Regional Integration

South South Cooperation And Regional Integration: The Way Out Of Underdevelopment
By Bagneki Hugues

The introduction of Africa in the world market started since the 15th century, could not in many respects be considered as a positive venture. Africa’s backwardness compared to the rest of the world(developed countries, newly industrialised countries and emerging countries) which is a paradox due to its enormous resources and potential, clearly demonstrate that Africa remain the great loser of the international economic order. A situation worsened when considered the policies undertaken by developed countries: the creation of regional and non regional trade blocs, the protection of domestic markets through quotas.

According to Gunnar Myrdal, the underdevelopped countries ‘way of handling their commercial policy will be one of the most significant factors in determining whether they will fail or succeed in their drive for economic development’ This assertion has the merit of addressing trade as the dominant economic activity possible in Africa and other Third World countries. It therefore takes into account the fact that African countries could not live in isolation and retrenched the fact that the growing competition in the production and distribution of goods and services will render these countries more vulnerable each day if nothing is done. As a consequence a reflection needs to be conducted as concerns industrialisation and trade for effective development in a context of liberalized market.

A DISTORTED AND UNFAIR ECONOMIC ORDER

The former American ^president Bill Clinton observed ‘globalisation is a fact not a policy option’ This implies globalisation is more than a mere creation of human being rather the consequence of ever increasing contacts among individuals, peoples and communities. The failure and collapse of the communist model and its abandon by pioneers countries like China and Russia are evidences the liberal economic order was inevitable.

The discussion over a need to reform the present economic order is as old as the deterioration of the terms of trade. On the one hand LDCs, as a result of an international division of labour dating from the colonial experience produce goods in the form of raw materials. They have no control over operations like the transportation, transit and distribution of these resources, thus they can’t determine the prices of these commodities. On the other hand developed countries sell these products once manufactured with such a high added value that there is an enormous gap between the commodity sold by underdeveloped countries and the manufactured product sold to the same countries. Nearly half of third world countries earn more than 50 percent of their exports revenue from one single primary commodity, such as cocoa, coffee or bananas. These countries are now confined in production structure of low value added activities. Not only are third world countries trapped to deal in a single commodity, but they are also depending on a few if not a single foreign market for supply of manufactured products and trade of their primary commodities.

In Africa about 340 millions people that’s half of the continent population live on less than a US dollar a day, the mortality rate of children under 5 is 140 per 1000, while life expectancy at birth is only 54 years. Only 58 percent of the overall African population has access to safe water.