African Economic Community (AEC)
CONTACT DETAILS
OAU Headquarters
Roosevelt Street (Old Airport Area), W21K19, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
Mail: PO Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: 09 251 151 7700
Fax: 09 251 151 7844
Telex: 21046
HISTORY AND PRESENT STATUS
Long before the establishment of the Organization
of African Unity (OAU), African leaders had recognised
that cooperation and integration among African countries
in the economic, social and cultural fields were
indispensable to the accelerated transformation
and sustained development of the African continent.
Since the early 1960s, member states were encouraged
to combine their economies into sub-regional markets
that would ultimately form one Africa-wide economic
union. In 1980, the OAU Extraordinary Summit adopted
the Lagos Plan of Action as a major step towards
the goal of integration.
The commitments in this Plan and the Final Act
of Lagos were translated into concrete form in Abuja,
Nigeria in June 1991 when the OAU Heads of State
and Government signed the Treaty establishing the
African Economic Community (AEC) during the 27th
Ordinary Session of the Assembly. Since May 1994,
the OAU has been operating on the basis of the OAU
Charter as well as the AEC Treaty, and the organisation
is now officially referred to as the OAU/AEC.
The aim of the AEC is to promote economic, social
and cultural development as well as African economic
integration in order to increase self-sufficiency
and endogenous development and to create a framework
for development, mobilisation of human resources
and material. The AEC further aims to promote co-operation
and development in all aspects of human activity
with a view to raising the standard of life of Africa's
people, maintaining economic stability and establishing
a close and peaceful relationship between member
states.
The AEC Treaty (more popularly known as the Abuja
Treaty) came into force after the requisite numbers
of ratification in May 1994. It provided for the
African Economic Community to be set up through
a gradual process, which would be achieved by coordination,
harmonisation and progressive integration of the
activities of existing and future regional economic
communities (RECs) in Africa. The RECs are regarded
as the building blocks of the AEC. The existing
RECs are:
• AMU (The Arab Maghreb Union);
• ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African
States);
• COMESA (Common Market of Eastern and Southern
Africa);
• SADC (Southern African Development Community);
and
• ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African
States).
The implementation of the Abuja Treaty is a process
that will be done in 6 stages over 34 years, i.e.
by 2028, as follows:
• STAGE 1: Strengthening existing RECs and
creating new ones where needed (5 years);
• STAGE 2: Stabilisation of tariff and other
barriers to regional trade and the strengthening
of sectoral integration, particularly in the field
of trade, agriculture, finance, transport and communication,
industry and energy, as well as coordination and
harmonisation of the activities of the RECs (8 years);
• STAGE 3: Establishment of a free trade area
and a Customs Union at the level of each REC (10
years);
• STAGE 4: Coordination and harmonisation of
tariff and non-tariff systems among RECs, with a
view to establishing a Continental Customs Union
(2 years);
• STAGE 5: Establishment of an African Common
Market and the adoption of common policies (4 years);
and
• STAGE 6: Integration of all sectors, establishment
of an African Central Bank and a single African
currency, setting up of an African Economic and
Monetary Union and creating and electing the first
Pan-African Parliament (5 years).
The principal technical policy making organ of
the AEC is the Economic and Social Council, also
known as ECOSOC. The functions of ECOSOC are central
to the implementation of the objectives of the AEC.
As such ECOSOC is the most important specialised
organ in respect of all activities relating to,
directly or indirectly, the intended establishment
of the African Economic Community. In this regard
it is responsible for the preparation of policies,
programmes and strategies for cooperation in the
socio-economic field, as well as the coordination,
evaluation and harmonisation of activities and issues
in this field.
In addition, ECOSOC is responsible to examine the
reports of all the Specialised Technical Committees.
It is supposed to monitor the progress made in the
establishment of the AEC, i.e. by way of the six
phases identified in the Treaty and, consequently,
under the Sirte Declaration process. Lastly, the
body is responsible for supervising the preparations
for international negotiations in these fields,
for assessing their results and reporting annually
to the OAU/AEC Summit, through the Council of Ministers.
