The Mano River Union at 40: from customs liberalisation to confidence building Online publication date: Sat, 30-Aug-2014
by Peter Walkenhorst; Jean-Christophe Maur
African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development (AJESD), Vol. 3, No. 2, 2014
Abstract: The Mano River Union of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is turning 40. The MRU was founded in October 1973 with the principal aim of advancing economic development through trade integration. The organisation largely ceased activities during the civil wars that engulfed its founding members Liberia and Sierra Leone from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The violent conflicts highlighted the importance of a broader mandate covering peace, security, good governance, and inclusiveness for regional development when the MRU was formally reactivated in 2004 and restarted operations since 2008. The organisation's focus is nowadays largely on enhancing peace and security in border regions in order to re-establish the foundations for cross-border commerce and investment. Going forward, the union could additionally play a useful role in the regional coordination of mining activities, the spearheading of trade facilitation initiatives, and the collection of consistent policy information and statistics.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development (AJESD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook