Lusaka, Zambia, 20, September, 2019; For several decades, integration has been recognized as a critical component for the development of the African Continent. Article 3 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) sets out the key objectives, including, accelerating the political and socio-economic integration of the continent and promoting sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies.

To address the gaps that exists in the African integration agenda, in July 2019, the African Union convened in Niamey, Niger for the first Mid-Year Coordination meeting of the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), purposed at moving the integration agenda forward. The Mid-Year Coordination meeting, was an opportunity for the inter-governmental organization to reflect on the status of African integration and to map out a clear division of labor and effective collaboration between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Regional Mechanisms (RMs), the Member States, and other continental institutions, in line with the principle of subsidiarity.

The meeting was key to drive further, the significant progress made in the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063 by firming up a system that allows for joint planning, joint financing and joint engagement with Member States and partners, at the level of the AU, RECs and RMs. Currently, the AU, RECs and RMs plan, budget separately and mobilize resources separately leading to challenges of overlap, duplication and wastage.

AU, has in many ways acknowledged that the plans and programmes it has developed over the years, have however not produced the expected results for a number of reasons, including lack of monitoring and evaluation tools that make it possible to recap the actions undertaken, identify the gaps and propose corrective measures in terms of programming, implementation and financing. In this regard, one of the means to address the anomaly, the African Union Commission (AUC) through the Department of Economic Affairs have since developed the African Multidimensional Regional Integration Index (AMRII) as a monitoring and evaluation framework index of the implementation of integration programmes. AMRII facilitates monitoring and evaluation of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in accordance with the implementation of the integration agenda. The new index is a framework for assessing the achievements of RECs in comparison with the objectives and stages of integration initiatives.

Within Africa’s development blueprint, Agenda 2063, AU Heads of State and Government have placed a special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation in order to achieve objectives effectively and efficiently. In May 2013, in Mauritius, the African Ministers in charge of Integration, meeting in a conference, requested the African Union Commission (AUC) to design an integration assessment system as a means to have a clear inkling of all the activities undertaken towards African integration, but also to identify the impediments to the integration process in Africa.

The AMRII, therefore, in part, responds to the Union’s quest for monitoring and evaluation tools. The new index is composed of 7 dimensions and 39 indicators, which are both qualitative and quantitative. It consists of thresholds for assessing the RECs and identify those lagging behind in the implementation of integration plans and programmes such as the Abuja Treaty and Agenda 2063.

This new index was approved by the 3rd Specialized Technical Committee (STC) of Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration, in March 2019 as the main tool for evaluating the African regional integration. The Department of Economic Affairs has since rolled out training workshops for Member States to facilitate better understanding of the methodology and tool and to also obtain technical inputs from experts, before its final utilization as the sole technical tool for assessing, monitoring and evaluating Africa’s integration process.

The Department undertook a training Workshop on the index in Lusaka, Zambia. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Jean-Denis Gabikini, Acting Director Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC) on behalf of the Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the AUC and co-Chaired by Mr. Simal Amor, Chief of Strategic Planning and Research of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on behalf of the Secretary General of COMESA.

Participants included Member States from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, Egypt, Mauritius, ESwatini, Malawi and Somalia, representatives from the AUC, Southern African Development Community (SADC), Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), Bank of Zambia (BOZ), Africa Youth Union Commission (AYUC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Zambia Central Statistics Office (CSO), Africa Youth Union Commission (AYUC) and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).

For more information, contact
Myranda Lutempo, Department of Economics Affairs, Email- LutempoM@africa-union.org
Doreen Apollos, Directorate of Information and Communication, Email- ApollosD@africa-union.org