23 Apr 2007: ISS Today: A United States of Africa: Between Vision and Reality

23 April 2007: A United States of Africa: Between Vision and Reality

 

During the AU Summit held in Banjul, The Gambia, in July 2006, a Committee of Seven presented a report on an African Union Government: Towards a United States of Africa. Subsequently, the AU Summit held in January 2007 in Addis Ababa took a decision that the focus of the next Summit in July in Accra, Ghana, should be on the African Union Government. In the meantime, various actors and observers are wondering what African heads of state mean by an African Union Government? Are they advocating a federalist system across the continent with one government along the lines of the United States of America? If this is the thinking, how realistic are such expectations?

 

The term ‘United Nations of Africa’ was first used in 1924 by a Trinidadian born Pan-African activist, Marcus Garvey.  He employed it in the context of the Pan-Africanist movement, to convey a notion of the unity of Africans all over the world in defence of their human rights and against all forms of exploitation and discrimination. Since its inception, the ideals of Pan-Africanism had been intended to forge a link between a Diaspora and the continent from which it or its ancestors came.  Pan-African Congress meetings remained important forums for engagement between African intellectuals from the continent and the Diaspora; the most seminal of them being that held in Manchester in 1945. It is at this meeting that a clear link was made between the need for a global struggle for the defence of the human rights of peoples of African descent and the urgent need to liberate continental Africa from colonialism. In this regard, the following call was made:

 

We believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the right of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist control, whether political or economic. … Therefore, the struggle for political power by colonial and subject peoples is the first step towards, and the necessary pre-requisite to, complete social, economic and political emancipation.

 

Subsequent to this call, leaders of independent African states met in 1958 in Accra “to find workable arrangements for helping … brothers still languishing under colonial rule to free themselves from the yoke of colonialism. This was among the objectives that led to the work culminating in the formation and launching of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963.

 

Unsurprisingly, the OAU focussed a great deal of effort on the liberation of states still under colonial rule, culminating in the liberation of South Africa in 1994. Throughout this entire period, however, the notion of a United States of Africa remained present in the minds of some African leaders.

 

The most elaborate expression of this ideal was laid out in a secret agreement signed in Accra on 8 August 1960 by the Prime Minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba, and the President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah. In the agreement, these two leaders envisioned the creation of a Union of African States with a “Republican Constitution within a federal framework.” Furthermore, the federal government would have a single Head of Sate and a Parliament, both located in Leopoldville. Among others, this government would take responsibility for foreign affairs, defence and the establishment of a common market with a common currency.

 

As can be observed, the ideas of these leaders were not restricted to the respective sub-regions in which their countries are located. Both men shared a continental vision with a federalist government resembling that of the United States of America. Needless to say, the idea of a Union government as envisaged by Lumumba and Nkrumah failed to materialise. Nevertheless, African leaders saw the value of creating an inter-governmental organisation that would serve as a forum for African states to deal with matters of common interest – this took the form of the OAU.

 

That the idea of a single union government was at the time deemed unfeasible by a majority of Africa leaders at the time does not mean that it was seen as an entirely unhelpful notion. Aspects of it were adopted in various OAU meetings and built into the organisation’s business in various ways. The adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) in 1980, for example, was an indication that the idea of a United States of Africa continued to influence the thinking of African leaders. The Abuja Treaty of 1991 also offers an important example of the efforts of African leaders aimed at giving concrete meaning to the idea of African Unity.

 

The dominant thinking, however, was of practical integration rather than a single union government, giving rise to an organisational architecture modelled on and resembling the European Union (EU) rather than the United States of America. The Treaty elaborates on the institutional architecture needed to achieve this:

1. Assembly of Heads of State and Governments;
2. Council of Ministers;
3. Pan-African Parliament;
4. Economic and Social Commission;
5. Court of Justice;
6. General Secretariat; and
7. Specialised Technical Committees.

 

 

Almost all of these institutions (or their equivalents) are now in place, although some of them are at an embryonic stage. Institutionally, the African Union (AU) and its organs very much reflect a structure of the African Economic Community as envisaged by the Abuja Treaty.

 

Of striking importance, however, is the proximity of intentions and the similarity of substance between Lumumba and Nkrumah’s Union of African States and the African Economic Community. For example, the ultimate elimination of tariff barriers leading to the creation of a customs union at a continental level (as envisioned by the ACC) would have similar effects to those conceived by the two leaders. Furthermore, the ultimate creation of a single African Central Bank and a single African currency (as the ACC further envisions) is in congruence with the leaders’ original thinking. If all the economic and monetary objectives of the ACC were to be attained, this would lead to a situation in which “There would be no customs barriers between any parts of the Federation”, as originally conceived by Nkrumah and Lumumba.

 

Generally, there is a continuum stretching from the early days of Pan-Africanism to the political dynamics that led to the creation of the OAU, through to the regional integration efforts of the OAU and its successor, the AU. Albeit with varying prominence in different epochs of the continuum, the thread of a United States of Africa is clearly discernible.

 

The progress that has been made in establishing political institutions is impressive. The AU is in many ways better organised and more effective than its predecessor, the OAU. Although with limited capacity, the continent has regional economic communities with time-tested experience. Almost all the sub-regions of the continent have parliamentary forums, which are themselves an important component of the Pan African Parliament. But the challenges to the consolidation of these institutions are well known. More importantly, there is a need for a harmonious progress in the rolling out of political institutions and the attainment of socio-economic goals of integration. Unless this is achieved, the idea of establishing an African Union Government on the way towards a United States of Africa will remain a dream.

 

Taking the number of challenges facing the African continent today, one could argue that the focus should be shifted from the consideration of a United States of Africa to the urgent imperative of strengthening existing AU organs and institutions. Only once we are satisfied with the strength and capacity of these organs to execute their mandate can we start entertaining conceptual phenomena such as the US of Africa.

 

Prince Mashele, Regional Projects, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)