Compare and contrast the regional impact of the East African Community and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Candidates will focus their responses on identifying similarities and differences in the regional impact of the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the period between 1967 (when the EAC was created) and 2000. Their focus on the EAC should not extend beyond 1978, the year in which the organization was formally dissolved.

Indicative content

Comparisons

• The impact of each organization was limited due to internal rivalries between its member states. The EAC was hampered by tensions between Tanzania and the other two members, while the impact of ECOWAS has been limited by divisions between Anglophone and Francophone countries and suspicions that Nigeria was attempting to dominate the organization.
• Both organizations were at least partially successful in promoting economic growth and cooperation in their region. The EAC was created as a customs union and common market, while ECOWAS members signed the Cotonou Treaty in 1980. This committed them (at least in theory) to the establishment of a common trading market and currency. ECOWAS also established the regional bank Ecobank, which acted as a spur to economic development in West Africa.
• Both organizations were successful in developing transport and communications and both tended to concentrate on economic cooperation rather than promoting political union. Their achievements in the latter area were therefore minimal.

Contrasts

• Despite its many problems, ECOWAS has remained intact as an organization since its founding in 1975. The EAC failed to withstand the intensifying rivalries between its members (between Kenya and Tanzania over their differing economic systems, and between Tanzania and Uganda over Tanzanian support for Ugandan rebel forces) and it broke up in 1977, just ten years after its creation.
• Regional cooperation between ECOWAS member states tended to increase gradually over the course of the period. In contrast, many of the early achievements of the EAC had been undone by the mid-1970s as a result of the tension between its member states.
• ECOWAS achieved a major success when it created a peacekeeping force (ECOMOG) to intervene in war-torn Liberia in 1990. Contrastingly, deteriorating relations between Tanzania and Uganda contributed to the break-up of the EAC, and subsequently Tanzanian military intervention to help topple Idi Amin in 1979.
• ECOWAS benefited from the membership of Nigeria, an oil-rich state, and has enhanced its ability to achieve some of its objectives. The EAC enjoyed no such luxury.

The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. However, the list is not exhaustive and no set answer is required.

Examiners and moderators are reminded of the need to apply the markbands that provide the “best fit” to the responses given by candidates and to award credit wherever it is possible to do so.

[20 marks]