Regional Economic Co-Operation in Developing Countries

Regional Economic Co-operation in Developing Countries

»As long as the fu ndamental unity of out look on foreign policy is preserved, the Independent African states will be able to assert a distinctive African personality which will speak with a concerted voice in the cause of peace in cooperation with other peace-loving nations at the United Nations and other international forums.« 1 0 The Accra Conference produced a political manifesto but did little to plan the much needed strategies fo r economic development. The immediate problem they thought was colonialism and white supremacy. The Conference pledged to support the F.L.N. in their war against French Colonialism in Aigeria and to support the struggle of the Black people in Southern Africa against white supremacist regimes. However, in Article 8 of the Accra declaration of 1958," the participating African states were asked to establish within each Independent African State )an Economic Research Committee to survey the economic conditions and to study the economic and technical problems within the state<.12 In addition to the establishment of )an Economic Research Committee within each state, the declaration recommended the establishment of a Joint Economic Re search Commission which was required: »2(a) to co-ordinate information and exchange of views on economic and technical matters of the various Independent African States; (b) to find measures whereby trade among African countries could be developed and encou raged; (c) to make proper and detailed investigation as to the possibilities of co-ordinating the economic planning in each State towards the achievement of an all-African economic co-op eration; (d) to find ways and means for common industrial planning within the African States and the possibilities of making available mineral resources and other African products among the African states; (e) to lay down proposals by which Independent African States can receive foreign capital and employ fo reign experts, and to encourage co-operation with other countries in such manner as not to affect their independence, sovereignty and unity; 3. To take steps in order to collect and exchange knowledge and technological information among themselves; 4. To establish joint African enterprises; 5. To hold economic conferences and African exhibitions; 6. To strengthen their co-operation with the Specialised Agencies of the United Nations and especially with the newly proposed Economic Commission for Africa; 7. To make joint efforts as far as practicable to construct means of communications between African States; 8. To investigate the possibility of eventual establishing of an African common market; 9. To provide facilities for exchange of labour and labour information and to encourage co-operation among national trade union organisations; 10. To strengthen the co-operation with the International Labour Organisation; 11. To take joint action for the prevention of diseases among human beings, in agriculture and in animal husbandry, and to act against the ravages of locusts; 12. To ensure the establishment of equitable social and economic policies which will provide national prosperity and social security for all citizens.«13 The A cera Declaration of 1958 was considered by some of the participants as far too cautious and therefore in November of the same year Guinea and Ghana (Sekou Toure and Kwame Nkrumah) agreed to establish the Union of Guinea und Ghana as a nucleus of a Union of West African States. In a joint declaration issued in Conakry on May I, 1959, the two presidents declared that it was the beginning of a Union of Independent African States. The use of the word >Union< as opposed to a regional federation or association, alarmed President Tubman of Liberia. At his invitation, Presidents Toure and Nkrumah met Tubman in Sanniquellie and in July 19, 1959, the three Presidents initialled what came to be known as the Sanniquellie Declaration of 1959. In Article 3 of the Sanniquellie Declaration The Presidents declared: »Each State and Federation, which is a member of the Community, shall maintain its own national identity and constitutional structure. The Community is being fo rmed with a view to achieving unity among Independent African States. It is not designed to prejudice the present or future international policies, relations and obligations of the states involved.« However, both the Sanniquellie Declaration of 1959 and the Conakry Declaration of 1958 contained the nucleus of regional economic integration. Unlike the Accra Declara tion of 1958 which was addressed to all Independent African States, the Sanniquellie Declaration and the Conakry Declaration were adressed to a regional grouping. In the Conakry Declaration, it was stated in Article 11: »(a) An Economic Council ofthe Union composed of an equal number of members designated by each member state will have the task of determining the general economic policy and studying all economic and financial problems of interest to the Union as a whole or in part. (b) A Common Bank ofissue known as the Union Bank will be set up. Its task will be to issue and back the respective currencies of the different States or Federations which are members of the Union.«!4 The Sanniquellie Declaration gave a one line endorsement of this resolution.!5 In the meantime Accra had been the meeting place ofthe >All-African Peoples ' Conference<!6 in December, 1958. That meeting was at a non-governmental level and was attended by delegates from the new political parties which had developed in various African territo ries after the increase of self-government in African Colonies. That Conference was probably the only African Conference since the A cera Declaration of 1958 to speak of a Union of African States -an idea which appears to have been laid to rest by the Sanniquellie Declaration of 1959. The All-African Peoples' Conference declared that the ultimate objective was of »a Commonwealth of Free African States«, an idea which received no endorsement in the subsequent meetings of the Independent African States held in Addis Ababa (1960), Brazzaville (1961), Casablanca (1961) or in Monrovia (1961). The All-African Peoples' Conference made no mention of Economic integration. Its main concern was inter-racial co-operation and the disassociation with violence17 as a means of struggle for national independence.
