Transport, Communication and Trade in Africa
Senior 3 · Geography
Transport, Communication and Trade in Africa
Lesson 5 of 5
35 min
Let's begin
A Rwandan student can travel to Kampala or Nairobi with a national identity card instead of a passport, and a lorry of Ugandan sugar can enter Rwanda without paying customs duty. Neither would be possible without the East African Community. Africa has 54 countries, many of them small, landlocked or poor; alone, each is a small market. Together they can trade more, build shared roads and railways and speak with one voice. This is the idea behind regional integration.
Definition
Regional integration: the process by which neighbouring countries agree to cooperate, remove barriers between them and act together in trade, transport, security and politics. Regional economic community (REC): an organisation of countries in one region formed to achieve this. Tariff: a tax on imported goods. Common external tariff: one tariff that all members of a customs union charge on goods from outside it.
Integration usually grows in steps. Each step keeps all the agreements of the steps below it and adds a new one.
| EAC | ECOWAS | COMESA | ECCAS (CEEAC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | East African Community | Economic Community of West African States | Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa | Economic Community of Central African States (Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique centrale) |
| Formed | Treaty of 1999, in force 7 July 2000 (an earlier EAC existed from 1967 to 1977) | Treaty of Lagos, 28 May 1975 | 1994, replacing the Preferential Trade Area of 1981 | Treaty signed in Libreville, 18 October 1983 |
| Headquarters | Arusha, Tanzania | Abuja, Nigeria | Lusaka, Zambia | Libreville, Gabon |
| Members | 8: Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda | 12 since Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger left in January 2025 | 21 in Eastern, Southern and Northern Africa, including Rwanda | Central African states such as Cameroon, Chad, Gabon and DR Congo |
| Main achievements | Customs union (2005), common market (2010), travel with national ID cards, one-stop border posts | Free movement of people, the ECOWAS passport, peace-keeping | Free trade area (from 2000), regional payment system | Peace and security council; plans for free movement |
Rwanda's memberships have changed over time. It joined the EAC, with Burundi, on 1 July 2007. It left ECCAS in 2007, rejoined it in 2016, and in June 2025 announced that it was leaving again after a dispute over the bloc's rotating chairmanship (Rwanda Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7 June 2025). It remains a member of COMESA.
Above all of these stands the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Its agreement was signed in Kigali on 21 March 2018, entered into force on 30 May 2019, and trading under it began on 1 January 2021. Its secretariat is in Accra, Ghana. It aims to remove tariffs on most goods traded between African countries and to build one continental market.
Definition
Free movement: the right of citizens of member states to travel, live and work in other member states with few restrictions. Non-tariff barrier: anything other than a tariff that slows trade, such as roadblocks, extra paperwork, different standards or quotas.
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Overlapping membership: a country in two or three blocs with different rules | Harmonise rules; the Tripartite FTA (COMESA, EAC, SADC) and the AfCFTA |
| Political disputes and conflicts between members | Dialogue, summits, regional courts and mediation |
| Unequal benefits: stronger economies gain more | Compensation funds and special help for weaker members |
| Similar products, so little to trade with each other | Diversify and specialise; build regional value chains |
| Non-tariff barriers and slow borders | One-stop border posts; online customs; reporting systems for barriers |
| Members fail to pay contributions | Self-financing levies on imports; sanctions for arrears |
| Fear of losing sovereignty and customs revenue | Integration in stages, with time to adjust |
| Poor transport links between members | Joint corridor and railway projects |
Worked example
Worked example 1: what a customs union does to price. A Rwandan shop imports a fridge worth 400,000 Rwf from outside the EAC, which pays a common external tariff of 25%; a similar fridge made in an EAC country, also worth 400,000 Rwf, pays no duty. Compare the prices after duty. (Illustrative figures; actual rates depend on the good.)
Outside the EAC: duty = 25 ÷ 100 × 400,000 = 100,000 Rwf, so 500,000 Rwf. Inside the EAC: 400,000 Rwf. The EAC-made fridge is 100,000 Rwf cheaper, which helps factories in member states to sell across the region.
Worked example
Worked example 2: overlapping membership. A country belongs to both the EAC customs union and the COMESA free trade area. A good from a COMESA member that is not in the EAC arrives. Which rule applies?
This is the problem itself: the EAC requires its common external tariff on goods from outside the EAC, while COMESA promises duty-free entry. Members must choose, negotiate exceptions or harmonise the rules, which is one reason the AfCFTA was created.
Warning
Check the stage before you write. A free trade area has no common external tariff; a customs union does. Calling the EAC "only a free trade area" loses marks: it has been a customs union since 2005 and a common market since 2010.
Tip
Learn three facts for each bloc: year formed, headquarters and two achievements. They answer most short questions and give you examples for essays.
Business School 101: regional economic integration and its levels, from free trade area to economic union. As you watch, match each level to Figure 1.
Practice
Further reading
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
