IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v5y2021i1p278-286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within Agenda 2063: an assessment of the ‘Actorness’ of the African Union (AU) in International Relations (IR)

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson, Ph.D.

    (Department of Research, Innovation and Programs Development (ORID), Catholic University of Business & Technology (CIBT), Institute Drive, Adabraka, Accra, Ghana.)

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the dynamics of decision making within the African Union Commission (AUC) that has led to the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in July 2019 using Agenda 2063 as the basis. The AU’s Agenda 2063 is both an economic and social model that supports market capitalism and one that incorporates Pan-Africanism as a guiding set of values, and how this ideology defines and reinforces regional integration. Scholarly studies have long accepted the extent to which, an entity like the European Union (EU) is capable of becoming a coherent actor in the global governance complex; which indeed raises important questions about what constitutes ‘actorness’ in contemporary international relations. Can a continental driver of integration such the African Union (AU) emerge as a significant actor in global politics? If so, how can we conceptualize actorness? This paper is attempting a new way at capturing the AU’s internal and external behavior – one that takes into account, not only the AU’s own characteristics – but the kinds of political, economic and social transactions it undertakes, and the feedback processes engendered pertaining to actorness.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Kwabena Manboah-Rockson, Ph.D., 2021. "Launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within Agenda 2063: an assessment of the ‘Actorness’ of the African Union (AU) in International Relations (IR)," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(1), pages 278-286, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:5:y:2021:i:1:p:278-286
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-5-issue-1/278-286.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/virtual-library/papers/launch-of-the-african-continental-free-trade-area-afcfta-within-agenda-2063-an-assessment-of-theactorness-of-the-african-union-au-in-international-relations-ir/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haas, Ernst B., 1961. "International Integration: The European and the Universal Process," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 366-392, July.
    2. Wendt, Alexander E., 1987. "The agent-structure problem in international relations theory," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 335-370, July.
    3. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:67-87 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Meysut Saygili & Ralph Peters & Christian Knebel, 2018. "African Continental Free Trade Area: Challenges and Opportunities of Tariff Reductions," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 82, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    5. Ian Manners, 2010. "Global Europa: Mythology of the European Union in World Politics," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 67-87, January.
    6. Merran Hulse, 2014. "Actorness beyond the European Union: Comparing the International Trade Actorness of SADC and ECOWAS," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 547-565, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haroldo Ramanzini Junior & Bruno Theodoro Luciano, 2021. "Regional (dis)integration beyond governments: A comparison in social and civil society participation between Mercosur and SADC," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 18-34, March.
    2. Mariam Amadou Diallo & Marijke D'Haese & Jeroen Buysse, 2024. "Growth, fiscal and welfare implications of trade liberalization in Africa: A macro‐micro modeling assessment of the Senegalese economy," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 111-124, March.
    3. Adela Toscano-Valle & Antonio Sianes & Francisco Santos-Carrillo & Luis A. Fernández-Portillo, 2022. "Can the Rational Design of International Institutions Solve Cooperation Problems? Insights from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, June.
    4. Harvey Starr, 2003. "The Power of Place and the Future of Spatial Analysis in the Study of Conflict," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Syed Eesar Mehdi, 2020. "Book review: Biberman, Yelena, Gambling with Violence: State Outsourcing of War in Pakistan and India," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 76(4), pages 593-596, December.
    6. Jolyon Howorth, 2010. "The EU as a Global Actor: Grand Strategy for a Global Grand Bargain?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 455-474, June.
    7. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:993-1013 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Kaplan Yilmaz, 2017. "China’s OBOR as a Geo-Functional Institutionalist Project," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 7-23, June.
    9. Christoffer Kølvraa, 2016. "European Fantasies: On the EU's Political Myths and the Affective Potential of Utopian Imaginaries for European Identity," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 169-184, January.
    10. Fligstein, Neil & Polyakova, Alina & Sandholtz, Wayne, 2011. "European Integration, Nationalism, and European Identity," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt1h47s4ck, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    11. Ferdj Younes, 2024. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on regional economic integration in the Maghreb region – an Algerian perspective," Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne, Sciendo, vol. 17(2), pages 290-313.
    12. Roxana Bobulescu, 2011. "Critical Realism versus Social Constructivism in International Relations," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 37-64, May.
    13. Michael Taylor, 1989. "Structure, Culture and Action in the Explanation of Social Change," Politics & Society, , vol. 17(2), pages 115-162, June.
    14. Lukas Hermwille & Lisa Sanderink, 2019. "Make Fossil Fuels Great Again? The Paris Agreement, Trump, and the USFossil Fuel Industry," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(4), pages 45-62, November.
    15. Meike Froitzheim & Fredrik Söderbaum & Ian Taylor, 2011. "The Limits of the EU as a Peace and Security Actor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 46(3), pages 45-70.
    16. Azusa Uji & Sijeong Lim & Jaehyun Song, 2024. "From plastic to peace: Overcoming public antipathy through environmental cooperation," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(2), pages 279-293, March.
    17. Lisbet Hooghe & Gary Marks, 2005. "The Neofunctionalists Were (almost) Right: Politicization and European Integration," The Constitutionalism Web-Papers p0024, University of Hamburg, Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science.
    18. Dick, Eva & Schraven, Benjamin, 2018. "Regional migration governance in Africa and beyond: a framework of analysis," IDOS Discussion Papers 9/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    19. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:945-965 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Tanja E. Aalberts, 2005. "Sovereignty Reloaded? A Constructivist Perspective on European Research," The Constitutionalism Web-Papers p0010, University of Hamburg, Faculty for Economics and Social Sciences, Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Science.
    21. Charles Boehmer & Timothy Nordstrom, 2008. "Intergovernmental Organization Memberships: Examining Political Community and the Attributes of International Organizations," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 282-309, November.
    22. Evgenia Gordeeva, 2024. "The Process of Regionalization and Its Effect on Complex Environmental Regimes," Journal of Sustainable Development, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(3), pages 164-164, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:5:y:2021:i:1:p:278-286. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.