AFRICAN UNION! Wherefore art thou African Union?

One could be forgiven for wondering whether this vital union of African countries still exists. But the truth is that it has never been more important for this continent-wide body to be revitalised and to develop more of a profile.

I believe the 55-member African Union (AU) — which covers in excess of 1.5 billion people — will be an important building block of the new multilateral world that is struggling to be born.

The AU was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which itself existed from 1963 to 1999.

In May 1963, 32 heads of independent African states came together in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to create the continent’s first post-independence continental institution.

The body was formed on the basis of a long-held vision for a united Africa that was free from the control of the Western colonial powers and was able to chart its own destiny after centuries of exploitation and domination.

This philosophy of Pan-Africanism was centred on African socialism and promoted African unity, the communal characteristics and practices of African communities, and a drive to embrace Africa’s numerous cultures and common heritages.

The OAU aimed to rid the continent of the remaining remnants of colonisation and apartheid, promote unity and solidarity among African states, co-ordinate co-operation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and to promote international co-operation.

I will talk later about the extent to which the OAU and the AU have been able to achieve these goals.

In September 1999, the heads of state and government of the OAU came together in the Libyan city of Sirte to issue a declaration calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view to faster social, economic and political integration.

African leaders agreed that in order to achieve its pan-African goals, the continent needed to refocus attention from the fight for decolonisation and ridding the continent of apartheid, which had been the focus of the work of the OAU, towards increased co-operation and integration of African states to drive Africa’s growth and economic development.

The inconvenient truth for many is that the major driving force behind this new focus was the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi.

The idea that Africans were taking firmer steps towards achieving greater control over the vast mineral resources available on the continent sent shock waves through the halls of political and economic power in the West.

The bastions of capitalism were about to lose control of the resources and cheap labour on which the West depends for its profits.

But by 2011, Colonel Gadaffi was ousted by a Western-organised rebellion, and the pan-African project suffered a severe setback.

The AU was officially launched in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, but has come in for much criticism for its ineffectiveness.

At last year’s AU February summit, the then chair of the commission, the body that runs the day-to-day affairs of the body, Moussa Faki Mahamat, accused member states of failing to match rhetoric with action.

Between 2021 and 2023, some 93 per cent of AU decisions failed to be implemented.

The new commission chair, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who took office this year, faces the same problems.

The AU institutions include the commission, the Pan-African Parliament and the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights. But, in reality, the real power lies in the hands of its assembly, composed of heads of state and government.

The Pan-African Parliament does not exercise any binding legislative powers. And the AU commission cannot compel member states to comply with AU rules. Most member states refuse to comply with the decisions of the human rights court.

The AU has not fallen into the trap of the European Union, where supranational, binding powers are exercised by organs such as the European Commission and the European Parliament.

I leave open the question in this feature over how a deepening integration of Africa can be achieved without having some powers being exercised by a central body. I will return to this at a later date.

But for now, it is clear that the AU is only as strong as the 55 member states will allow it to be. African leaders have a worrying track record of putting narrow domestic gains ahead of what might be in the best overall interests of the continent.

One of the key difficulties facing the AU is the rampant (mis)leadership across the continent.

Far too many leaders across the continent have continued to be willing to boost their own personal riches at the expense of their own people. Many also seem eager to do the bidding of the Western colonial powers to exploit their own people so that the riches of their countries flow abroad rather than benefit the people.

Around 429 million people on the continent live below the extreme poverty line of $2.15 a day in 2024. So roughly a third of Africa’s population was in extreme poverty that year.

This is part of the impetus behind the military interventions that ripped across the Sahel region of the continent in the last few years.

The creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in March last year represents a turning point for West Africa.

They have formed their own investment bank and recently created a new passport to facilitate travel across their borders.

The AES countries’ primary stated goal is to re-establish their sovereignty. For Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, this has meant regaining domestic control over their natural resources and borders while reducing foreign ownership and control of their politics.

Mali and Burkina Faso have also nationalised foreign-owned mining operations, which has brought millions of dollars in revenues back into the country.

Niger has achieved the same with some of its many uranium extraction plants. All three countries are experiencing economic growth, with Niger now the fastest-growing economy in Africa and third fastest-growing economy in the world.

Namibia, Zambia and Botswana have also introduced a new identity card to allow borderless travel between the three South African countries. They are also deepening economic and political co-operation between the three nations, including the nationalisation of the gas and oil industries.

The three nations are moving ahead towards a united southern Africa.

That’s six nations out of 55 that have left the AU scrambling to catch up on a new pan-African vision for the future.

So where is the AU?

It is, hopefully, learning from the popular experiment that is being carried out in the Sahel region.

Rather than falling into Western-sponsored condemnation of the AES as mere military entities, the AU can return to its pan-African heritage by taking the lead from the AES and the three South African nations on some of the steps necessary to take back control of the vast wealth of resources available on the continent.