| Chapter 1: | Introduction: Transition, Continuity, and Change |
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The key message is that context, history, institutions, experiences, and leadership are important in the consummation, as well as the successful articulation and implementation, of a regional integration project.
The second section of the book addresses the institutional processes and developmental challenges of the African Union Project, specifically focusing on NEPAD, APRM, the involvement of civil society in the institutional architecture of the African Union, and the challenge of agricultural development and food security in Africa. This section underscores the strong interface between political and economic issues—the need to build new governance systems and processes through a self-evaluative periodic mechanism, as in the APRM. The national processes of the APRM are analyzed, as well as how the APRM connects effectively with the economic agenda of NEPAD. Indeed, APRM is a component of NEPAD. The issue of agricultural development is particularly singled out—in terms of the major challenges confronting the NEPAD initiative—because of Africa’s decreasing level of agricultural productivity, alarming problem of food importation, and food insecurity. How far can NEPAD boost agricultural productivity on the African continent? The engagement of the civil society in the institutional architecture of the AU are discussed, including the AU commission, ECOSOCC, Pan-African Parliament, and other key institutions. A major challenge for Africa’s integration process is how to build a regional community not only of governments, but also of peoples—an African Union or a union government owned, driven, and shaped by the people of the continent and the African diaspora.