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This dissertation advances new arguments about regional integration in Africa. It sheds light on the roles of regional economic communities (RECs) for small-economy states in Africa by examining the benefits and drawbacks of participating in such regional groups for both the small states themselves and their ruling regimes. The study suggests that RECs, rather than being agents of economic development, facilitate regime-boosting agendas of neopatrimonial regimes, promote a sense of (false) sovereignty, and entrench the political elite’s capture of the states. The significance is threefold. First, it suggests that RECs provide an extension of neopatrimonial networks, which expand state-capture by specific political elites at regional levels. Neopatrimonialism refers to the lack of distinction between private and public interests in the state apparatus. For instance, in Africa’s neopatrimonial states, the political and economic interests of the elites largely determine state interests. Although the state appears to exist as a standalone neutral legal entity, private interest groups, who use their positions of power to amass wealth and influence, often engulf it. The political elites’ regional interests become the drivers of their states’ official foreign policies. Second, my study contextualizes regionalism. It emphasizes that RECs are constructions of new identities of a state, as visualized by the existing regimes. RECs offer opportunities to orient national identities, construct solidarity narratives and pursue diplomatic efforts that entrench the governing regimes’ ideological legitimacy to rule. Lastly, my research challenges the assumption that RECs will solve the small states’ development problems.

PR, IFPRI4; CRP2; ReSAKSS; AGRODEP, AFR; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), The Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) was launched in 2018 as an annual report monitoring the continent’s progress in agricultural trade development. Chapter 3, as in the previous reports, reviews the state of intra-African agricultural trade, and provides an in-depth analysis of several agricultural products that are strategic for food security. Working from the hypothesis that total agricultural trade within Africa depends on the performance of trade in specific products, this chapter looks at how trade is affected by commodity-specific trade policies, including those related to food self-sufficiency, regulatory standards, and quality requirements.

PR, IFPRI4; CRP2; ReSAKSS; AGRODEP, AFR; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), [This] chapter has three objectives. First, it analyses the composition and structure of export flows from the AMU countries, by product and by partner, with a special focus on agricultural products (including agrifood products). Second, it attempts to assess the untapped export potential for products and for destination markets. Third, it analyses factors that help explain why the AMU regional bloc has not led to deep integration. The remainder of the chapter is organized as follows: The next section provides a historical overview of the AMU. This is followed by an analysis of the region's trade flows (intra- vs. extraregional trade flows). We then explore the untapped potential of the AMU’s main markets and export products. The following section discusses the factors that have hindered the integration of the AMU countries, and the final section concludes.