title: Towards a borderless Africa? Regional organisations and free movement of persons in West and North-East Africa
Creators: name: Dick, Eva
name: Schraven, Benjamin
Publisher: name: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/01t3zke88
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Governance
subject: Flucht
subject: Migration
subject: Afrika
subject: Governance
subject: Forced displacement
subject: Migration
subject: Africa

description: The vision of a united Africa and the rejection of the arbitrary borders created by
 European colonial powers have for decades been at the heart of pan-African endeavours.
 Achieving the free movement of persons on the continent was a key aim of the 1991 Abuja
 Treaty, which established the African Economic Community (AEC). And in the ensuing
 decades, this goal was underscored in agreements on African economic integration and in
 the African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063. In January 2018, the member states of the AU finally
 agreed on the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating
 to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment. <br> The
 continental agendas state that the process of implementing free movement must begin with
 Africa’s sub-regions. This is not least due to historical reasons. The Economic Community
 of West African States (ECOWAS) was a pioneer in this regard, with its Free Movement
 Protocol dating back to 1979. The years that followed saw the free movement of persons
 integrated into other African regionalisation processes as well. The East African
 Community (EAC), for instance, has agreed, at least in part, on far-reaching steps; other
 sub-regions (such as the North African Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD))
 are currently working towards relevant accords. <br> The present analysis of ECOWAS (West
 Africa) and IGAD (North-East Africa) shows that both regional organisations face
 difficulties with their free movement policies, though the respective challenges emerge in
 different phases of the political process. In the IGAD region, member states have so far
 been unable to agree on any free movement treaty, while the ECOWAS region is experiencing
 delays in the national and subnational implementation of established legislation. These
 differences can primarily be explained by historic path dependencies, divergent degrees of
 legalisation, and differing interests on the part of subregional powers. Finally,
 regional free movement is being hampered in both regions by internal capacity issues and
 growing external influences on intra-African migration management and border control.
 <br> From the perspective of development policy, it is expedient to support free movement
 at subregional level in Africa. The following recommendations arose from the analysis: 
 
 
 Promote regional capacities: Personnel and financial support should be provided to
 regional organisations to assist them with formulating free movement standards and
 implementing them at national and subnational level.
 
 Harmonise security and free-movement policies: European initiatives on border control
 and migration management must provide greater support for free movement rather than
 inhibit intraregional migration and free movement policies.
 Offer cross-sectoral incentives: The German Government and the European Union should
 encourage progress with the regionalisation of free movement regimes in related areas of
 cooperation.
 
 In order to effectively implement the recommendations, it is also important to recognise
 and flesh out the role of regional organisations at global level as well.
description: Briefing Paper, 1/2019