The African International Group has deep roots in the continent's history, evolving from early aspirations for unity and independence to a modern organization focused on economic development and international cooperation. This article explores the key milestones and transformations that have shaped the African International Group into what it is today.
The historical foundations of the African Union originated in the First Congress of Independent African States, held in Accra, Ghana from 15 to 22 April 1958. Among these "founding" acts was the Tubman-Nkrumah-Touré conference of 1958, the year the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was created.
Soon after achieving independence, a number of African states expressed a growing desire for more unity within the continent. The Casablanca bloc, led by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, wanted a federation of all African countries. Aside from Ghana, it comprised also Algeria, Guinea, Morocco, Egypt, Mali and Libya.
The Monrovian bloc, led by Senghor of Senegal, felt that unity should be achieved gradually, through economic cooperation. It did not support the notion of a political federation. Some of the initial discussions took place at Sanniquellie, Liberia. The dispute was eventually resolved when Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I invited the two groups to Addis Ababa, where the OAU and its headquarters were subsequently established.
Khartoum, Sudan, September 1964. A group of African men meet in Khartoum, Sudan, to ratify the multinational agreement establishing the African Development Bank. They represent twenty-five of the continent's governments.
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The OAU was also dedicated to the eradication of all forms of colonialism and white minority rule as, when it was established, there were several states that had not yet won their independence or were white minority-ruled. South Africa and Angola were two such countries. The OAU proposed two ways of ridding the continent of colonialism and white minority rule.
First, it would defend the interests of independent countries and help to pursue the independence those of still-colonised ones. A Liberation Committee was established to aid independence movements and look after the interests of already-independent states.
The OAU did play a pivotal role in eradicating colonialism and white minority rule in Africa. It gave weapons, training and military bases to rebel groups fighting white minority and colonial rule. Groups such as the ANC and PAC, fighting apartheid, and ZANU and ZAPU, fighting to topple the government of Rhodesia, were aided in their endeavours by the OAU. African harbors were closed to the South African government, and South African aircraft were prohibited from flying over the rest of the continent.
The OAU also worked with the UN to ease refugee problems. It set up the African Development Bank for economic projects intended to make Africa financially stronger. Although all African countries eventually won their independence, it remained difficult for them to become totally independent of their former colonisers. The US and Soviet Union intervened in post-colonial Africa in pursuit of their own objectives. Help was sometimes provided in the form of technology and aid-workers.
The Organisation was praised by Ghanaian former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for bringing Africans together. Many of its members were members of the UN, too, and they stood together within the latter organisation to safeguard African interests - especially in respect of lingering colonialism.
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Total unity was difficult to achieve, however, as the OAU was largely divided. The former French colonies, still dependent on France, had formed the Monrovia Group, and there was a further split between those that supported the United States and those that supported the USSR in the Cold War of ideologies. The pro-Socialist faction was led by Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, while Félix Houphouët-Boigny of the Ivory Coast led the pro-capitalists.
The organisation was widely derided as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power. It struggled to enforce its decisions, and its lack of armed force made intervention exceedingly difficult. The policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states also limited the effectiveness of the OAU.
Recognising this, in September 1999 the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration, calling for a new body to take its place. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa.
The idea of creating the AU was revived in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi; the heads of state and governments of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration (named after Sirte, Libya) on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of an African Union. The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted.
The African Union (AU), intergovernmental organization, established in 2002, to promote unity and solidarity of African states, to spur economic development, and to promote international cooperation. The African Union (AU) replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which had been founded in 1963.
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The AU currently has 55 members. More than half joined the AU’s predecessor, the OAU, in 1963, the year of its founding.
While retaining its fully African character, the Bank admitted non-regional member countries in 1982. From February 2003 to the end of 2013, the Bank operated from its temporary Relocation Agency in Tunis, Tunisia, due to the political turmoil in Côte d'Ivoire, before returning to its Abidjan headquarters in 2015. In five decades, it has financed more than 4,100 operations for a continent that passed the one billion mark in 2010. At the time, it comprised 79 countries.
