| Summary, etc. |
The field of economic integration has a great importance due to its role in helping to achieve development goals in a more effective and efficient manner, as economic integration is one of the most important stimulating factors for sustainable economic and social development . International changes, represented by globalization, have also led to the marginalization of the economic role of the African continent internationally . The study seeks to answer a main question, which is, was the group’s performance CHARacterized by efficiency and affectiveness in implementing its integrative path? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to identify the principles of the group and their consistency with the main objective for which this grouping was established, the most appropriate institutional structure to achieve the group’s goals, and how sectoral cooperation programs were planned to meet the needs of member states, in addition to monitoring the development of intra‐trade structure in line with the trade liberalization program, following the agreed‐upon integration process path on the ground, an inventory of the group’s most important achievements, and the obstacles that limited the launch of integration, and how can they be overcome? With regard to the spatio‐temporal framework of the study, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been chosen as the largest African grouping after COMESA, and the oldest of all African groupings . despite the challenges it faces, it is still making achievements, in addition to its efforts to avoid the negatives, suggesting the group’s distinction among African groups . The study covers the time period since 1992, which is the official start of the SADC gathering . it is worth noting that determining the beginning of the study period is not fixed, as follow‐up needs to go back to befor this date to find out the indications of this gathering . The inductive approach was used to review the phenomenon of integration and its effects on the economies of the member states, with the analysis of data and information obtained to assess the institutional and economic performance of the group . The study plan consists of ; An introduction, an introductory study, four chapters, and a conclusion; where the introductory topic reviews the theoretical framework for the process of economic integration, while the first chapter deals with the emergence of the Southern African Development Community, its objectives, and basic principles, while the second chapter explains the institutional and sectoral performance of SADC, while the third chapter deals with the development of the community’s trade and the problems of intra‐trade integration, and the chapter concludes The fourth presents a future vision for the group, which poses the most important problems that hinder the group’s performance, including : institutional, administrative and economic problems; And then provide some solutions to those problems . The study reached a number of results, the most important of which is the lack of clarity in the objectives of SADC, as the group focused on the formulation of institutes and their organizational structure, while the executive aspect of the group’s programs did not witness sufficient attention, and the institutional performance revealed the negative aspects of the weakness of the institutional structure, which was reflected on the performance of the group and the weakest link in it, is the weakness of the secretariat . The weakness of the SADC founding sources has led to a heavy reliance on foreign aid . Also, SADC’s lack of supranational institutions and authorities is due to the absence of the institutional structure of a binding regional mechanism, as well as the suffering of some SADC countries from the scarcity and inefficiency of administrative cadres, with the lack of clarity of standards , and the modesty of policies programs and plans in the absence of coordination between internal policies and the most important sectoral units Such as ; industry, commerce, investment, and transportation . in addition to the lack of good governance in some SADC countries; Because of the absence of democratic practice, and popular participation . This, in addition to the failure to activate the role of the SADC Court, led to more non‐compliance with the implementation of the group’s decisions . Finally, there are distributional problems for the benefits and obligations of integration among the member states, which made the more advanced countries the most benefited, and the limited benefits obtained by the less developed countries . The study recommends the possibility of SADC to achieve progress in its performance through the ability of its countries to take advantage of the available capabilities in the fields of agriculture and human resources and work to improve infrastructure, especially in the field of transportation and communications through the implementation of the road network to link member states and production areas . in addition to encouraging industrialization, which is the gateway to achieving the growth of intra‐regional trade, and coordinating industrialization polices at the regional level, with the need to develop a supervisory plan for the various committees’work, provided that supervision is periodic and regular and work to manage the necessary sources of funding, directing them in the best possible economic direction and pushing towards activating SADC Organs and institutions in order to ensure the implementation of Summit decisions, the imposition of sanctions on violators, and the reinstatement of the Community Court’s functions, and locally, SADC members should urge their governments to exert more effort in order to achieve economic cooperation formally, by taking effective decisions at the local level to support The general regional orientation of SADC projects . |
