After two decades of poor economic performance in most of the countries of the region, and with the recent political and prospective economic changes in Eastern Europe, as well as the European Community's forthcoming ‘single market’ in 1992, debates in African circles have intensified on political democracy, structural adjustment, and economic integration. The last of these topics is the concern of this article, which discusses the major factors behind the slow progress, and sometimes failure, of integration attempts in Africa, and then, inter alia, proposes ways in which the chances of success can be enhanced, and progress towards regional integration thereby accelerated.