Key Objectives and Structures of the African Union
The AU is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU. The Assembly is chaired by João Lourenço, President of Angola.
The AU also has a representative body, the Pan-African Parliament, which consists of 265 members elected by the national legislatures of the AU member states. Its president is Fortune Z.
Composed of heads of state and heads of government of AU states, the Assembly is currently the supreme governing body of the African Union. It is gradually devolving some of its decision-making powers to the Pan-African Parliament. It meets once a year and makes its decisions by consensus or by a two-thirds majority.
The secretariat of the African Union, composed of ten commissioners and supporting staff and headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Constitutive Act provides for a Court of Justice to rule on disputes over interpretation of AU treaties.
Composed of ministers designated by the governments of member states. It decides on matters such as foreign trade, social security, food, agriculture and communications, is accountable to the Assembly, and prepares material for the Assembly to discuss and approve.
Proposed at the Lusaka Summit in 2001 and established in 2004 under a protocol to the Constitutive Act adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2002. The protocol defines the PSC as a collective security and early-warning arrangement to facilitate timely and effective response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa. Other responsibilities conferred to the PSC by the protocol include prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, post-conflict peace building and developing common defence policies. The PSC has fifteen members elected on a regional basis by the Assembly.
An advisory organ composed of professional and civic representatives, similar to the European Economic and Social Committee. Both the Abuja Treaty and the Constitutive Act provide for Specialised Technical Committees to be established made up of African ministers to advise the Assembly. In practice, they have never been set up.
These institutions have not yet been established; however, the Steering Committees working on their founding have been constituted. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), founded in 2016 and launched in 2017.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, in existence since 1986, is established under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter) rather than the Constitutive Act of the African Union. It is the premier African human rights body, with responsibility for monitoring and promoting compliance with the African Charter. The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was established in 2006 to supplement the work of the commission, following the entry into force of a protocol to the African Charter providing for its creation. The African Space Agency was officially formed in 2023.
All UN member states based in Africa and on African islands are members of the AU, as is the partially recognized state of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Morocco withdrew from the Organisation of African Unity in 1984 due to the admission as a member state of the SADR, whose territory of Western Sahara it claims sovereignty over.
Map of African Union Members
Key Initiatives and Challenges
It has taken part in efforts to overcome conflict and professionalize the continent's financial and political institutions. It has increasingly designed its actions in consultation with representatives of local communities, so that the latter can play an active role in their own development. It has also emphasized the role of women, education, and structural reform. But nothing is complete.
African Union Challenges 2020 - United Nations New York (Part 2)
The principal topic for debate at the July 2007 AU summit held in Accra, Ghana, was the creation of a Union Government, with the aim of moving towards a United States of Africa. A study on the Union Government was adopted in late 2006, and proposes various options for "completing" the African Union project. Following this decision, a panel of eminent persons was set up to conduct the "audit review". The review team began its work on 1 September 2007. The review was presented to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the January 2008 summit in Addis Ababa.
One of the key debates in relation to the achievement of greater continental integration is the relative priority that should be given to integration of the continent as a unit in itself or to integration of the sub-regions. Currently, there are eight RECs recognised by the AU, each established under a separate regional treaty. The membership of many of the communities overlaps, and their rationalisation has been under discussion for several years-and formed the theme of the 2006 Banjul summit.
In 2006, the AU decided to create a Committee "to consider the implementation of a rotation system between the regions" in relation to the presidency. Controversy arose at the 2006 summit when Sudan announced its candidacy for the AU's chairmanship, as a representative of the East African region. Several member states refused to support Sudan because of tensions over Darfur (see also below). Sudan ultimately withdrew its candidacy and President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo was elected to a one-year term.
At the January 2007 summit, Sassou-Nguesso was replaced by President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, despite another attempt by Sudan to gain the chair. The year 2007 was the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence, a symbolic moment for the country to hold the chair of the AU-and to host the mid-year summit at which the proposed Union Government was also discussed.
