Southern Africa in transition

Prospects and Problems Facing Regional Integration

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4251981
AutoresRichard Gibbs (0000-0002-5421-9521), Richard Gibb (University of Plymouth, autor de correspondencia)
Año1998
Volumen36
Número2
Páginas287-306
Fecha de publicación1998-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x98002730
OpenAlexW2116493395
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas17

The successful conclusion to South Africa's first all-race elections in April 1994 marked a turning point for political and economic relations throughout the whole of Southern Africa, not least since the regional ‘superpower’ which the sub-continent had previously tried to isolate was invited to participate in regional organisations. However, the ending of apartheid, unquestioningly the single most important factor determining the nature and evolution of future integrative efforts, has to be examined alongside other significant changes affecting Southern Africa throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Most importantly, the structural adjustment programmes instigated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), resulted in a greater emphasis on economic liberalisation and political democratisation. Consequently, Southern Africa's most important regional arrangements (as shown in Figure 1) are all in a state of transformation as they endeavour to respond to the new environment. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) have already changed, or are in the process of renegotiating, their treaties and constitutions

Customs union · Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Economics · Economy · International trade · Liberalization · Political science · Politics · Regional Integration · State (computer science) · Superpower · Legal Issues in South Africa