Rethinking Regional Integration Metrics in Africa: The African Synthesized Regional Integration Index (ASRII)

Regional integration indicators in Africa have undergone significant conceptual and methodological transformations in recent years. The idea of developing harmonized indexes to monitor progress within the African Union (AU) and its Regional Economic Communities (RECs) first emerged during the 2013 OAU/AU Golden Jubilee celebrations. This event, launched by the AU to mark the 50th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)—founded in 1963 and later transformed into the AU in 2002—provided a platform to reflect on the continent’s achievements and challenges in regional integration. African leaders and researchers wanted a methodologically and statistically reliable tool to identify the gap between integration goals and actual achievements by these organizations.

This tool was finally launched in 2016 by the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) with the name of African Regional Integration Index (ARII). The ARII assessed African regional integration across five key dimensions: 1) Trade, 2) Production, 3) Macroeconomics, 4) Infrastructure, and 5) Free Movement of People, using a total of 16 indicators to measure progress within each area.

While it provided a valuable baseline for measuring progress, the ARII faced several limitations. Its focus on quantitative comparisons between countries ignored the complexity of integration, especially how continental programs and AU decisions were actually implemented. Moreover, extreme values—unusually high or low data points—disproportionately influenced the overall scores, reducing the index’s reliability for guiding targeted policies and practical actions. These weaknesses highlighted the need for a more comprehensive and policy-oriented tool to monitor Africa’s regional integration.

To address these gaps, the African Multidimensional Regional Integration Index (AMRII) was developed in 2019 by the AUC in collaboration with RECs, national statistical offices, and the Association of African Central Banks (AACB). The AMRII expanded the scope of the ARII, measuring eight dimensions through 33 indicators with scores assigned to each African country, based on quantitative comparisons. These indicators were: 1) Free Movement of Persons, 2) Social Integration, 3) Trade, 4) Financial Integration, 5) Monetary Integration, 6) Infrastructure, 7) Environmental Integration, and 8) Political & Social Integration.

Despite these improvements, the AMRII, like the ARII, still measured only outcomes. It did not evaluate how policies, programs, or continental decisions were actually implemented at the national or regional level, limiting its usefulness for guiding reforms or practical action.

This led to the creation of the African Synthesized Regional Integration Index (ASRII), a second-generation tool designed to be more comprehensive and policy-focused. Unlike previous indices, the ASRII not only measures integration outcomes but also monitors the performance of Member States and RECs in implementing Agenda 2063 and the Abuja Treaty through 10 dimensions further articulated in 52 sub-dimension and 253 indicators. The main indicators are: 1) Institutional Integration and Good Governance; 2) Peace and Security Integration; 3) Infrastructural Integration; 4) Human capital, Sciences, Technology and Innovation; 5) Free movement; 6) Macroeconomic and Financial Integration; 7) Trade Integration; 8) Business Integration, Industry, Tourism and Mining; 9) Agriculture, Livestock, Blue Economy, Wildlife & Sustainable Environment; and 10) Social and Cultural Integration.

The ASRII is explicitly linked to the stages of the African Economic Community according to art. 6 of the Abuja Treaty, ensuring full alignment with Africa’s continental integration roadmap. It builds on the strengths of ARII and AMRII while addressing their weaknesses. It combines quantitative and qualitative indicators, including measures of policy implementation and institutional performance, and introduces new weighting mechanisms to better reflect progress on the ground.

In short, the ASRII marks a paradigm shift in assessing Africa’s integration. It moves beyond simple comparisons to focus on implementation and policy alignment, offering a clearer, actionable picture of progress. As the AU and RECs continue to strengthen cooperation, the ASRII serves both as a diagnostic tool and a strategic guide, helping ensure that Africa’s integration is not only measured accurately but also advanced effectively. The African Union Commission (AUC) states that ASRII is used to generate the 2025 African Integration Report, which was launched in October 2025.