ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a conceptual overview of key ideas, debates, and themes surrounding African regional integration schemes since the 1960s. It identifies the dominant phases in the construction of regional institutions to highlight various actors and processes that have animated the construction of continental and sub-regional institutions for economic integration and security collaboration. The chapter discusses the diverse roles of external actors and institutions in the articulation and support for the objectives of regional integration. Invoking Pan-Africanist ideals, Kwame Nkrumah opposed the Association of African countries with the Economic Community on the grounds of balkanizing Africa to the detriment of continental integration. The transformation of regional integration schemes into regional security mechanisms to stem the tide of civil wars began with an Economic Community of West African States decision to send a Monitoring Group, ECOMOG, into Liberia in 1991. The chapter reflects on some of the key trends that may have an effect on future regional integration trends.