The year 1960 was a crucial year for Africa. More than half the number of new nations gained their political Independence that year. During the next 12 months, these new nations became actively engaged in formulating new economic policies and the drafting of wide ranging development plans. In early 1962, some seventeen countries had formu lated new Investment Laws and had modified existing Laws, so as to meet the economic challenges of an Independent State. In a developing economy the funelling of scarce capital sought from both domestic and fo reign sources was considered as an essential pre-requisite to provide a strong financial infra-structure upon which the edifice of a strong national economy may be built. Towards this end, the newly emergent States of Africa began to look towards regional affiliations as a prelude to the establishment of a regionally integrated economy. Historically, the next step towards economic co-operation in Africa was taken by the Brazzaville Declaration of December 19th, 1960. This grew out of a hastily summoned meeting in Abidjan by President Houphouet -Boigny of the Ivory Coast to discuss the desirability of the French African territories mediating in the Algerian War of Indepen dence. That was in October 1960. However, at a subsequent meeting in Brazzaville, the )Brazzaville Powers<, namely, Congo (Brazzaville), Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Upper Volta, Niger, Dahomey, Chad, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Madagascar signed the Brazzaville Declaration of December 1960. Under a broad heading of the » Resolution of the Economic Conference«, the Brazzaville powers deci ded that there should be: »The creation of a Commission composed of a maximum of three representatives for each State. This Commission will meet on January 30th at Dakar and its object will be to study and to propose, with a view to establishing a plan of African and Madagascan economic co-operation, adequate solutions to the following problems: 1. Problems relating to money and credit seen in the perspective of a policy of developing Madagascan and African economies. 2. Problems relating to the support of the production of Member States, and the organisation of the sale of their agricultural and industrial products through the creation of price-stabili sation funds; the reinforcement and enlargement of regional customs unions; the harmoni sation of fi scal policies; and generally through the pursuit of better co-ordination in the domain of commercial exchange. 3 . Problems of harmonising and financing the different national plans. The Commission will have to study the establishment of an African and Madagascan code of investment, includ ing the granting of guarantees to private investment, and to work out the basis of an African It is important to note that neither the Brazzaville Declaration nor the Casablanca Declaration were aimed towards regional economic integration. Their aim primarily was to create political and economic blocs. The Brazzaville powers were fu ndamentally opposed to the Casablanca powers and this to a large measure conditioned the participa tion at the Monrovia Conference of May 8th, 1961. Notable absentees at the Monrovia Conference were: Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, the U.A.R., and Sudan declining to attend, while Congo (Leopoldville) was not invited. The Monrovia Meeting was thus far the largest single gathering of African States. Both the French speaking states and the English speaking States were represented at this meeting. The principal concern of the meeting was co-operation among the African States. The Monrovia Declaration did not emphasise the importance of Economic Integration upon a regional basis. In essence the theme was to patch up the diffe rences that had now come to the open -by the absence of the Casablanca powers -and therefore the need for unity through co-operative efforts rather than through political integration was pushed to its limit. However, economic experts of the Monrovia group met at Dakar in July, 1961 to discuss and fo rmulate measures that would advance and promote the economic co-operation among African count ries. Co-operation as opposed to regional integration appeared most clearly in the drafts that emerged from the Dakar meeting of economic experts. A second meeting of the Monrovia powers did take pi ace in Lagos in January 1962, with the addition of Congo (Leopoldville) and Tanganika but in the absence of Libya and Tunisia from the Monrovia list of participants. The Casablanca powers were yet again absent. The Lagos meeting confirmed the Monrovia declaration but added a draft charter of co-operation (including economic co-operation) between the Non-Malagasy group of States and the Malagasy group (which in fact comprised of the Brazzaville powers). The Lagos meeting of 1962 served as a useful prelude to the birth of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. It is, however, important to emphasize that aside from the Conakry Declaration of 1958 and the Sanniquellie Declaration of 1959, there has been no attempt made thus far towards Regional Economic Integration in Africa. Many reasons may be given for this delay in working out regional strategies for development. One of the reasons that has often been given is that the fact that the newly emergent nations were mostly concerned with claims to lead Africa, they feared that any form of regional economic integration would jeopardise their position in the quest for that leadership. The Conakry group, therefore, pushed political union, which they believed would give them the opportunity to lead the whole of Africa, eventually, through an ever widening process of the Union. But the Sanniquellie Declaration based on the concept of a Federation, preserving to each nation its >national identity and constitutional structure< (which really means its own sovereignty) was the answer to the political union. Plagued with the problem of leadership of Africa the newly independent States appeared to be fighting Shy of any form of integration. In his address of welcome to the Monrovia powers, President Tubman of Liberia dealt with this problem of leadership in this way: "It should by crystal clear to every leader that Africans cannot live in isolation if they expect to allay suspicion, fear and tension. The idea of prim us inter pares. first among equals, is destruc tive of African U nity and Peace ... The sense of oneness should be deeply rooted in the breast of every African. But the whirls of circumstances and ambition can make it difficult for us to fit ourselves into the picture of a unified Africa, the foundation for which we hope will be laid before this Conference closes. I come now to the question of leadership of Afrika ... In this connection I have observed that there seems to be three schools of thought on this subject. There are those who feel that Liberia should assume leadership based on the fact that she is the oldest African Republic and is riper in political