African Economic Community

The African Economic Community (AEC) is an organization of African Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority of African states.{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100027996 |url-access= |title=African Economic Community (AEC) |author1=Staff writer |year=2024 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=Union of International Associations |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=29 January 2025 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote= |trans-quote= |ref= |postscript=}} The stated goals of the organization include the creation of free trade areas, customs unions, a single market, a central bank, and a common currency (see African Monetary Union) thus establishing an economic and monetary union.

Goals

The AEC founded through the Abuja Treaty, signed in 1991 and entered into force in 1994{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100026159 |url-access= |title=Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (Abuja treaty) |author1=Staff writer |year=2024 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=Union of International Associations |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=29 January 2025 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote= |trans-quote= |ref= |postscript=}}

is envisioned to be created in six stages:

(completed in 1999) Creation of regional blocs in regions where such do not yet exist
(completed in 2007) Strengthening of intra-REC integration and inter-REC harmonisation
(completed in 2021) Establishing of a free trade area and customs union in each regional bloc
(to be completed in 2023) Establishing of a continent-wide customs union (and thus also a free trade area)
(to be completed in 2025) Establishing of a continent-wide African Common Market (ACM)
(to be completed in 2028) Establishing of a continent-wide economic and monetary union (and thus also a currency union) and Parliament

:* End of all transition periods: 2034 at the latest

= Stages progress =

as of September 2007

Stage 1: Completed, only Arab Maghreb Union members and Sahrawi Republic not participating. Somalia is participating, but no practical implementation yet.
Stage 2: Steady progress, nothing factual to check.
Stage 3:

border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing=0 class="toccolours" style="border-collapse:collapse"
bgcolor="#ececec" ! ! colspan="12" \| Regional blocs - pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC)
rowspan="2"\| Activity ! rowspan="2"\| CEN-SAD ! rowspan="2"\| COMESA ! rowspan="2"\| EAC ! colspan="2"\| ECCAS ! colspan="3"\| ECOWAS ! rowspan="2"\| IGAD ! colspan="2"\| SADC ! rowspan="2"\| UMA
CEMAC	Common ! UEMOA	WAMZ	Common ! SACU	Common
align="center"\| Free Trade Area \| bgcolor=red \| stalled \| bgcolor=YELLOW \| progressing ¹ \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed for 2007 ? \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed \| bgcolor=red \| stalled \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=YELLOW \| progressing ² \| bgcolor=red \| stalled
align="center"\| Customs Union \| bgcolor=red \| stalled \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed for 2008 \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed for 2011 ? \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed for 2007 \| bgcolor=red \| stalled \| bgcolor=lightgreen \| fully in force \| bgcolor=orange \| proposed for 2010 \| bgcolor=red \| stalled

border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing=0 class="toccolours" style="border-collapse:collapse"

bgcolor="#ececec"

! colspan="12" | Regional blocs - pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC)

rowspan="2"| Activity

! rowspan="2"| CEN-SAD

! rowspan="2"| COMESA

! rowspan="2"| EAC

! colspan="2"| ECCAS

! colspan="3"| ECOWAS

! rowspan="2"| IGAD

! colspan="2"| SADC

! rowspan="2"| UMA

CEMAC

Common

! UEMOA

WAMZ

Common

! SACU

Common

align="center"| Free Trade Area

| bgcolor=red | stalled

| bgcolor=YELLOW | progressing ¹