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industries. Secondly, Africa is endowed with many resources which are critical for the survival of the capitalist industries in the developed western world. Such resources would then be availed to African industries at lower costs compared to western industries mainly because of transport costs and regional integration preferential treatment. This would once again make the African products better priced and competitive in the global market. Furthermore, the increase in industrialisation in Africa would imply an increase in the consumption of raw materials and primary commodities by indigenous industries. The competition for resources is likely not to favour non-regional industries. It would make sense for local indigenous industries to add value and export higher value products. The African economic ethic of indigenisation, if taken to a regional level in a region operating on old regionalism, is in the long-run likely to promote the development of local capitalists in that region. This would benefit the poor black people as argued by the utilitarianism in ethics. Saul (2005) argued that people-centred development and market-oriented economies are not mutually compatible. The new regionalism would not benefit the majority poor people in SADC (Saul, 2005:259). There is however a need to ensure that the implementation does not lead to only a few connected benefitting as this would erode the ethical benefits of indigenisation.
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integration, it was seen that regional integration involves voluntary groupings of countries coming together to complement each other on economic or traditional security matters. One key characteristic of trade in economic integration, from the old regionalism perspective, is that member states give preference to other member states’ goods and services. There is usually a reduction or total elimination of trade barriers between member states and such barriers are maintained when trading with non-member states. This practice can be viewed as advantageous to trade between member states and to a large extent empowers the regional trade partners against non-regional traders. Parallels can be drawn between regional integration and the African economic ethic of indigenisation. The features of aiding or empowering against competition are common in both. Like the Africa economic ethic of indigenisation which seeks to promote local capitalism, regional integration promotes regional capitalism and can be viewed as a way of domesticating capitalism at the regional level. Regionalism has been viewed as a strategy for regional economic development and an incubation platform for regional capitalists who would be allowed to develop before being subjected to global neo-liberal economic competition.
New regionalism takes the old regionalism approaches on board but acknowledges further that in integration there is need to recognise the role played by non-state actors as they can assist as development partners in regional integration. The new regionalism also allows states to belong to multiple regional groupings and the concept of restricting regional groupings to states in some geographical proximity is challenged in new regionalism. New regionalism appears to be modelled around global neo-liberal capitalist practices. It would allow global competition against developing weak national and regional capitalists without protection and its terms, if not well negotiated, may contradict the spirit of the African economic ethic of indigenisation.
For the SADC, the chapter observed that the regional integration was modelled on the new regionalism as non-state development partners are accepted. However, there is great emphasis on collaborative regional economic development and need to eradicate poverty through SADC integration. Such an understanding can be viewed as seeking to empower the poor black people who were previously economically marginalised during the colonial and apartheid eras. This is in line with utilitarianism in ethics where such policies or strategies would ultimately benefit the majority of the people in the region. In the SADC objectives there is a desire to promote common values and systems at the regional level. The African economic ethic of indigenisation
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is expected to find expression at the regional level because it is common in most SADC countries, though in different forms.
The chapter concludes that the old regionalism does not contradict the African economic ethic of indigenisation. In SADC, regionalism seeks to empower the poor black who were previously marginalised and protect them from neo-liberal global capitalist completion. New regionalism accepts private and public partners from outside the region to complement regional development programmes. In dealing with other players outside the region through new regionalism, the chapter observed that this is a neo-liberal capitalist approach to regionalism and if agreements with partners from outside a regional grouping are not made carefully, they bring competition to the previously disadvantaged black people. Beneficiaries of the regional integration then may not be the majority poor people.
Chapter four critically analyses the theoretical underpinnings relating to welfare economics and the concepts of utility as it is understood from economics and utilitarianism in ethics.
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CHAPTER FOUR: THE ETHICS OF WELFARE ECONOMICS AND THE AFRICA ECONOMIC ETHIC OF INDIGENISATION FOR SADC