Abstract
D.Comm.
The objective of this dissertation is to examine the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) as the logical outflow of market forces compelling regions or
groups of states to increase the dynamics of their economies by removing all barriers
and obstacles to the free flow of goods and services between them in accordance with
what has been happening elsewhere in the world.
The concept of regional economic integration has come strongly forward since the
early fifties in many areas of the world. Regional economic integration can be
described as a process by which countries work together for the mutual benefit of all.
The exchange of information and ideas may lead to better institutional liaison and
capacities, more coordinated policy formulation and more rapid economic growth.
Regional economic integration can take many forms. Regional economic blocs may
be classified into five categories, namely: preferential trading arrangements, in which
regional partners enjoy more favourable trading conditions, including lower tariffs,
than other countries; free trade areas, entailing the abolition of tariffs and other
barriers to trade in goods and services between participating countries; customs unions,
which entail establishing free trade areas, common external tariffs and the formation
of commercial policies towards third countries; common markets or economic
communities, which permit the free movement not only of goods and services but also
of capital and labour between participating countries; and economic unions, entailing
full coordination of regulatory, fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies within the
confines of a common market. Economic integration may ultimately, as in the
European Union, culminate in a monetary union, providing for a common currency.