Abstract :
The importance of economic development for the countries of the African continent in view of the suffering of the problems in all fields, especially the economic sphere, and it appears that in many of the indicators, such as: the low rate of economic growth; Hence, the low average income of individuals, and the low level of education and health and social care, also exacerbate debt, and the degradation of agricultural and industrial production, etc., making the continent characterized by properties characteristic pattern of the economy backward, which represents a logical extension of the legacy of colonial rule, and so was the performance of African governments in the field of economic development has been disappointing over the post-independence period, although the African continent rich in many riches mineral and natural resources. Policies of development pursued by most political systems African different beliefs ideology, gave way to the imposition of economic reforms sharp proposed World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the so-called program of economic reform and structural adjustment which results were negative, prompting the African countries to establish the African Union, which provides its law founding the unity and integration of the African continent and its development.
The research was derived its importance from the fact that Egypt, one of the members of the African Union, and it will return the issue of regional integration and thus economic development, where the African Union is based mainly on the idea of regional groupings, during the period 1998 - 2012. For the approach to the user, has used the descriptive and analytical study of reality and expectations of the African Union in the field of economic development, try to answer some of the questions most importantly you helped the African Union in achieving economic development on the continent, and the main challenges offset to achieve the hopes for the continent and how to meet these challenges, and finally the extent to which Egypt from one of the main economic groupings of the African Union COMESA example, during the three sections. Includes a first section of the theoretical framework of the African Union, where upbringing in the context of theories of integration and the objectives and the challenges it faces and how to overcome them and addresses the second section attempts to economic development in the African continent, and the third section deals with the framework applied and is in Africa and Egypt with the COMESA in terms of the degree of correlation in the evolution time between GDP and Egypt's imports and exports to COMESA