Continental Integration and Trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Introduction

Historically, the African continent is not only endowed with natural resources but is also considered to have a demographically youthful content (Honwana, 2013). Africa’s history is intrinsically interwoven to the decades of imperialism and colonialism, and European domination which created borders and territorial boundaries envisaged today (Zahorik, 2018). Through the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, Africa was auctioned and demarcated among colonial powers and foreign political and socio-economic systems were used to exploit its resources to benefit Europe (Gumede & Oloruntoba, 2018). The Scramble for Africa saw Africa being sliced up like a cake with Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Britain having a bigger share of the cake (Southall, 2010). Thus, the Scramble for Africa made the European nations believe that Africa was discovered, hence, colonies were created for exploitation and settlement (Pakenham, 1991). From this colonial-historical perspective, Africa became the satellite of European powers through imperial expansion and capitalist industrialisation. For Ghai (2014), colonialism was a device used by colonisers to exploit Africa's resources for imperial benefit.

Africa is economically handicapped by the Western imposition and the adoption of neo-liberal economic policies (Amtaika, 2017). Colonialism in particular created strategies that exploit African natural resources. Thus, the Scramble for Africa was a resources-driven agenda to exploit Africa’s mineral wealth with Bretton Woods Institutions (IMF and World Bank) being the “new frontiers” in post-World War II (Landsberg, 2018, p. 16). Africa is endowed with an abundance of both human and natural resources; however, the paradox is that Africa is one of the poorest continents in the world. Neo-liberal economic policies are blamed for contributing towards poverty and inequality with the South-based nations bearing the brunt (World Bank Group, 2018). It can be argued that Africa is caught up in a conundrum in terms of which economic approaches or models to adopt for economic freedom in the 21^st century. Due to various factors, political freedom as envisaged by former President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah has not yielded economic fruits for the African continent. Economically, impoverished Africa re-affirms How Europe underdeveloped Africa to How Africa perpetuated its underdevelopment, socially, economically, politically, and culturally (Tshishonga, 2022).

At the centre of Africa’s socio-economic woes is the self-serving leadership with corruption as its modus operandi. While some SADC nations are on the developmental path, most of them are on the verge of being failed states characterised by governments’ inability to develop economic policies, stimulate growth, enforce laws and deliver service (Schwella, 2017). The marketisation of neo-liberal economic policies underpinned by capitalist modes of production sees the state being removed from the centre of directing economic planning and implementation (Carroll & Jarvis, 2017). By conforming to market-driven economic policies, Africa not only harvests slow economic development but is also embroiled in universal liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation perpetuated by global capitalism (Stubbs, 2017). Most African nations are bureaucratised with political and business elites in coalitions driven by material and ideological forces as well as state-capital relations. For the economy to grow in the SADC, and to generally benefit its citizens, state-directed development should deviate from conventional capitalist economic models in favour of regional integration and economy with balanced local investments (Feketha, 2019). Thus, within the continent, the adoption of neo-liberal policies has engendered structural inequality and inequality which violate human rights, and equal right to dignity and respect (Therborn, 2019).