The Specialised Technical Committees of the AEC
are:
• Committee on Rural Economy and Agricultural
Matters;
• Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs;
• Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration
Matters;
• Committee on Industry, Science and Technology,
Energy, Natural Resources and Environment;
• Committee on Transport, Communications and
Tourism;
• Committee on Health, Labour and Social Affairs;
and
• Committee on Education, Culture and Human
Resources.
It is evident from the Abuja Treaty that the concept
of the Community, its eventual take-off and its
progressive establishment are closely related to
the process of cooperation at the regional level,
as the RECs are perceived as the building blocks
of the Community. A Protocol on Relations between
the AEC and the RECs was concluded and signed in
February 1998. This Protocol serves as an efficient
instrument and framework for close cooperation,
programme harmonisation and coordination, as well
as integration among the RECs on the one hand (horizontal)
and between the AEC and the RECs on the other (vertical).
The Protocol has the advantage of enhancing the
status and role of the OAU Secretariat, which is
also the Secretariat of the AEC, in all matters
pertaining to the implementation of the Abuja Treaty.
The adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African
Union during the 2000 OAU/AEC Summit in Lomé,
Togo, necessitates a structural, process and content
review of the Abuja Treaty. This is important from
a legal point of view, as this will ensure a sound
legal basis for the African Union, will ensure that
respect for the Rule of Law is maintained, and provide
for the progression from organisational activities
dominated by security and stability crisis situations
to a developmental focus and emphasis.
South Africa signed the Abuja Treaty on 10 October
1997, after which the Treaty was ratified by the
South African Parliament on 3 November 2000.
OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND COOPERATING ORGANISATIONS
• Department of Trade and Industry
• Department of Transport
• Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
• Department of Communications
RELEVANT TREATIES/PROTOCOLS ETC
• Treaty establishing the African Economic
Community
Adopted on 3 June 1991, entered into force on 12
May 1994. South Africa signed the treaty on 10 October
1997 and Parliament ratified it on 2 November 2000.
The Instrument of Ratification was signed on 2 February
2001.
• OAU Charter
The OAU Charter was adopted on 23 May 1963. South
Africa was admitted to the OAU on 23 May 1994 and
the OAU Charter became binding on South Africa on
that same date.
• Constitutive Act of the African Union
Opened for signature on 11 July 2000 at the OAU/AEC
Summit in Lomé. Signed by South Africa on
8 September 2000 and ratified by Parliament on 27
February 2001. The Instrument of Ratification was
signed on 3 March 2001.
• Protocol on Relations between the AEC and
Regional Economic Communities
Adopted on 25 February 1998 on signature by COMESA,
SADC, IGAD and ECOWAS. ECCAS/CEEAC signed the Protocol
in October 1999, but AMU/UMA is yet to sign.
• Protocol on Transport, Communications and
Tourism within the AEC
Adopted by the 70th Ordinary Session of the OAU
Council of Ministers, which met in Algiers from
8-10 July 1999. The Protocol is annexed to and forms
an integral part of the AEC Treaty.
• Protocol to the AEC Treaty Relating to the
Establishment of the Pan-African Parliament
To be opened for signature at the HIV/AIDS Summit
in Abuja in April 2001.
GENERAL COMMENTS
The AEC Treaty was negotiated before South Africa
became a member of the OAU, which meant that South
Africa did not have an opportunity to make any inputs
in this crucial Continental economic integration
process. A review of the Abuja Treaty, which is
scheduled to commence during 2001, will allow South
Africa to make inputs into the amended version of
the Treaty.
South Africa is indirectly involved in the AEC
through the activities of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), which has been designated a pillar
of the AEC. The other pillars are the Community
of Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA)
, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
, the Economic Community of Central African States
(ECCAS/CEEAC) , and the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU/UMA)
. Other active RECs include the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), the Central African
Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), East African
Community (EAC) and the West African Economic and
Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA).