experience; but it will require more than age and political experience to assume leadership of Africa. There are others who assume that Ghana should assume that role because she is physically more developed and embraces larger territo ries. It will require more than development and larger territory to assume leadership of Africa. And there are yet those who opine that Egypt with its rich traditions dating back to the remotest antiquity should do so. It will require more than rich traditions of antiquity. It will require, in opening of such institutions as: »The Land Policies Development Centre for East and Central Africa (1960) and the Agricultural Credit Centre (1962). In its report for the fifth year of its operation (1963), the Commission declared its readiness to embark on regional economic development schemes. Particular emphasis was made of its interests in the establishment of an African Common Market; the creation of an African Payments Union and the co-ordination of national development plans. The Commission was deeply concerned with concerted efforts in regional economic development and the need to regionalise the integration of African economies. Two major projects of the Commission are -the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning in Dakar, and the African Development Bank in Abidjan. Both projects have been con ceived as regional projects and in their respective spheres of activity these projects are intended to contribute to a closer regional co-operation, in the economic pursuits of African nations.26 The Charter of the African Development Bank is clear as to its aims at regional economic integration. Article 2 of the Charter of the Bank states that its fu nctions inter alia are: (1) To implement its purpose, the Bank shall have the following functions: (a) to use the resources at its disposal for the financing of investment projects and pro grammes relating to the economic and social development of its members, giving special priority to: (i) projects or programmes which by their nature or scope concern several mem bers; and (ii) projects or programmes designed to make the economies of its members increasingly complementary and to bring about an orderly expansion of their foreign trade; (b) to undertake, or participate in, the selection, study and preparation of projects, enter prises and activities contributing to such development; (c) to mobilize and increase in Africa, and outside Africa, resources for the financing of such investment projects and programmes. « Perform, within the available resources of its secretariat, such advisory services as the countries and territories of the region may desire, provided that such services do not overlap with those rendered by other bodies of the United Nations or by the specialized agencies; (e) Assist the Council as its request in discharging its functions within the region in connexion with any economic problems, including problems in the field of technical assistance; (I) Assist in the formulation and development of co-ordinated policies as a basis for practical action in promoting economic and technological development in the region; (g) In carrying out the above fu nctions, deal as appropriate with the social aspects of economic development and the inter-relationship of economic and soeial factors. 2. The Commission is empowered to make recommendations on any matter within its competence directly to the Governments of the members or assoeiate members concerned, to Governments admitted in a consultative capacity, and to the specialized agencies. The Commission shall submit for prior considera tion by the Economic and Social Council any of its proposals for activities that would have important effects on the economy of the world as a whole. 3. The Commission may, after discussion with any specialised agency concerned and with the approval of the Economic and Soeial Council, establish such subsidiary bodies as it deems appropriate for facilitating the carrying out of its responsibilities. (a) The Non-Self-Governing Territaries situated within the geographical area defined in paragraph 4 above?
»(a) Initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic development of Africa, including its social aspects ... 3 0 (b) Assist in the formulation and development of coordinated policies as a basis for practical action in promoting economic and technological development in the regionY (c) In carrying out the above functions, deal as appropriate with the social aspects of economic development and the inter-relationship of economic and social fa ctors." (d) The Commission may, after discussion with any specialized agency concerned and with (b) Powers other than Portugal responsible for international relations of those Territories. 7. Respresentatives of associate members shall be entitled to participate without vote in all meetings of the Commission, whether sitting as commission or as committee of the wh oie. 8. Representatives of assoeiate members shall be eligible to be appointed as members of any committee or any other subardinate body which may be set up by the Commission, and to hold office in such bodies. 9. The Commission shall invite any Member of the United Nations not a member of the Commission to participate, in a consultative capacity, in its consideration of any matter of particular concern to that non-member, fo llowing the practices of the Economic and Soeial Council. 10. The Commission shall invite representatives of specialized agencies, to attend its meetings and to partici pate, without vote, in its deli berat ions with respect to items on its agenda relating to matters within the scope of their activities; and it may invite observers from such other inter-governmental organizations as it may consider desirable, in accordance with the practices of the Economic and Social Council. 11. The Commission shall take measures to ensure that the necessary liaison shall be maintained with other organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies, with special attention to the avoidance of a duplication of effort. The Commission shall establish appropriate liaison and co-operation with other regional economic commissions in accordance with the resolutions and directives of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. 12. The Commission may establish such liaison as it deerns appropriate with inter-governmel\lal organi zations in Africa operating in the same field. 13. The Commission shall make arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which have been gran ted consultative status by the Economic and Soeial Council, in accordance with the principles approved by the Council for this purpose. 14. The Commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure, inc1uding the method of selecting its chairman and other officers. 15. The administrative budget of the Commission shall be financed from the funds of the United Nations. 16. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall appoint the Executive Secretary of the Commission.
