Regime types influencing integration within the framework of the East Africa Community

Abstract

Regional integration has been tried world wide starting with European Union, ASEAN, Arab league, NAFTA, LAFTA, ECOWAS, SADC and now East Africa Community with some having more success than others. East Africa Community (EAC) as it was before its collapse in 1977 comprised Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. EAC Treaty signed in 1999 reintroduced integration efforts in the region and eventually opened up for Rwanda and Burundi to join the EAC as member states. Four pillars informing EAC’s integration include; a Customs Union, a Common Market, a Monetary Union and a Political Federation. This thesis sought to examine the influence of member states regimes on East Africa integration in the context of the revived East Africa Community. The nature of such influence spreads from political, to socio cultural and economic variables. Variables being ‘regime types’; ‘ethnicity’; and lastly ‘economic …