It also stems from the growing role of Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs), notably the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This reflects, in part, efforts since the early 2000s to transform the African Union (AU) into a strong, collective security and norm-building mechanism. Khadiagala is the Jan Smuts professor of international relations and head of the Department of International Relations at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaĪfrican regional institutions are playing major roles in democratization and conflict management. In addition to infrastructure development, trade facilitation, and peacekeeping, external actors need to invest in ideas, activities, and programs that foster linkages among African states.But they cannot play a leading role without further buy-in from individual states and renewed international engagement. Enduring solutions to Africa’s security and political problems will require placing regional institutions at the center of stabilization efforts.In most African regions where states face long-running conflicts and politicians are fearful of relinquishing sovereignty, progress toward integration and multilateralism remains limited.Several of them, such as the Arab Maghreb Union and the Economic Community of Central African States, show minimal interest in democratization or peacebuilding. Little cooperation among the RECs occurs.Regional institutions are unable to fulfill their core mandates largely because they are underfunded by global standards and tend to lack common identities or shared values.Both SADC and EAC tolerate authoritarian members and have witnessed the erosion of democracy in potential anchor states like South Africa and Kenya.
Apart from ECOWAS, regional bodies often lack strong champions for democratic norms.Although other bodies, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC), have also organized collective stabilization efforts and sought to advance democratic governance, they have been less successful.It has organized peaceful resolutions and restored constitutional governments in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Gambia, among others. ECOWAS has intervened against, sanctioned, or condemned actions taken by most of its member states over the past two decades. Among the RECs, ECOWAS has been the most effective, with Nigeria serving as a strong anchor and advocate for democratization and peacekeeping.Yet most interventions aimed at resolving conflicts and/or restoring democracy are led by regional economic communities (RECs), which can muster greater resources and draw upon local expertise.Its involvement has provided legitimacy to successful efforts to reverse unconstitutional changes in government in various states. The AU wields considerable normative power in advocating constitutionalism, democracy, and the rule of law.Addressing the region’s security and governance challenges calls for further integration and cooperation, which will require significant resources and new notions of sovereignty with responsibility. However, country-level commitment to democratic governance remains uneven and inconsistent. Bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been actively managing conflicts and preventing movement toward authoritarianism. While the African Union (AU) is leading overarching efforts to establish continent-wide norms for acceptable political conduct, regional institutions are also contributing substantially to democratization and peacebuilding in their neighborhoods.
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