The staff of the Commission shall form part of the Secretariat of the United Nations. 17. The Commission shall submit to the Economic and Social Council once a year a full report on its activities and plans, inc1uding those of any subsidiary bodies. Far those years in which the Commission does not hold a session, the Executive Secretary shall submit to the Economic and Soeial Council a fu ll report of its activities and plans, inc1uding those of any subsidiary bodies, after approval by the Chairman of the session in quest ion and circulation to Governments of member States far their comments and any necessary modifications. 18. The headquarters of the Commission and its secretariat shall be located in Africa. The si te of the headquarters shall be decided by the Economic and Social Council in consultation with the Secretary General of the United Nations. The Commission may in due course also establish such sub-regional offices as it may find necessary. 19. The first session of the Commission shall be called by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as soon as practicable, but not later than the end of 1958. The Commission shall at each session decide upon the locality of the meeting of its next session, due consideration being given to the principle that the Commission should meet at its headquarters or in the different countries of Africa. 20. The Economic and Soeial Council shall, from time to time, make special reviews of the work of the Commission. 30 Fn. 28, resolution I(a). 31 Fn. 28, resolution 1(1). 32 Fn. 28, resolution I(g). the approval of the econornic and social council, establish such subsidiary bodies as it deerns appropriate for fa cilitating the carrying out of its responsibilities.3.l These four powers of the Commission may be considered in isolation fr om the rest of the powers, because they collectively suggest a number of avenues along wh ich the Economic development of Africa could progress. Firs t, the Commission may become engaged in organising an integrated strategy for economic development. Under this heading the promotion of regional customs unions,34 adjusting and regulating the tariffs over goods produced within the Union, could become a concern for the Commission, Customs Unions may not always be beneficial to the members of the Union, Ifthe union results, on a balance, in »trade creating«, namely in influencing the replacement of a high cost commodity produced by one member of the Union with a low cost commodity from another member of the Union, this is considered to be »trade creating« and therefore beneficial to the Union. On the other hand, if the effect of the Customs Union was to replace a low cost commodity produced external to the Union with a )high-cost< commodity produced by a member of the Union, then the arrangement is believed to be a »trade diversion« , and therefore harmful to the Union.3' While facilitating concerted action for the economic development of Africa, the Commission may engage in promot ing Regional co-operation in the sharing ofTechnological knowledge which could help in the advancement and achievement of perceived economic goals, This is the second role which the Commission could play in the Regional Economic Integration of Africa. An additional dimension to this role is seen in the Commission's relationship with Organi sation of African Unity, By an agreemenP6 signed in New York on the 15th November, 1965, the two bodies fo rmulated a basis upon which they could co-operate, within an agreed framework and in defined areas of interest.

II. (a) (i) The Equatorial African Countries
Before independence the four French-speaking states of Equatorial Africa -Chad, Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville) and Gabon -belonged to an administra tive Federation called the Afrique Equatoriale Francaise (A EF). 37 This was created by a French decree of the 15th January, 1910, This provided a blue print for fu ture associa- ti on in Regional economic ventures. This colonial administrative organisation inte grated: general financial direction, co-ordination of economic affairs, co-ordination of transport, research in geology and mining, co-ordination of educational and cultural development, and the battle against endemic diseases. At the meeting of Heads of States and of Prime Ministers of Equatorial Africa, at Brazzaville on the 23rd lune, 1959 agreements were signed regarding the creation of three regional organisations. These were: Union Douaniere Equatoriale (UDE), Agence Transequatoriale des Communi cations (ATECO) and the Office Equatoriale des postes et Telecommunications (OEPT). The UDE was concerned with the cration of a customs union, the ATECO which was to administer ports, railways, inter-state roads and river transport and the OEPT was to co-ordinate posts and telecommunications. The OEPT was, however, dissolved in 1965. To faci1itate the working of these organisations the Heads of State established a Service due Controle Financier (Financial Control Service) and the Agence Comptable Inter-Etats was established on 24 0ctober, 1964. These fo rmed the infra structure for the aforementioned bodies name1y the UDE, ATECO and the OEPT. Of the three the UDE was primari1y concerned with the problem of regional, economic integration. Its principal purposes were to establish a common tariff and import policy, to harmonize the fisca1 structures of the four participating states and to co-ordinate their development plans. The UDE established a central secretariat in Brazzaville. It had its own Comite de Direction (Steering Committee) composed primari1y of Ministers of Finance of the contracting states; common customs offices (except in Gabon) and a common fu nd. At a meeting held on 17 May, 1960 at Fort Lamy in Chad, a taxe unique (an Act relating to the codification and regulation of a uniform tax for all the States of Equatorial Africa) was agreed upon. This tax was applied to certain industrial enter prises, the products of which were destined to be marketed in more than one state. All existing taxes on such enterprises were supplanted by the Taxe  (a) That there will be no im position of taxes or customs duties upon transactions among the signatory states. (b) That taxes and customs duties between the member states and non-member states will be established by common agreement. (c) That taxes and customs duties collected on export and import transactions will be divided among Member States according to a formula which the parties shall agree upon.

