Judd Devermont and Jon Temin
140 μ£¥³¤ ¬μμ¬
Buhari, Lourenço, and Ramaphosa continue their eorts to Ãght it—
and iÊ Tshisekedi follows through on his still notional promises to do
the same—then they could reassure skittish foreign investors about the
economic potential o the entire region.
Reforms could also supercharge promising moves toward regional
economic integration. As o April 2019, 52 countries had signed up for
the African Continental Free Trade Area, an agreement aimed at unit-
ing the region’s 1.2 billion people and combined ³²¡ o $3.4 trillion
into a single market. Owing to poor infrastructure and high trade bar-
riers, Africa suers from particularly weak economic integration, with
just 17 percent o its countries’ exports staying within the region, com-
pared with 69 percent for Europe and 59 percent for Asia. According
to an estimate from the Brookings Institution, removing taris would
increase the value o intra-African trade by $50–$70 billion. Although
Nigeria, which is in dire need o economic liberalization, has yet to
sign the treaty, the momentum for reform and integration is growing.
Transformation in these Ãve countries could reverberate beyond
the continent, too. Historically, the African states large enough to
enjoy sustained global inÁuence have been crippled by internal dys-
function. Moving beyond domestic distractions would give these
countries a chance to Ãnally punch their weight internationally. To
actually do so, however, they will need to adopt more assertive foreign
policies. That means better leveraging existing forums and leadership
posts, such as South Africa’s seat on the Security Council (where, by
some estimates, more than 60 percent o resolutions concern Africa).
It also means taking the lead on regional Áash points. There are tenta-
tive signs o progress on this front: Angola has put its thumb on the
scale to resolve political disputes in Congo and Lesotho, and Ethiopia
has done the same for one between Kenya and Somalia.
The Ãve leaders can also defend basic rights and weigh in on global
issues. When it comes to violations o democratic principles, rather
than turning a blind eye, they should increase the pressure on viola-
tors, both through policies such as sanctions and through their per-
sonal connections with other leaders. And when it comes to global
priorities—such as climate change, counterterrorism, migration,
trade, human rights, and data privacy—they should demand a seat at
the table. To date, few African governments have been more than pro
forma participants in the global debate over these issues, even though
they greatly aect the continent.