RETHINKING REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND SOVEREIGNTY: A CRITIQUE OF CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Abstract

Regional integration is aimed at shared prosperity among peoples across national borders. Regional integration entails regional encroachment on sovereign borders in a mutually beneficial manner. Countries freely submit their sovereign rights for broader benefits to their people. When regional integration fails to achieve the objectives of shared prosperity and regional harmony, there is bound to be disintegration. Brexit is the European Union’s contemporary experience of regional disintegration. In the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the notice of withdrawal by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS reflects the challenges and contemporary issues arising from regional integration. Whether free trade agreement (FTA), customs union (CU), common market (CM) or economic union (EU) every form of regional integrity must actively pursue its core objectives in order to retain its membership.