II. (b) Regional Organisations of Anglophonic West African States
The main efforts for economic co-operation in West Africa were centred in the French speaking states. The organisations that were examined under Equatorial and West African Francophonic States above, provided a picture of regional integration of the economy of fo rmer French colonies. However, there have been fo ur specific attempts made by West African States to forge a co-operative effort to integrate the economy along somewhat broader regional lines. Towards this end economic co-operation be tween French and the English speaking West African States have been attempted since 1964. The principal international organisation concerned with this attempt was >Thy Economic Community of West Africa<.  I. In order to achive the aims of the Community, the Member States shall: (a) work in close co-operation with one another and endeavour to co-ordinate and har monize their economic policies, both within and outside the Community; (b) keep each other informed and fu rnish the Community with the information required for the achievement of its aims; (c) within the Community, establish among themselves consultations on a continuous basis and carry out studies in order to determine the areas and lines of economic development to be undertaken jointly or in common; (d) negotiate within the Community the progressive elimination of customs and other barriers to the expansion of trade between them as weil as restrictions on current payment transactions and on capital movements; (e) take measures which render their products relatively competitive with goods imported fr om outside the Community and seek to obtain more favourable conditions for their products in the world market; (f) endeavour to formulate and adopt common policies, and negotiate and conclude Agreements among themselves or through the medium of the Community, designed to serve the achievement of its aims, including the development jointly or in common of specific transport and communications services, the development and the joint use of energy, joint research, training of manpower and the implementation jointly or in common of all other projects designed to promote the objectives of the Community, as weil as common trade and payments arrangements, and (g) ensure, both within and outside the Community, that the common policies that have been adopted and the Agreements that have been concluded for the achievement of the aims of the Community, are carried out.  Although the Organisation of Senegal River States,52 the River Niger Commission53 and the Lake Chad basin Commission54 may have some economic implications, their prin cipal concerns were navigational rights, equitabie use and control of the waters of these rivers and the rights of the Riparian States through which the three rivers flow. There fore, these three organisations are not considered here as Regional Organisations for the integration of the Economy in Africa.

(c) Comite Permanent Consultatif du Maghreb
Although the Maghreb countries of Libya, Tunisia, Aigeria and Morocco share a com mon culture, religion and geography, attempts at economic co-operation have frequen tly been baulked by political diffe rences. Some of the early attempts at North African Co-operation have been thwarted by their dependent status.55 The Cairo Conference of February 1947 resolved to create a Bureau of the Arab Maghreb but any attempt at co-ordinating their economies was stalled until the region was independent from French Colonial rule.56 The second Conference at Tangiers (27th-30th April, 1958) was attended by Tunisia and Morocco which were then free and the FLN -the Aigerian National Liberation Front representing the Aigerian resistance to French rule in Aigeria -concluded that a federation among the three nations was the answer to achieving economic and political development among the people of these three states.57 Permanent Secretariats were set up but subsequent meetings after 1958 were prevented by political disunity among the three states. These attempts to coordinate the politico-economic fo undations of these States continued into the sixties without much success. (i) to harmonize the development of Maghreb; (ii) to assess the existing economic potential and needs in each country; (iii) to report on Agricultural production in each country; (iv) to determine the most necessary and fruitful areas for industrial co-operation; (v) to recommend policies of co-operative in mining and energy; (vi) to clarify the general bases and conditions for multilateral Maghreb Commercial ex changes and preferential tariffs and; (vii) to study the means of financing development projects." The annual meetings of the Maghreb Economic Ministers have been effective as an instrument of Maghreb co-operation. The Permanent Consultative Committee has ser ved as a working Committee at these Ministerial meetings. The Association of the Permanent Consultative Committee with the Economic Commis sion for Africa in 1967 must be seen as an important event for the Economic integration of the Maghreb. In 1967 the ECA undertook additional studies for determining the pattern and institutional framework of economic integration in the Maghreb. In addi tion the studies included: the development in the visible and external trade of each country, an estimate of the amount of capital formation up to 1980 and its distribution on the basis of large economic sectors; evaluation of the needs and possibilities of training qualified staff up to 1980; macro-economic tables on the countries of the sub-re gion; historie data on the macro-economic structure and development of the sub-region; projection tables up to 1980 for the extractive industries, nonferrous metals, printing and publishing and related industries, shipbuilding, electricity, gas and water; demands for the industrial products of the Maghreb and an inventory of private and public indus tries.63 The ECA has helped the Permanent Consultative Committee in a number of ways in attempting to integrate the region's economy. The Permanent Consultative Committee has carried out most of its important work through specialised Committees and Commissions. These include the Maghreb Transportation Committee, the Maghreb Commitee on Tourism, the Industrial Committees, the Maghreb Consultative Com mittee on Education and the Maghreb Commission on Trade Relations.

