Africa told to hasten economic integration

By John Oyuke

African leaders have been asked to speed up the regional economic integration for the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson, Erastus Mwencha, said African states must pay greater attention to the economic integration of the continent.

"By fostering strong regional trading blocs, African economies could accelerate diversification, generate economies of scale, and mitigate the fallout from any global economic shocks," he said.

He said Africa needed to take advantage of its place as the only emerging region in the world, in terms of investor perceptions at this time apart from Asia.

He referred to the Ernst & Young current report, which showed that strong growth is expected in new projects from 2012, with foreign direct investment inflows forecast to reach $150 billion by 2015.

Mwencha was speaking during the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) Roundtable on Trade and Investments in Africa in Nairobi on Wednesday.

The high-level roundtable was taking place on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary celebration, and 11th Annual General Meeting of the Nairobi-based African Trade Insurance Agency.

ATI Chief Executive, George Otieno, said the event provided a platform for decision makers in the continent to discuss current risk trends, and find practical solutions to mitigate them.

In addition to providing competitive edge, Mwencha said regional integration would lead to improved infrastructure, as well as enhanced scientific development and technological innovation across the continent.

Great rewards

He cited the levels of risks in investing in Africa, saying although they appear high, risk could be managed and the rewards could be great.

Otieno observed that although Africa has been disadvantaged by being too fragmented and expensive to do business with due to lack of economies of scale, regional integration had brought enormous benefit to member countries in terms of increased trade.

He noted that to address this problem of fragmentation, countries have been coming forming Regional Economic Communities.