Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 73 base, was unable to reach stable agreements about comparative advantage when this was tried in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mindful of this experience, most experts became sceptical about the chances for great gains from most developing­country free-trade areas. II. Regional Integration in Africa The case for Africa's integration was made as far back as the days prior to decolonisation. The Manchester(Pan Africanist) Conference of 1945 spelt out in detail, the need for African Unity. The period of decolonisation saw the pan­Africanist demands being strongly echoed. The formation of the Organisation of African Unity(OAU) and the compromises therein made showed to what extent the African nationalist leaders yearned for one form or another of integration. 95 The realities of the second decade of independence forced African leaders to think more of integration. It was the decade that saw the emergence of ECOWAS, the East African Community and the SADCC etc. The decade saw the demise of the Breton Woods system of fixed-but-adjustable exchange rate regime; it was immediately followed by the oil price shocks of 1973/74 and 1979. In fact, by 1979 African economies were running at negative 1.9% of GDP growth rate. 96 It may have to be emphasised here therefore, that regionalism was given a new impetus in the 1980's and 1990's by regional and global realities. Faced with challenges such as declining economies, mounting debts and continued shortfalls in export receipts, African countries increasingly became aware that integrating their economies would be the way forward. Meanwhile, the steady and progressive forward march of the European Community as well as the vicissitudes of the global liberalised system combined to inform the African countries' decision to seek integration. Challenges of Integration in Africa Bad governance and the spectre of intra-state wars constitute the greatest drawback to integration in Africa. The continent has produced some of the most grotesquely corrupt and predatory leaders that the world has ever known. It must obviously be stated that the Cold War international system aided the spectre of bad governance in Africa. In such a setting one of the cardinal requirements of integration – prudence in economic governance – was lacking in most parts of 95 For a detailed analysis see C. O. C. Amate, Inside the OAU: Pan-Africanism in Practice, London, Macmillan Press, 1986 96 These were the imperatives that caused the Lagos Plan of Action(LPA) to be drafted. It was same imperatives that caused the African Governors of the World Bank to appeal to the President of the World Bank to find a way to get Africa out of the doldrums of stagnation, decay, and decline. And it was this plea that got the Elliot Berg Commission incepted. The Commission proposed Structural Adjustment, which became the blue print for Africa's development in the 1980's and beyond.