The Maghreb Commission on Trade Relations.64
The first meeting of this sub-organisation of the Permanent Consultative Committee was held in Rabat from 15th-1 8th May, 1965. The Commission at that meeting pro posed the joint marketing of esparto grass through a central selling organisation. At its second meeting, in Rabat from 21-26 October, 1965, the Commission decided to study the market co-ordination of the region's four main products: Olive Oil, Citrus fruits, esparto grass and wine. lt decided to establish permanent wine and citrus com-  (k) such other activities, calculated to further the aims of the Community, as the Partner States may from time to time decide to undertake in common." By Part III of the Treaty76 an East African Common Market was established. Under the Common Market provisions a common extern al tariff and common excise duties were established . It was also agreed that there shall be no tariffs or quantitative restrictions upon interterritorial trade. The Member States were required to co-operated and consult on taxation, fiscal incentives to industry, harmonization of commercial laws, transport policy and economic planning. The Treaty in addition establishes a system of transfer taxes on interterritorial trade, which were designed to protect the industries of the lesser industrially developed Member States. By Article 3, the Treaty identified some of the key Institutions ofthe Community. These are: The East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) may be distinguished from a much broader regional economic union -the Economic Community of Eastern Africa. This was a result of the endeavours of the United Nations Economic Commis sion for Africa and was born out of a meeting held at Nairobi, from 9-23 February, 1965. By a resolution adopted at that meeting it was agreed that there be established at the sub-regional level, »inter-governmental machinery responsible for the harmonization of economic and social development in the sub-region.«86 So as to implement this resolution a sub-regional meeting on Economic co-operation in The following graphical representation helps to organise the several organisations that have been considered in the preceding pages as those that are intimately concerned with the Regional Economic integration in Africa.  , and Singapore is essentially Christian and Chinese with a number of other ethnic groups as Indians and Sri Lankans thrown in, the economic union among these three states within the ASEAN concept has never been stronger. On the other hand, the Thais a're over whelmingly Buddhists (of the Theravada School). In this respect Thailand could be singled out from the rest ofthe ASEAN members. Indonesia is however, largely Muslim but with large pockets of Hindus (particularly in Bali) while The Philippines is shared between a large Muslim population and a slightly larger Christian population. Brunei has a 51 % Malay to 23 % Chinese, population split. It is important, therefore, to emphasize these fu ndamental differences among the six ASEAN states for any meaning ful evaluation of their success as a Regional Economic group. The Bangkok Deelaration93 of 8th August, 1967 may be identifed as the commencement of this Association. At that meeting held among the five fo reign Ministers of the partici pating states, it was resolved that an Association of South East Asian Nations be fo rmed with one of the aims as: Included in the declaration were a number of other goals. The provision of assistance to each other in the form of training and research fa cilities in educational, professional, technical, scientific and administrative spheres95 have proved to be a most useful area of co-operation for the development of the Member States. The promotion of active colla boration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social and cultural fi elds96 have helped to forge links at the level of the citizens among the Member States. Above all the resolve to maintain peace and stability in the region97 has helped to prevent any kind of political disputes arising among the Member States. So as to underpin this resolution with a firm institutional infra-structure, the Member States on the 24th of February, 1976 signed in Bali (Denpasar) an Treaty of Amity and co-operation, under which they proceeded to establish the machinery required for the Pacific Settlement of disputes. 98 Between 1967 and1976, the Member States proceeded to involve themselves in a number of bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements made essentially within the framework of the Bangkok declaration. One of the earliest arrangements among the Member States was the creation of >a Fund for the Association of South East Asian Nations<. This was the result of the Cameron Highlands agreement99 of the 17th December, 1969, made in Malaysia. Under that agreement the Member States agreed to create a National fund of 5 million U .S. dollars. Since the entry of Brunei this fund has been raised to 6 million U .S. dollars. These 6 million dollars was to be made up from contributions of I million dollars from each Member State. The million dollars could be paid in one sum or by annual instalments.lOo Each million will be held as »the National Fund« in the custody of each contributing state.101 In a schedule to the agreement the Member States declared that the fund shall only be used for the purpose of implementing projects approved by the foreign Ministers of ASEAN .102 By this means the Member States were able to manipu la te the utilisation of the fund principally for their common advantage. As a part of the Cameron accord and at the same meeting, the Member States agreed to promote and cooperate in mass media and cultural activities.103 Under this agreement the Member States agreed to: Exchange Artistes, 104 organize cultural festivals in the countries of each other,105 exchange experts in mass media and cultural activitieslO6 and undertake joint research in Arts and in literature. 107 In addition the agreement contained provisions for organizing seminars and symposia on the mass media. lO S Emphasis was placed in the agreement for promoting the use of Broadcasting facilities, both radio and television services of each Member State to reflect the aims, purposes and activities of ASEAN. 