Causes of Institutional Dynamics and Challenges of Regional Integration in the Horn of Africa since 1986: the Case of IGAD
| dc.contributor.advisor | Dechasa Abebe | |
| dc.contributor.author | Thomas Adino | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-09-28T10:55:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-09-28T10:55:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-11-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | After the end of the Second World War in the 1950s, regional organizations have been expanding across the world to promote economic development, peace, and stability. To achieve these objectives, regional organizations have adopted economic cooperation and regional integration as a useful approach. Based on this rationale, IGAD was established in 1986 to mitigate the major threats to sustainable development in the Horn of Africa region, such as desertification and drought. Moreover, the treaty and institutional reforms that took place between 1986 and 2023 have given IGAD an extended mandate to coordinate and promote economic cooperation and regional integration initiatives between member states. Despite its relevance, however, IGAD couldn’t advance economic cooperation and regional integration in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa has been exemplified as the least integrated region in Africa. Therefore, the principal objective of this dissertation is to critically examine the causes of institutional dynamics and challenges of regional integration in the Horn of Africa since 1986, with a particular reference to IGAD. Specifically, the study explores the domestic, regional, and global factors that affect IGAD’s evolution and development; the nature of IGAD’s legal and institutional frameworks for regional integration; the impact of international infrastructure intervention, particularly Chinese infrastructure investment, on the outcome of regional integration; and the linkages between member states’ institutional stability and regional integration. To scientifically investigate these specific objectives, the study employed a qualitative case study design by combining both primary and secondary data. Primary data were generated by using key informant interviews and participant observations during several national and international conference engagements. In addition, an extensive analysis of documents, such as policy papers, protocols, IGAD treaty documents, reports, books, journal articles, unpublished theses, and media in both print and non-print formats, was employed to collect secondary data. The triangulation of these primary and secondary data sources provides a comprehensive understanding of the causes of IGAD’s institutional dynamics and its integration challenges and indicates the subsequent findings. The study reveals that IGAD’s treaty and institutional reforms between 1986 and 2023 have been constrained by an intertwined and complex domestic, regional, and global factors. The study further reveals critical gaps in IGAD’s legal and institutional frameworks that have undermined its capacity to successfully implement integration initiatives in the Horn of Africa. Moreover, the study highlights that the existence of weak alignment between international infrastructure intervention, particularly Chinese-led infrastructure investments, and regional integration initiatives has limited the potential of its physical infrastructure investments in integrating the IGAD region. In addition, the study finds that the fragility and political instability of member states have immensely hindered the efforts of IGAD in advancing economic cooperation and regional integration in the Horn of Africa. Therefore, these findings contribute knowledge in the existing literature to better understand the causes of IGAD’s institutional dynamics and its integration challenges. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/9044 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa unversty | |
| dc.subject | Regional Integration | |
| dc.subject | Institutional Dynamics | |
| dc.subject | Treaty Reforms | |
| dc.subject | Legal-Institutional frameworks | |
| dc.subject | Infrastructure Intervention | |
| dc.subject | State Fragility | |
| dc.subject | IGAD | |
| dc.subject | Horn of Africa | |
| dc.title | Causes of Institutional Dynamics and Challenges of Regional Integration in the Horn of Africa since 1986: the Case of IGAD | |
| dc.type | Thesis |