+44 330 818 7254The SADC Treaty sought to, among other things; enhance regional integration within the SADC region. The eventual thrust has been on coming up with a common market, common monetary union and a common currency that would facilitate trade within the region. Equally important has been the desire to form a bulwark against stronger economies from other regional groupings. On the other hand, while SACU has harboured the desire to facilitate the establishment and operationalisation of a customs union within the Southern African region. It has been argued that such a development cannot avoid the need for a common currency, common market as well as a monetary union to counter the strong trade current coming from other regional groupings, such as the East African Community, taking cognisance of the meteoric economic rise of Kenya as well as the post-genocide economic reform of Rwanda. This paper examines the history of regional integration in Africa, what has motivated it, the different initiatives by way of RECs and well as the nature of the integration process, and the current challenges such as duplication of functions and overlap within SADC and SACU. The paper also put forward the need to collapse SADC and SACU by harmonising their operations and the attendant regulatory framework governing the two RECs.
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