109 The thrust of this agreement was to establish a cultural interchange among the people of the six nations so that the citizens of the six Member States will not be strangers to each other. This cultural level of cooperation was a factor which was not in any way pursued by the architects of the African organizations for regional economic integration. At an ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Manila, on the 13th of March, 1971, an agreement1lO concerning the rights of non-scheduled Air Services among the Member States was signed. It was expressly declared at that meeting that the agreement was designed »to accelerate and intensify the implementation of the aims and purposes of ASEAN as embodied in the ASEAN declaration«Yl Under this agreement any aircraft registered in an ASEAN State may engage in a non-scheduled commercial flight, provi ded that it does not harm scheduled services, over the territories of Member States.l12 In this respect, the Member States agree to admit: »freely to their territories for purposes of taking on or discharging passengers and cargo and to define in such agreement the rights and privileges of their respective commercial aircraft to take on passen ger and cargo for pay or hire on other than schedule international services.« !l3 This agreement proved to be vital for the creation and maintenance of private airlines not being members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The tre mendous impetus it gave the private airline industry among the ASEAN Nations is not to be underestimated. Each Member State had a much developed airline system. Aside from their individual National Airlines, of which there were six, there were a number of scheduled and non-scheduled airlinies among the six Member States. By 1971, the members of the ASEAN therefore thought it was necessary to enter into an Agreement Jo r the Ja cili tat ion oJ Search Jo r A ircraJt in distress and rescue oJ survivors oJ A ircraJt A ccidents 1 14 This too was expressly chartered within the original ASEAN declaration in Bangkok of 1967.115 Under this agreement the Member States declared that: »having adopted the standards and recommended practices contained in the search and rescue, Annex 12 to the Convention of International Civil Aviation, it is in the interest of contracting parties to the Agreement to undertake to provide such measures of assistance to aircraft in distress in their territories as they may fi nd practicable and to permit the owners of the aircraft or authorities of the State in which the aircraft is registered to provide such measures of assistance as may be necessitated by the circumstances« 11 6 The Member States agreed to provide such assistance as may be required according to the circumstances to all aircrafts in distress. Considering the vastness of the geographical area wh ich the ASEAN nations occupy, this joint agreement which contained provisions for co-ordinated action, interchange of expertise, skills and scientific knowledge proved to be of great value. By 1976, the Member State had co-ordinated, co-operated and co-sponsored their acti vites in a number of areas, since the Bangkok declaration of 1967 and to their distinct advantage, that they feit ready to enter into a Treaty of Amity and co-operation among themselves. Therefore, on the 24th of February, 1976, the Member States entered into a Treaty of Co-operation."? Attached to the Treaty was a IDeclaration of ASEAN Con cord(IIB which chartered the broad framework within wh ich their fu ture association was expected to evolve in the years to come. In addition to the Treaty and the Concord, the Member States at the same meeting agreed"9 to establish an ASEAN Secretariat in Dj akarta. Each of these require separate treatment. (I) The Trea ty l20 The preamble to the Treaty traces the movement for regional integration right back to the Afro-Asian Conference held in Bandung on 25 April, 1955 and the five principles (Pancha Seda) concerning political co-existence and the non-involvement of power blocks. It mentions, the Bangkok declaration of August 8th, 1967 and the Kuala Lumpur Declarationl21 of 27th November, 1971. The Kuala Lumpur Declaration was not in its essence an economic declaration. It was merely a political declaration. At that meeting the six ASEAN States declared that they shall exert every effort »to secure the recogni ti on of, and respect for, Southeast Asia as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality, free from any fo rm or manner of interference by outside powers.«122 The inclusion of both the Bandung and the Kuala Lumpur declaration is significant in that the Treaty was meant to be casted within a framework of political independence and non-alignment. It must be emphasized that the Bandung meeting proved to be the precussor to the com mencement of the non-aligned movement six years later at a Heads of States Meeting in Belgrade, in 1961. Nevertheless, both declarations were essentially political declarations which merely fa cilitated economic growth in a condition of political non-alignment. The Treaty herein quest ion contains a number of general declarations of aims, purposes and policies. Article 2 of the Treaty appears to be based on the Bandung declaration of: (a) Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations; (b) The right of every State to lead its national existence free from extern al interference, su bversion or coercion; (c) Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; (d) Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means; (e) Renunciation of the threat or use of fo rce; (f) Effective co-operation among themselves. Items (a)-(e) of the Declaration has been adopted from the Bandung Declaration. One important aspect of the Treaty is that it creates machinery for the Pacific Settlement of Disputes,123 in Chapter IV. Under that chapter, the Member States are required to refrain from the threat or use of force to settle their disputes.124 It is therefore declared that a council comprising of six Ministers, each drawn from the six governments of the Member States be consituted.125 In the event of a dispute, this Council is required to take due cognizance of the dispute and is then required to suggest to the member nations methods by which the dispute may be settled,126 It is, however, conceeded that this method of conciliation shall not apply unless the disputants do agree to submit their disputes to mediation under this chapter.127 This chapter does not, however, exclude the power to resort to Article 33 (1) of the U.N. Charter which deals with the Pacific Settlement of Disputes.128 (2) The Secretariat129 The effective implementation of the Treaty was left largely in the hands of a Secretariat wh ich was agreed upon by the Heads of States at the same meeting at Bali in 1976 as the one at which the Treaty was ratified. By that Agreement, Dj akatra was selected as the location for the Secretariat and each Member State, according to their name in alpha betical order, was required to nominate the Secretary-General of ASEAN in rotation for a period of two years. The Agreement laid down in detail the Rights, Powers, Privileges of the Officers of the Secretariat including the Secretary-General, the Budget and fund ing arrangements, Accounting and Auditing, Salaries and a number of other administra tive details.
