Google is a great starting point, but make sure to evaluate your online sources for legitimacy!
To evaluate an online resource, look at the following:
•Authority – who wrote it, are they an expert?
•Credibility – is there bias / which point of view? Are there other sources supporting it?
•Currency – the timeliness of the information
•Authenticity – is it just copied or does it link back? Where does the original lie?
If you aware of organisations that would have reports about your topic, use their websites as well as a starting point. An example of this would be the World Trade Organization.
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
African Development Bank Group
African Regional Integration Index
https://www.integrate-africa.org/
African Trade Policy Centre
African Union
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) = Union du Maghreb Arabe (UMA)
Atlas on Regional Integration in West Africa
http://www.oecd.org/regional/atlasonregionalintegrationinwestafrica.htm
Central African Economic and Monetary Community = Commission de la Communaute Economique et Monetaire de L'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC)
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Communaute Economique et Monetaire des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC) = Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa
Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
http://www.uneca.org/oria/pages/cen-sad-community-sahel-saharan-states
East African Community (EAC)
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
SADC. Tripartite Cooperation
http://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/continental-interregional-integration/tripartite-cooperation/
SADC-EAC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area Legal Texts and Policy Documents
https://www.tralac.org/resources/by-region/comesa-eac-sadc-tripartite-fta.html
Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC)
South African Customs Union (SACU)
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Trade Law Centre (TRALAC)
Trade Law Centre (TRALAC). African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Legal Texts and Policy Documents
https://www.tralac.org/resources/by-region/cfta.html
Trade Law Centre (TRALAC). Newsletter focusing on "Africa’s trade and regional integration agendas."
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Home.aspx
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Observatory on Regional Integration in Africa (ORIA)
United Nations International Trade
http://www.un.org/esa/progareas/trade.html
United Nations - OSAA (Office of the Special Advisor on Africa) - Regional Economic Communities (RECs) of the African Union
http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/peace/recs.shtml
West African Economic and Monetary Union (WEAMU)
World Economic Forum (WEF)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
African Development Bank Group. African Development Report 2014 Regional Integration for Inclusive Growth. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire : African Development Bank, c2014.
African Development Bank Group. Regional Integration Policy and Strategy (RIPoS) 2014–2023 : integrating Africa : creating the next global market. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire : African Development Bank, 2015.
African Union, African Development Bank Group, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Africa Regional Integration Index Report 2016
African Union Commission. Status of integration in Africa (SIA IV), 2013.
African Union Commission. Status of integration in Africa (SIA V)
African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Boosting intra-African trade: Issues Affecting Intra-African Trade, Proposed Action Plan for boosting Intra-African Trade and Framework for the fast tracking of a Continental Free Trade Area, January 23-30 2012, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Alva, M. and A. Behar. Factors that contribute to (or detract from) successful outcomes in African regional agreements. [Washington, D.C.: World Bank,] February 2008. (World development report 2009 background paper)
Ben Shepherd. Trade Facilitation and Global Value Chains: Opportunities for Sustainable Development. Geneva: ICTSD, 2016.
http://www.ictsd.org/sites/default/files/research/trade_facilitation_and_global_value_chains_0.pdf
Byiers, Bruce. The political economy of regional integration in Africa : Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) report. Djibouti : IGAD, January 2016.
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Treaty: Establishing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/Download/TreatyFile/2422
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Key issues in regional integration, Volume 2
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Key issues in regional integration, Volume III
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Key issues in regional integration, Volume 4
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA): Process and Political Significance. A Primer by Regions Refocus and Third World Network-Africa. 2016. http://twnafrica.org/RR%20+%20TWN-A%20-%20CFTA%20Primer.pdf
East African Community (EAC). 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011/12-2015/16): Deepening and Accelerating Integration. 2011. http://www.eac.int/sites/default/files/docs/strategy_eac_development-v4_2011-2016.pdf
East African Community (EAC). Amended Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC. 2007.
http://www.eac.int/sites/default/files/docs/treaty_eac_amended-2006_1999.pdf
European Parliament. The Tripartite Free Trade Area project: Integration in southern and eastern Africa. Briefing, March 2014.
Idrissa, Abdourahmane. Divided commitment : the UEMOA, the Franc Zone and ECOWAS. Oxford, Global Governance Programme, University of Oxford, 2013.
