“…This is the reason why generalisations on welfare gains from regional integration are hard to make, thus opening up the field on non-economic motivation for or against regional integration (Pomfret, 1986). To assess further the overall gains from trade through regional integration a set of hypotheses arising from the theory of regional integration (Proff, 1994) or econometric evaluations must be used for the SADC and each individual participating country. It is generally expected that regional integration in the SADC will enhance economic welfare due to gains from trade.…”