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.

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Africa remains, by most international measures, the most unequal region in the world, as the World Inequality database illustrates, with nearly of the world's 50 most unequal countries concentrated in the continent. The GINI Index, which captures disparities in income and wealth distribution, consistently records higher inequality scores across African economies than in any other global region. Despite notable advances in macroeconomic performance, trade expansion, and digital transformation, the continent’s growth patterns have not translated into broad-based welfare improvements.

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