Regional integration in Africa is often discussed in broad terms, but for Dr Raisa Nyirongo it is the everyday complexity of overlapping regional commitments and global partnerships that shapes the continent’s developmental trajectory. Raisa is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa (CCLA), housed in the Department of Commercial Law, and works under the supervision of Professor Ada Ordor, Centre Director.

Her research looks at how African states navigate a dense web of regional, continental and external agreements—each carrying its own political priorities and economic expectations. Focusing in particular on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Dr Nyirongo examines how the ambitions of continental integration interact with the existing structures of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and with the geopolitical interests of global partners.

Raisa explains that this landscape is often marked by both cooperation and tension. Regional bodies may push for deeper integration, while bilateral or external agreements can introduce competing incentives. Her work seeks to understand how these dynamics influence the pace and coherence of integration, and what policy measures could support a more enabling environment for Africa’s development objectives.

Her interest in these questions began during her doctoral studies at the UCT Law Faculty, supervised by Emeritus Professor Evance Kalula and Professor Ordor. Her PhD, titled ‘Navigating Compliance Challenges in African Regional Integration,’ examined the institutional mechanisms that encourage, or hinder—member states’ compliance with regional commitments. The project explored the legal and organisational frameworks within RECs, and the conditions under which they operate effectively.

Raisa's postdoctoral research builds on this foundation but widens the lens. Where her PhD research focused on compliance structures within RECs, her current work examines the broader policy and geopolitical terrain in which African integration unfolds. She is now considering the interplay between continental ambitions, regional commitments, and external partnerships and how these layers shape integration outcomes.

Through the Fellowship, Raisa hopes to generate research that speaks to both scholarly debates and practical policymaking. She is particularly interested in highlighting areas of integration that may be overlooked in broader analyses, and in adding to the expanding body of work produced by scholars from the global South on African integration.

What excites her most is the opportunity to contribute to conversations that have both academic and real-world significance. She also hopes to encourage more students to explore regional integration as a field of study. ‘There is still so much to investigate,’  she notes, ‘and the field continues to evolve in ways that affect people across the continent.’