CM/Res. 159 (XI) REGIONAL GROUPINGS AND MARKET INTEGRATION
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Eleventh Ordinary Session in Algiers, Algeria, from 4 to 12 September 1968,
Noting that, although the importance of, and need for, economic co-operation are now grasped in Africa, nevertheless a great deal of effective work still remains to be undertaken to consolidate and develop existing and future forms of co-operation in Africa,
Noting also that, despite resolutions adopted in the past the volume of inter-African trade has registered no appreciable improvement,
Considering that market integration at the regional level (regional groupings) would not only bring about the basis for necessary industrialization of the continent but would also enhance inter-African trade,
Noting further that many African countries import from outside goods that are available inside Africa, partly as a result of the lack of commercial information on the continent,
Considering that traditional business arrangements and better credit terms elsewhere are two of the underlying reasons for the continuing tendency of inter-African trade to stagnate,
Considering that the widening of regional groups is one of the pre-requisites for the economic integration of the Continent,
Noting with satisfaction the previous efforts by Member States to establish bilateral arrangements,
RECOMMENDS:
That Member States assist the Secretariat in the compilation of information that is essential to the expansion of inter-African trade;
That Member States which constitute groupings furnish other African States, through the medium of the General Secretariat with any useful particulars or information regarding their respective experiences;
The initiation of promotional efforts such as businessmen’s meetings , commodity publicity programmes and Trade Fairs with a view to expanding inter-African trade,
The broadening of the existing regional groupings and the extension of the economic sectors and the commodities (or groups of commodities that could be covered within a regional grouping);
FURTHER RECOMMENDS that bilateral agreements be established between Member States to complete multilateral agreements,
REQUESTS the Administrative Secretary General to assemble and disseminate any statistical and accounting data relevant to the economic integration of Member States, to draw up in particular an inventory of the agricultural and industrial resources of those States and to make a study of their respective fiscal and customs systems as well as of their import and export structures, in order to help Member States in their efforts to integrate.