were made in subsequent decades within regional blocs, but the integration process was largely put on hold for over a quarter of a century owing to conflicts, which in part were driven by divisive forces of the cold war. only after the collapse of the communism was the integration process in africa revitalized. as regards the three long - term key structural factors that were identified behind the success of emu, it was noted that some of them seem to be present in africa, while some are lacking : • growing consensus on macroeconomic policy objectives was an important factor in the european integration process, and it seems that similar phenomenon is taking shape in africa. indeed, in addition to favorable external environments, more prudent macroeconomic policies are clearly one of the key factors behind impressive growth performance of africa in recent years. • as in europe, there also seems to be an increasing underlying policy will to drive the integration process forward. in europe, this policy will was personified in certain visionary strong leaders who salvaged and / or reinvigorated the integration process at some critical junctures. africa has also its share of strong leaders but owing to a larger number of countries participating in the process keeping up a momentum toward integration is even a greater challenge than it was in the case of europe. • the key weakness of the african integration process when compared with the european experience, is the lack of " natural ", market - driven increase in economic integration. in europe, trade interdependence increased rapidly following the second world war and this trend has remained intact. however, in case of africa, the level of intraregional trade remains low, even when taking into account the informal trade flows. the role of monetary integration has been of decisive importance in the european context. it has yielded significant benefits for the region and is an area in which integration has become most securely entrenched. the launch of the euro triggered many changes in the financial markets and we are still far away from realizing the full benefits of financial sector integration. the ecb continues to have a central role in facilitator or further financial integration within europe, thus contributing to the improved growth potential of the euro area. also in africa, monetary integration has been a positive factor, as evidenced e. g., by the franc zone's contribution to relatively better price stability. moreover, monetary cooperation and integration will have an important role to play also going forward. at the same time, it was emphasized that

for the eurosystem's monetary policy. indeed, it was emphasized that some growth dispersion within monetary union is inevitable and even desirable. related to this, i am personally fully convinced that individual euro area countries can cope with asymmetric shocks that are inevitable fact of life in a monetary union. indeed, before finland joined emu, there was much skepticism about its suitability for a country whose economy, in particular its export structure, was very different from the rest of the euro area. after more than eight years in the monetary union, many of the feared asymmetric shocks have been realized ( e. g., volatile swings in the telecom sector and significant weakening of the u. s. dollar ) but the finnish economy has performed well, both in terms of growth and price stability. turning back to the case of africa, it seems that the combination of heterogeneity ( both cultural and economical ), the larger number of initial participants and the proliferation of overlapping integration initiatives implies special challenges for devising clear and credible decision - making structures to support integration process. at the same time, these initial conditions imply that such structures are indispensable for successful broadening and deepening of economic integration. against this background, the importance of strengthening domestic and supranational institutions by clarifying their decision - making and by making them more transparent and accountable was regarded as essential. conclusion finally, i would like to thank all the participants, especially our speaker and discussants. i think that we had a frank and meaningful discussion of the challenges facing both eu and africa. i think that we all benefited and learned from this discussion that has offered many different perspectives to issues of common interest. it seems to me that, notwithstanding formidable challenges and many potential pitfalls, the outlook for greater integration in the both regions is fundamentally positive. with these remarks, i like to conclude and wish my african colleagues success in their challenging road toward further economic integration in africa.