ABSTRACT
Southern Africa is home to a large number of overlapping regional economic intergovernmental organizations, hosts the world’s oldest customs union (the Southern African Customs Union – SACU) and perhaps the continent’s most effective currency union (the Common Monetary Area – CMA). By many measures, the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the most important economic community on the continent: the SADC region accounts for roughly one-third of the membership of the African Union (AU), one-third of total continental gross domestic product (GDP), and one-third of the continent’s total population. In addition, SADC is one of eight regional economic communities (RECs) recognized by the AU. The other seven RECs are the Arab Maghreb Union; the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); the Community of Sahel-Saharan States; the East African Community (EAC); the Economic Community of Central African States; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.2
