Rethinking African Regional Integration: A Functional-Spatial Model of Modular Convergence

This paper seeks to challenge the conventional wisdom on African regional integration. It questions the assumption that Africa’s integration can be achieved through a single, continent-wide model driven from the top, and argues instead that the continent needs a more pragmatic and differentiated approach: one based on the distinct realities, capabilities, and levels of integration already emerging across its regions. The central argument is that African integration can advance by building on the continent’s existing regional dynamics, strengthening cross-border connectivity, pursuing practical cooperation around shared priorities and projects, and creating pathways for integration that can gradually scale and reinforce one another. This paper tries to contribute to a debate that increasingly needs to shift its focus from the question of whether Africa should integrate to the more practical question of what forms of integration can actually work for Africa.