The OAU/AU at 50: The question of African unity
Date: 2013-05-15
Time: 09:00 to 12:30
Venue: Conference Room
, ISS Addis Ababa
At the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) 50 years ago, the leaders who attended the 25 May 1963 meeting in Addis Ababa set themselves two major objectives: the liberation of Africa from colonial rule and apartheid, and the unification of independent Africa. Independent leaders dedicated to the liberation of the continent recognised that without strong political and economic union, Africa would have no chance of achieving genuine independence.
In his famous speech that made the most convincing case for a strong union of the continent, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana told his pears on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa that ‘Unite we must. Without necessarily sacrificing our sovereignties, big or small, we can here and now forge a political union based on defence, foreign affairs and diplomacy, and a common citizenship, an African currency, an African monetary zone and an African central bank.’ He went on to urge them ‘We must unite in order to achieve the full liberation of our continent. We need a common defence system with African high command to ensure the stability and security of Africa… We will be mocking the hopes of our people if we show the slightest hesitation or delay in tackling realistically this question of African unity’.
While the total liberation of Africa has been achieved with the inauguration of democratic South Africa in 1994, ‘this question of African unity’ has proved to be much more challenging. As the AU marks the 50th anniversary of the OAU under the theme ‘Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance’, the need to tackle realistically ‘this question of African unity’ remains much more urgent today than at the time it was raised half a century ago. What progress has Africa made towards its unity? What does African unity mean today? What are the most plausible approaches for achieving unity in the light of the multifaceted historical, developmental, governance and environmental challenges facing Africa of today? What steps should be taken to achieve both political unity and economic integration?
This seminar offers a public policy platform to debate and consider these questions in light of the upcoming special AU summit debate scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa on 25 May 2013.
Chair: Prof. Joram Mukama Biswaro, Amb. of Tanzania to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to AU and UNECA
Speakers:
- Amb Konjit Sinegorgis, Chair of the PRC and Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to AU and UNECA
- Amb Bulus Paul Zom Lolo, Ambassador of Nigeria to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA
- Mr Lamin Barrow, Resident Representative of the African Development Bank, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (TBC)
- Dr Solomon Ayele Dersso, Senior Researcher, ISS Addis Ababa
Please note: For all ISS events, specific permission must be sought from the speaker(s) concerned before anything they said can be quoted, unless indicated otherwise.
