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| History of the African Union |
TheAfrican Union is ageo-political entity covering the entirety of the African continent.Its origin dates back to theFirst Congress of Independent African States, held inAccra,Ghana, from 15 to 22 April 1958. The conference aimed at forming theAfrica Day (that preceded the formation of the OAU) to mark the liberation movement of the African people each year, such as to free themselves from foreign dictatorship and to unite Africa. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), was subsequently established on 25 May 1963 followed by the African Economic Community in 1981.[1]Critics argued that the OAU in particular did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it the "Dictators' Club".[2]
The idea of creating the AU was revived in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Libyan head of stateMuammar al-Gaddafi: the heads of state and government of the OAU issued theSirte Declaration (named after Sirte, in Libya) on September 9, 1999 calling for the establishment of an African Union. The Declaration was followed by summits atLomé in 2000, when theConstitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and atLusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted. During the same period, the initiative for the establishment of theNew Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), was also established.
The first attempts to create a politically unified state encompassing the whole of the African continent were made by European colonial powers in the 19th century, intent on harnessing the vastnatural resources and huge amount of manpower the continent had to offer to their Empires. However, the strong rivalry between European powers such asBritain,Belgium,France,Italy,Germany,Spain, andPortugal, meant the reality soon dawned that no one nation was powerful enough to outdo all the others, and take complete control of the continent.
Instead, they carved the continent up between them, scrambling for control of as much territory as possible, and attempting to prevent their rivals from obtaining favourable regions. The European powers essentially maintained control of their territories ascolonies until the second half of the 20th century, when changes in European policy and thinking, led to releasing of control over their African colonies, and the creation of independent nations across the continent took place between the 1950s and 1970s.
TheUnion of African States, was a short lastingunion of threeWest African states, in the 1960s -Mali,Ghana, andGuinea. This union wasMarxist politically, and was led by such African revolutionaries asKwame Nkrumah of Ghana andSékou Touré ofGuinea, who was president of Guinea.
On November 23, 1958, a LiberiaGhana-Guinea Union was formed with a flag like that of Ghana but with two black stars. In May 1959 it was announced that the Union would be renamed Union of African States with a flag like that of Ghana "with as many black stars as there were members".[3] In April 1961Mali joined this union, so the flag then had three stars. The Union fell apart in 1962, when Guinea started to reach out to theUnited States, against the acquaintance of their Socialist partner, theU.S.S.R.
TheOrganisation of African Unity (OAU) orOrganisation de l'Unité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25,[4] 1963. It was disbanded on July 9, 2002 by its lastchairperson,South AfricanPresidentThabo Mbeki and replaced by theAfrican Union.
TheAfrican Economic Community (abbreviatedAEC) is an organization ofAfrican Union states establishing grounds for mutual economic development among the majority ofAfrican states. The member states are mounting efforts to collaborate economically, but are impeded by civil wars raging in parts of Africa. The stated goals of the organization include the creation offree trade areas,customs unions, asingle market, acentral bank, and acommon currency thus establishing aneconomic and monetary union.
For over 30 years, the only African state that was aUN member but not a member of the African Union wasMorocco, which unilaterally withdrew from the AU's predecessor, theOrganization of African Unity (OAU), in 1984, when many of the other member states supported theSahrawinationalistPolisario Front'sSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.[5][6] Morocco's ally,Zaire, similarly opposed the OAU's admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and theMobutu regime boycotted the organisation from 1984 to 1986.[7] Some countries have since retracted their support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Morocco.[8] Morocco rejoined the AU in 2017.[9]
The African and Malagasy Union (AMU) or the Union Africaine et Malgache (UAM) in French was a former intergovernmental organization created to promote cooperation among its members. The organization derives its name from the name of the continent of Africa and from the former Malagasy Republic, now Madagascar.
TheSirte Declaration was the resolution adopted by theOrganisation of African Unity on September 9, 1999 atSirte,Libya, to create theAfrican Union.
TheConstitutive Act of the African Union sets out the codified framework under which theAfrican Union is to conduct itself. It was signed on July 11, 2000 atLomé,Togo.
The African Union was launched inDurban on July 9, 2002 by its first president,South African,Thabo Mbeki at the first session of the Assembly of the African Union. The second session of the Assembly was inMaputo in 2003, and the third session inAddis Ababa on July 6, 2004.
A stated goal of the AU is to establish a common African currency and banking institutions.
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