Thesis (doctoral)--Argosy University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-130).

The Cotonou Agreement introduces new fundamental principles with respect to trade between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries relative to the Lome Convention: in particular non-reciprocal preferential market access for ACP economies will only last until 1 January 2008. After that date, it will be replaced by a string of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) meant to progressively liberalise trade in a reciprocal way. The progressive removal of barriers to trade is expected to result in the establishment of Free Trade Agreements between the EU and ACP regional groups in accordance with the relevant WTO rules and help further existing regional integration efforts among the ACP. Most discussions of economic development in Africa focus on regional integration as an important element. From the first post-colonial meetings, African leaders emphasised regional integration as a key element of their strategies. In the most recent African plan for economic development, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), regional and sub regional approaches to development are again a key element. The plan sees the small size of countries, low incomes, and consequently limited markets as a limit to economies of scale, thus denying attractive returns to investors and in so doing constraining the diversification of production and exports. This is the key reason for pooling resources in order to enhance regional economic integration. The decision by Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to sign the interim EPA came in the result of SACU's failure to negotiate as a bloc with a view to sign the EPA. In this research, the following statistical techniques were applied: t-test, f-test, regression analysis and its forecasts model for seven Southern African Development Community- Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC EPA) group trading with the European Union, is used to simulate the opportunities and benefits of EPAs for countries of the SADC region. Simulation results show that EPAs with the EU are welfare-enhancing for SADC overall, leading also to substantive increases in real GDP. For most countries further gains may arise from intra-SADC liberalization. / Thesis (M.Com.(Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

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M.Com. (Economics) / The main purpose of the study was to investigate the role of economic integration in the economic development of the member states of an envisaged economically integrated Southern African bloc, that would include South Africa. The study contends that economic development will be aided, if economic integration were implemented correctly. Economic integration will influence both the allocation and distribution elements of the involved countries' wealth. Since economic development is inextricably entwined with the distribution of wealth, economic integration would have to give special attention to its effect on the distribution of wealth between countries. The mainstream theory of economic integration, however, places much more emphasis on the allocation aspect of integration than the distribution aspect. This imbalance means that economic integration, implemented according to the guidelines of the mainstream theory, will be detrimental to the economic development of especially the less developed countries. The orthodox approach to economic integration should therefore be adapted to the circumstances of developing countries. A suitable economic integration approach should comprise two steps. The first step involves the identification of areas for profitable specialisation, and the second the formulation of an economic integration strategy within the framework of a dirigiste approach to economic development. Porter's theory of the competitive advantage of nations served as the foundation for the formulation of the approaches to both economic development and economic integration in Southern Africa. Industry segments in which profitable specialisation could take place, were identified for South Africa, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe by means of Porter's statistical method, and afterwards classified in clusters. The development and integration approaches will be centred around the various identified clusters with competitive advantage.

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