chapter focuses on African Union efforts to build a united Africa in the midst of conflict, and calls for 'self-determination' in countries such as Sudan, and now South Sudan. The ideological paradigm of pan-Africanism has been taunted by researchers as being political, devoid of the economic component indispensable for political-economic regional integration in the globalized world. The chapter also explores the linkages between the democratization process and regional integration in Africa, and further focuses on trade (creation and diversion) under the current political arrangements. Tentatively, the chapter introduces a new regional integration model, the institutional model of regional integration, which outlines regional institutions as sources of global governance. Capacity needs assessment: initializing strategic and calculated regional integration and cooperation in building Africa are the only means towards an effective capacity-building strategy.