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). African Integration: Facing up to Emerging Challenges. Geneva: ICTSD, 2016. http://www.ictsd.org/sites/default/files/research/deepening_african_integration-final.pdf
Gathii, James Thuo. Designing the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA): An African Human Rights Perspective. Scoping Study. Geneva: United Nations, 2016.
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Globalization/ScopingStudyMay2016.pdf
Farahat, Magdi A. African Continental Free Trade: Policy and Negotiation Options for Trade in Goods. Geneva: United Nations, 2016.
http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/webditc2016d7_en.pdf
McCarthy, Colin [and others]. Supporting regional integration in east and southern Africa : review of select issues. Stellenbosch : Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa ; Hatfield, Pretoria : Royal Danish Embassy, © 2010.
Maringwa, James. Trade Policy and Trade Flow Analysis. SADC Regional integration : what role has bilateral trade agreements played in promoting intra-regional trade? Johannesburg :Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies, December 2009.
Mbekeani, Kennedy K. Intra-Regional Trade in Southern Africa: Structure, Performance and Challenges. Tunis: African Development Bank, 2013. (Regional integration policy papers no. 2, June 2013)
Ndomo, Atieno. Regional economic communities in Africa : a progress overview. [Bonn?] : Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, 2009.
Regional Forum on Developmental Regionalism, Peace and Economic Transformation in Southern Africa (2016 : Ezulwini, Swaziland). Outcome statement. [Addis Ababa ?] : United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, September 2016.
Regional integration in southern Africa. Gaborone, Botswana : Friedrich Ebert Foundation Botswana Office, 2006-2007. Vol. 1, South Africa’s International Trade Diplomacy: Implications for Regional Integration ; Vol. 2, Deepening Integration in SADC : Rapid Changes in Mozambique to Meet SADC Targets ; Vol. 3, Deepening Integration in SADC : Can Malawi Meet the Challenges? ; Vol. 4, Deepening integration in SADC : Namibia on track to meet SADC targets ; Vol. 5, Deepening integration in SADC : Botswana : a Benchmark for the Region ; Vol. 6, Deepening Integration in SADC : South Africa : SADC's Economic Engine ; Vol. 7, Deepening Integration in SADC : Zambia’s Economic Policies in Line with SADC Targets ; Vol. 8, Deepening Integration in SADC : Mauritius: Achievement and Coming Challenges ; Vol. 9, Deepening Integration in SADC : Tanzania: Torn Between EAC and SADC ; Vol. 10, Deepening Integration in SADC : Zimbabwe: Missing SADC Macroeconomic Targets ; Vol. 11, Deepening Integration in SADC : Macroeconomic Policies and their Impact on Madagascar ; Vol. 12, Deepening integration in SACD : macroeconomic policies and social impact ;
Ron Sandrey, Bonani Nyhodo, Hans Grinsted Jensen, Ethan Williams, Sifiso Ntombela, Masego Moobi, Yolanda Potelwa, Gavin van der Nest, Eric Makamole Mpitsa, Jacques Vermaak. Africa’s trade relations Old friends, good friends and new friends. Stellenbosch: TRALAC, 2015.
https://www.tralac.org/images/Publications/Books/Africas%20trade%20relations%20friends%20e-book%202015%20with%20cover.pdf
Sandrey, Ron, and others. Agriculture and the African Continental Free Trade Area. Stellenbosch : Trade Law Centre (tralac), 2018.
Sandrey, Ron, and others. WTO : agricultural issues for Africa. Stellenbosch : Trade Law Centre, 2017.
Te Velde, Dirk Willem. Regional integration, growth and concentration. [Washington, D.C.: World Bank,] December 5, 2007. (World development report 2009 background paper)
United Nations. Economic and Social Council, African Union. Status of African integration : "The implications of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 on African integration." 26 March 2016.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Investment policies and bilateral investment treaties in Africa: implications for regional integration. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: UNECA, February 2016.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Union, African Development Bank and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Assessing regional integration in Africa ARIA IX: next steps for the African Continental Free Trade Area. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: UNECA, 2019.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Union and African Development Bank. Assessing Regional Integration in Africa VIII: Bringing the Continental Free Trade Area About. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia : United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Union and African Development Bank, © 2017 .
University of Cape Town. Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice. Building Bridges Programme. African Economic Integration: a Report of the Building Bridges Programme, Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice, University of Cape Town 2014 –2016
Zhang, Jian. Supporting macroeconomic convergence in African RECs. Tunis: African Development Bank, 2012 (Regional integration policy papers no. 001, December 2012)