As Africa moves towards deeper economic integration, growing concerns are emerging over whether countries can promote the free movement of Africans while restricting foreign-operated small businesses. Kenya’s recent measures targeting foreign traders have reignited questions about migration, trade and the future of the continent’s single market.
Executive Director of the Democracy Development Program, Dr Paul Kariuki, said the debate is important as similar trends emerge across the continent.
“I think it’s important that we have this kind of conversation now because we are seeing this undesirable trend taking up in different forms and shapes across Africa,” Kariuki said.
He believes African countries risk reinforcing divisions that have historically undermined continental development.
“We are failing to see the bigger picture as a continent, as a people,” he said, warning that the trend is also being driven by political leadership across Africa.
Kariuki said these divisions are particularly concerning given the continent’s history of colonialism.
“We are a continent that is still trying to recover from decades and centuries of colonialism, a project that really drove divisions amongst ourselves,” he said.
He points to the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement as an example of efforts to promote greater integration and cooperation.
“When we start seeing this kind of a trend, what it does to us is that we are mentally stuck in that place of division,” Kariuki said.
He argues that African countries cannot achieve sustainable development by operating in isolation and must instead strengthen cooperation.
“There is no country that grows on its own. There has to be some level of collaboration and cooperation for collective development as African people,” he said.
Kariuki said the continent must ensure that its policies match its ambitions for integration.
“If we fail to do the basics right, everything else that is being spoken out there in different hotels and other places of meeting is just talk show,” he said.
The debate highlights the need to balance the protection of local businesses with Africa’s broader commitments to regional trade, migration and economic integration.
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VOC News
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