From the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union
Context
On 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established. In Africa, several prominent figures and Heads of State, such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Sékou Touré of Guinea, and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, took up the cause to advance the Pan-African ideology on the continent. On the other hand, in the diaspora, there was a Pan-Africanist movement in the US that held the sentiment that for black people to prosper, they needed to establish a nation free from the US to pursue self-determination with dignity. It was under the influence of figures like W.E.B Du Bois, a passionate advocate of African culture and history, that the movement was solidified. Du Bois argued that colonialism was the root of Africa’s economic, political, and social issues. After that, Marcus Garvey, a Black nationalist who advocated for the return of Africans to the continent, furthered Du Bois's narrative. For a long time, there has been a connection between Africans on the continent and those in the diaspora.
To further the interests of African people and discuss methods to achieve unification, a series of Pan-African Congresses convened. In October 1945, several significant aspirations and concerns were raised at the fifth Congress, which was held in Manchester, England. What made this Congress so instrumental was the advocacy for the complete independence of the African continent, the total rejection of colonialism and exploitation in all its forms, the unification of Africa through regional blocs and the adoption of democracy. The importance of economic regeneration in replacing colonial economies geared towards primary resource extraction and exploitation.
Such concerns are said to have formed the base for Ghana’s post-independence foreign policy, and Nkrumah is known to have categorically linked Ghana’s independence to continental independence. This is because, in his eyes, he saw Ghana’s independence as meaningless unless it was also connected with the total liberation of the continent. Nkrumah’s sentiments towards independence and Pan-Africanism led him to establish a series of conferences hosted in Accra between 1958 and 1960 to assist countries still under colonial rule, foster cultural and economic ties between countries, and consider the issue of world peace.
Nkrumah’s vision of a United States of Africa was not supported by all because, although there was a shared vision, there were different ideological commitments and diverging opinions regarding the strategy and structure of a continental organisation divided and obstructed the pursuit of unity. There was an emergence of three ideological blocs:
The Casablanca Group (Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria) advocated for radical and full continental integration.
The Monrovia Group (Nigeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Liberia, Sudan, Togo, and Somalia) proposed a moderate approach to unification through incremental steps.
The Brazzaville Group (led by Senegal and Ivory Coast and consisting of Francophone countries) stayed tied to France's interests.
African leaders were not aligned with Nkrumah’s grand vision because they saw it as an overreaching risk that could dissolve their newly found sovereignty and territorial integrity. Nevertheless, because the 1960s were a turbulent time, African countries were almost, in a way, forced to present a united front to be taken seriously on the global stage, making the OAU the perfect avenue to achieve their goals. However, the newfound OAU disappointed many, especially its founding members.
The Organisation for African Unity (OAU)
Between 22 and 25 May 1963, delegates from 32 African countries gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to establish the Organisation for African Unity, which saw itself as an organisation that promoted African unity, promoted the communal characteristics and practices of African communities, and embraced Africa’s culture and shared heritage.
Founding Fathers of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), 1963
Even though the immediate and full integration of all African countries was unattainable, the OAU did take significant steps towards identifying the socio-economic development issues that the continent faced after its independence. The OAU Charter outlined these specific objectives:
To promote unity and solidarity of all African States.
To coordinate and intensify African countries’ cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa.
To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of African countries.
To eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa.
To promote international cooperation while considering the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government acted as the executive body of the OAU, meeting annually and directing policy. In a way, the Assembly acted as the supreme organ to discuss African concerns, integration, and harmonising the OAU’s policies and functions. To join the OAU, an African country had to be independent, and when it came to the organisation's policies, they were not legally binding on the Member States.
Achievements, Challenges, and Failures
Some achievements of the OAU include aiding liberation movements to overthrow colonial regimes, combating racism and apartheid, and resolving boundary disputes among Member States. One of the challenges the OAU faced was assisting in the economic development of Member States. Many African States were in economic crises after colonialism, so the OAU established the African Economic Community (AEC) in 1991. The AEC aimed to work towards creating free trade areas, customs unions, a central bank, and, eventually, a monetary union. However, despite initial optimism and the injections of billions of World Bank dollars, Africa’s debt crisis only grew. Another challenge of note was that the OAU failed to establish any proactive conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms; instead, it was receiving aid from Europe, the US, and the UN during times of increased coups and counter coups due to political instability, which affected a majority of the founders of the OAU.
As time passed and more African countries gained their independence, the attention of many newly independent African countries moved to how much Africa’s economy seemed to be over-reliant on former colonial powers, which is one of the perceived causes of the continent’s poverty. Ultimately, the OAU had to recognise its ineffectiveness in dealing with such issues. By the time the organisation was dissolved in 2002, the sentiment was that it was merely an elite club of leaders who had been cut off from their people.
The African Union
In July 2002, the African Union (AU) officially launched in Durban, South Africa. The decision to relaunch Africa’s Pan-African organisation resulted from a consensus by African leaders that to realise Africa’s full potential, attention must be refocused. This time, instead of focusing on the fight for decolonisation and ridding the continent of apartheid, the focus of the AU would be on increased cooperation and integration of African States to drive Africa’s growth and economic development. The AU is said to be guided by its vision of
“An Integrated, Prosperous, and Peaceful Africa is driven by its citizens and represents a dynamic force in the global arena.”
The AU is made up of 55 Member States, which represent all the countries on the African continent. They are divided into five geographic regions, defined by the OAU in 1976 (CM/Red.464QCXVI): Central Africa, Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and Western Africa. The AU's aims are laid out in The Constitutive Act of the African Union and The Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
The AU's work is implemented through several principal decision-making organs: the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), Specialised Technical Committees (STCs), the Peace and Security Council, and the Africa Union Commission.
Achievements and Issues
Since its inception, the AU has made some achievements, such as organising negotiations in South Africa in October 2022 that resulted in a peace deal between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Within its right, the AU can intervene militarily in its Member States in circumstances of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. To this end, the organisation sometimes performs peacekeeping operations on multiple occasions, often coordinating with the UN missions. Outside of peacekeeping, the AU’s health initiatives have shown considerable results. For example, the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, established in 2020, secured over 1 billion doses of vaccines to be distributed among Member States. In addition, initiatives against AIDS and Malaria have also resulted in fewer people being infected across the continent.
However, as with anything, with the good comes the bad. Some issues the AU faces come from how complicated it is to keep 55 countries united and agree on policy. Then there is the issue of funding. In 2021, the Au’s total approved budget was $600 million, of which 32% was financed by Member States and 65% by external partners. This reliance on external partners for funding can sometimes undermine the AU’s decision-making capacity.
Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want
In 2013, approximately 50 years after the foundation of OAU, the AU started drawing up plans for the next five decades, resulting in Agenda 2063, an initiative comprising 15 flagship projects. Some projects include plans for high-speed train networks connecting all African capitals and commercial centres, removing all visa requirements for moving within the union, and ending all wars on the continent.
Agenda 2063 is the AU’s plan to transform Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. The strategic framework aims to deliver on its inclusive and sustainable development goal. It is a concrete manifestation of the Pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, process, and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance. Agenda 2063 was the realisation by African leaders that there was a need to refocus and reprioritise Africa’s agenda towards social and economic development, continental and regional integrations, democratic governance, peace and security and other issues.
Essentially, the AU aims to do a lot in the continent's interest and allows Africa to participate in conversations in many different aspects while being a forum for African unity. To find out more, visit the website and follow them on social media.