This study aims at explaining why the southern African region, in particular the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has failed to integrate as it has intended initially. For this purpose, data has been collected through unstructured interviews from government officials of SADC’s Member States as well as from senior officials working at the SADC Secretariat. This data was complemented with existing literature in this area. The results of the study show that the central element causing the region’s failure is the lack of political will and commitment and that there exists a confluence of factors amassing around this central element. The researcher has designed an analytic framework as part of the study to demonstrate the most logical explanation of why the region has failed. The study also suggests that there exists a huge difference between the classical theories in integration and the realities of SADC’s integration process. The study also makes some key recommendations for practice and for further studies in the regional integration process in southern Africa.

The research study has been completed as part of the requirement for the International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) offered by the Emerging Markets Institute (EMI) at the Beijing Normal University (BNU) under the Chinese Government Scholarship scheme.

This study aims at explaining why the southern African region, in particular the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has failed to integrate as it has intended initially. For this purpose, data has been collected through unstructured interviews from government officials of SADC’s Member States as well as from senior officials working at the SADC Secretariat. This data was complemented with existing literature in this area. The results of the study show that the central element causing the region’s failure is the lack of political will and commitment and that there exists a confluence of factors amassing around this central element. The researcher has designed an analytic framework as part of the study to demonstrate the most logical explanation of why the region has failed. The study also suggests that there exists a huge difference between the classical theories in integration and the realities of SADC’s integration process. The study also makes some key recommendations for practice and for further studies in the regional integration process in southern Africa.

The research study has been completed as part of the requirement for the International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) offered by the Emerging Markets Institute (EMI) at the Beijing Normal University (BNU) under the Chinese Government Scholarship scheme.