(3) The Concord130 The Concord under a number of sub-headings considered the nature and the extent of the obligations of the Member States in the fields of: Economy, Industrial Cooperation, Cooperation in Trade, Cooperation in the areas of Security, interchange of Cultural information and the improvement of Social conditions among the citizens of the Mem ber States. In the economic field, the concord was aimed at the enhanced production of basic commodities of food and energy among all Member States. It was also aimed at the provision of priorities for export and import of these commodities to and from the Member States. This declaration has led to bilateral and multilateral tariff agreements among the Member States. The concord also declared the need to nintensify co operation in the production of basic commodities particularly food and energy in the individual Member States of the region.«131 In the area of industrial cooperation, the concord declared that the Member States should cooperate to establish large-scale ASEAN industrial plants. In establishing such plants the Member States were cautioned that they should pay particular attention to the regional requirements of essential commodities, which these plants should be designed to meet.132 Further, the concord requires the Member States to choose such industrial plants as those which would primarily utilise the available material resources. 133 The principal purpose at industrialising should be to contribute to the increase of food production, increase of foreign exchange earnings or to save foreign exchange earnings. The creation of employment for the people of that area too was considered as an important element in the choices for industrial development. Under co operation in Trade, the Concord, recognised the need to tie trade to regional developmentY' The importance of establishing preferential trading arrangements as a long-term perspective was emphasised in the Concord, as a desired objective for the Member States. 135 The Concord declared the urgent need to improve access to foreign markets outside ASEAN, for both raw materials and for finished products. 136 The Concord encouraged the Member States to ensure that technological advances in coun tries outside ASEAN would have an impact upon the development of Member States. The ASEAN group has embarked upon wide ranging Economic and Technical Coop-eration programmes with other industrialised nations and the balance sheet up to date appears to be quite impressive. Witness the following;137 (4) With EEC: (The EEC has accorded preferential access to ASEAN products as from 1975 in four specific areas. These are: Commercial, lndustrial Development, Agriculture and Forestry). (5) With Canada: Regional Satellite Communications, Regional Air Transportation, Fisheries and Cooperation in Trade.
The concord in a wide ranging set of deelarations, deelared that the Member States should be active in the reform of the international trading system, in the reform of the international monetary system and in the establishment of a New International Economic Order.138 The concord emphasised the need for maintaining elose consult ations with the Member States in all aspects of social, political and economic develop ment. At the Social level,139 the concord urged the Member States to draw into the centre of development strategies, all communities, particularly the women and the youth, aS'parti cipants in the development programme and not merely as the recipients of its fruits. Particular emphasis was placed on the need to improve the well-being of low-income groups and the need to revitalise the rural population. The need to expand productive employment with fair remuneration too was emphasised. At the cultural level, the desirability to teach the languages of each other in schools was emphasised. The need to provide support for the interchange of scholars, writers, artists and mass media representatives from Member States was seen as vital to the regional identity, fellowship and cohesion among the many communities which inhabit the AS EAN region. Giving participants confirm to Agent Bank amounts available for swapo -Agent Bank confirms to requesting participant U .S. dollar amount available.
Requesting participant informs Agent Bank of spot rate applicable. -Agent Bank informs all participants of spot rate and interest rate and instructs requesting participant to conclude transaction directly with giving participants. Requesting and giving participants confirm fu ll details on transfer of fu nds. Day 7 -Transfer of fu nds is effected.
The requesting and giving participants confirm full details in writing with a copy to the Agent Bank. For renewals a similar sequence may be followed.

IV. Conc1usions
This paper has attempted to provide two things. First, to provide a vertical analysis of the content, the nature and the character of several regional organisations for the integ ration of the economy in Africa and in Asia. Second, to explore horizontally, the areas of cultural, ethnic, linguistic and geographical regions that the integrating organisations have attempted to link. The underlying assumptions upon which each regional organi sation has justified its existence appears to be multifarious. But there is a central theme that underlies all the regional organisations that have received comment here. It is the realisation that nations of the Third World are, individually, economically weak and that national boundaries which identifies their nationhood with a territory are to a large extent the results of Colonialism and therefore are of artificial creation. There was also the additional realisation that the divisions that Colonialism had left behind as a result, perhaps of a deliberate policy, of Divide et Impera. has now resulted in a large number of inequities. The need, therefore, to unite in common economic pursuits have been recognised as an unavoidable pre-requisite to any fo rm o f socio-political development among these nations, so that some semblence of the pre-colonial linkages that had once existed and now destroyed, may in some shape or form be re-kindled into a new arrange ment. These developing nations of the Third World, in addition to the natural vicissitudes of Colonialism, became the victims of an international system of a dependency nature, that surfaced in the 50's and 60's. This international system which was designed for the more effective development of the industrialized nations utilising to a large measure the raw materials of the Third World is now being seen by discerning critics as a principal cause for the continued underdevelopment of the Third World. In a reportl44 submitted by a group of experts to the Club of Rome, in 1976, it was poetically conc1uded that: The inequities in the international system are of tremendous significance. They have given rise to essentially two worlds and the disparities between them are growing. One is the world of the rich, the other the world of the poor, united by its heritage of common suffering. A poverty curtain divides the worlds materially and philosophically. One world is literate, the other largely illiterate; one industrial and urban, the other predominantly agrarian and rural; one consump tion oriented, the other striving for survival. In the rich world, there is concern about the quality of life, in the poor world ab out life itself which is threatened by disease, hunger and malnut rition. In the rich world there is concern about the conservation of non-renewable resources and learned books written about how the world should be kept in a stationary state. In the poor world there is anxiety, not about the depletion of resources, but about their exploitation and distribution for the benefit of all mankind rather than a few priviieged nations. While the rich worid is concerned about the impact of its pollutive activities on life-support systems, the poor world is concerned by the pollution of poverty, because its problems arise not out of an excess of development and technology and inadequate control over natural phenomena.1 4 5 These regional organisations are, therefore, the Third World's response to the problems posed by a rich and developed world. The effectiveness of such a response is for fu ture historians to record.