Africa Regional Integration

Strategy

Deepening support for regional integration in Africa

The World Bank Group (WBG) has been supporting Africa’s regional integration agenda since the 1980s, steadily expanding and adapting its engagement to meet the continent’s evolving priorities. Today, this support focuses on strengthening regional connectivity --in terms of energy, transport and digital--, advancing trade and market integration, investing in human capital, and building greater resilience across countries and regions.

The WBG’s Africa regional program currently amounts to more than $17 billion, encompassing over 60 regional projects and programs. These initiatives span a wide range of priority sectors, including agriculture and food security; education; health; digital development; energy; finance and trade; transport; social protection; environment; urban development; water; public administration; and more.

Guided by the Regional Integration and Cooperation Assistance Strategy, the program takes a continent-wide approach, supporting policy dialogue on Africa’s integration agenda and engaging the private sector to scale up investment and unlock opportunities across borders.

Focus Areas

Regional connectivity

Reduce barriers to trade, transport, and digital transformation

Trade and market integration

Promote regional value chains, financial markets, and the African Continental Free Trade Area

Human capital

Strengthen health care, skills development, women’s empowerment, and statistics and digital IDs

Resilience

Increase food security and address the effects of climate change

Koumpentoum, Senegal. Amadou Diallo speaks with herders and farmers during a consultation meeting to open a dialogue and seek compromises so that solutions can be found and conflicts reduced. © Vincent Tremeau/World Bank.

Fragility

Promote cross-border approaches to address fragility, conflict, and climate-related shocks

Expanding African Trade to Boost Growth and Reduce Poverty

Partnerships

Expand engagement with regional economic communities and the private sector

Coming together to benefit each other

The World Bank is collaborating with African countries and regional institutions to empower people, unleash trade, and optimize shared natural resources and economies of scale to achieve Africa’s transformation.