News Analysis: Political tensions impede Maghreb regional integration

Despite the establishment of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) nearly three decades ago, political tensions have impeded regional integration.

While AMU countries, signed the Marrakech Treaty on 17 February 1989, which is meant as a trade agreement aiming for an economic and future political unity among Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia, interregional trade within the Maghreb remains low in comparison to the other world trading blocs.

The stated objectives of intensifying trade among member countries in order to enable the creation of a North Africa customs union by 1995 and an economic common market by 2000 have not been achieved, and intra-Maghreb trade remains low is spite of some reform efforts on the part of Maghreb countries.

So far, the only achievement that could be cited in this respect is the launching of a regional bank, the Maghreb Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade (BMICE), in December 2015.

The agreement to create it was signed in 1991, yet its draft statute was only approved in March 2006. The BMICE is headquartered in Tunisia with a subscribed capital of 150 million US dollars.

According to recent study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the intra-Maghreb market remains one of the least dynamic in the world, with intra-regional trade hovering around three percent of the member countries' total imports.

Although Maghreb member states, especially Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, have introduced numerous reforms to boost trade ties, these measures have focused more on global than on regional integration.

In fact, the bulk of the Maghreb's trade is done with Europe. The union is facing numerous obstacles, on the top of which the deep political disagreements between Morocco and Algeria regarding, among other issues, the dispute over Western Sahara.

In this regard, the border between Morocco and Algeria has been effectively closed since 1994.

Before embarking on the tough endeavor of achieving political unity, it is more practical to initiate economic unity, former external trade minister, Mustapha Achahbar, insisted.

He told Xinhua on the 27th anniversary of the creation of AMU that given the complementarity of its countries' economies and resources, greater integration of Maghreb would definitely lead to better opportunities and higher growth.

In parallel to the important trade relation with world powers, particularly Europe, the Maghreb countries would reap significant additional benefits if they improved conditions for streamlined trade among themselves, he said.

For his part, political analyst, Mohammed El Ghali, told Xinhua that while the political climate had never been in favor of unity since mid-1990s, the chaos that has engulfed most countries of the Maghreb region led even to postpone any talk about unity for even years to come.

However, he stressed that civil society leaders could play a major role in bridging the divisions. For this end, he urged these leaders to build on the "youth awakening" emerging from the Arab spring to press for the unity of their countries.

The Maghreb countries face the same challenges, including terrorism threat and high unemployment rates, especially among young graduates, he said.

All the countries making up the union would be better off if they would act collectively and provide joint responses to these issues. Endit