Regional integration in Africa has been permanently undermined by a number of institutional, policy, financial, technical, social, historical and political obstacles. At the institutional level, despite the multiplicity, some might say inflation, of Regional Economic Communities (REC) and Sub-regional Organizations (SRO), the economic and political integration of the continent, be they at sub-regional and regional levels, have so far resulted into few sustainable, effective and efficient achievements, regarding notably objectives and goals set up, expectations expressed and challenges faced.
Many have already been said on the effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of existing institutional integration mechanisms, exemplified by the work been undertaken by REC and SRO. In a short note, Nelson Alusala, researcher at the South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS), addresses the state of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and came back to recent developments involving it. The author evoked some of the difficulties undermining the work of the ECCAS, namely withdrawal of some members and "divided loyalties" that according to him, "pose a significant threat to the viability of ECCAS.
