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Structural dependence, vertical integration and regional economic cooperation in Africa: a study of Southern African Development Community

In spite of many years of regional economic integration, African regional blocs have been seriously hampered by historical, colonial, neo-colonial and vertical linkages of their economies to Western economies in terms of trade and investments. This study is essentially a qualitative research and thus relies heavily on secondary sources of data such as trade and investment indicators. The extant literature comparing the extent and depth of these horizontal and vertical integrations among member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is, however, scanty. The thrust of this paper is to examine the varying degrees of vertical integration of the economies of member states to Western economies, and perhaps, within themselves. The study, therefore, argues that the dependence of other SADC member states’ economies on South African economy has resulted in the seemingly high level of integration of SADC member states.