External Economic Cooperation State Minister with the Ministry, Ahmed Shide said African countries shall forge closer amalgamation of trade and integration of policies across the regional economic communities in order to ensure regional integration through creating a more unified market.

The minister made the statement on Tuesday while opening the 6th Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration held in Addis Ababa at the UN Conference Center.

Regional integration in Africa has been a challenge mainly due to, among others, weak infrastructural development, weak institutional infrastructure, and lack of stakeholders’ capacity in terms of finance and human resources.

“Regional integration is not an end by itself. It is rather a tool that contributes towards achieving sustainable economic growth and reducing the level of poverty,” the minister noted.

Addressing the session, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive secretary of the ECA Abdouli Janneh said on his part that regional integration and creation of an African common market can only lead a strong and viable Africa with economies of scale, greater comparative advantage, and competitiveness.

There are success stories in regional integration agenda, he said, establishing a ‘Common Customs Union’ and creating single ‘Free Trade Area’ among some of the regional economic communities are cases in point.

However, he said, weak implementation of regional agreements at the national level remains to be the most crucial issue that needs to be addressed for the success of regional integration.

AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Dr. Maxwell Mkwezalamba also said issues of trade, regional cooperation, and integration were the top priority programs of the Pan-African institutions.

Several decisions have been taken to accelerate the pace of regional and continental integration, Dr. Mkwezalamba noted. However, he said, the level and pace of integration remain slow so far.

The three-day session, which is aimed at mainstreaming regional integration at the national level, will remain open until 15 Oct. 2009. (ENA)