The main administrative capital of the African Union is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the African Union Commission is headquartered. A new headquarters complex, the AU Conference Center and Office Complex (AUCC), was inaugurated on 28 January 2012, during the 18th AU summit. The complex was built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation as a gift from the Chinese government, and accommodates, among other facilities, a 2,500-seat plenary hall and a 20-story office tower.
The individual member states of the African Union coordinate foreign policy through this agency, in addition to conducting their own international relations on a state-by-state basis. The AU represents the interests of African peoples at large in intergovernmental organisations (IGOs); for instance, it is a permanent observer at the United Nations General Assembly.
Both the African Union and the United Nations work in tandem to address issues of common concerns in various areas. Membership of the AU overlaps with other IGOs, and occasionally, these third-party organisations and the AU will coordinate on matters of public policy.
Many Caribbean nations have sought to deepen ties with the continent of Africa. One of the leading economic partners of the continent has been the People's Republic of China (PRC). For the European Commission, the European Union's relationship with Africa is a key priority. The future Africa-EU partnership vision of the European Commission and the European External Action Service is outlined in the Joint Communication "Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa".
In regards to strengthening resilience, peace, security and governance, the African Union and the European Union recognize that resilience, peace, security and governance are all closely linked. The India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) is the official platform for the African-Indian relations. IAFS is held once in every three years.
The African Union periodically invites the President of the State of Palestine to make an opening speech during its annual Summit in Addis Ababa. According to Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Union, during the opening of the meeting sessions, the President of the State of Palestine in person is entitled to make an opening speech.
Turkey-Africa relations have gained substantial momentum since the declaration of Turkey as a strategic partner of the continent by the African Union in January 2008. Since 2008, various major summits and meetings have been taking place between Turkey and AU. As of 2020, Turkey has embassies in 42 countries and commercial counselors in 26 countries on the Africa continent.
The AU’s first military intervention in a member state was the May 2003 deployment of a peacekeeping force of soldiers from South Africa, Ethiopia, and Mozambique to oversee the implementation of the various agreements in Burundi. AU troops were also deployed in Sudan for peacekeeping during the Darfur Conflict, before the mission was handed over to the United Nations on 1 January 2008 via UNAMID.
The AU has adopted a number of important new documents establishing norms at the continental level, to supplement those already in force when it was created.
Recent Developments and Challenges
In 2017, Donald Trump, President of the United States, issued an executive order to ban citizens from seven countries with suspected links to terrorism from entering the United States. Three of these are African countries, and members of the AU.
In response to the death of Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President of Togo, on 5 February 2005, AU leaders described the appointment of his son, Faure Gnassingbé, to the presidency to have been a military coup. Togo's constitution calls for the speaker of parliament to succeed the president in the event of his death. By law, the parliament speaker must call national elections to choose a new president within sixty days. The AU's protest forced Gnassingbé to hold elections.
On 3 August 2005, a coup in Mauritania led the African Union to suspend the country from all organisational activities. The military ouncil that took control of Mauritania promised to hold elections within two years. These were held in early 2007, the first time that the country had held elections that were generally agreed to be of an acceptable standard. Following the elections, Mauritania's membership of the AU was restored. However, on 6 August 2008, a fresh coup overthrew the government elected in 2007.
In March 2012, a military coup was staged in Mali, when an alliance of Touareg and Islamist forces conquered the north, resulting in a coming to power of the Islamists. This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Malian soldiers and the loss of control over their camps and positions. After a military intervention with help from French troops, the region was in control of the Malian army. In 2013, a summit for the African Union was held and it was decided that the African Union was going to enlarge their military presence in Mali. The AU decided to do this because of increasing tensions between al-Qaeda forces and the Mali army.
There have been several rebel groups that are vying for control of parts of Mali. These rebel groups include the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLNA), Ganda Koy, Ganda Izo, Ansar ad-Din, and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
A disputed election in December 2020 has led to intensification of the Central African Republic Civil War, displacing 200,000 people. United Nations peacekeepers, including soldiers from Russia and Rwanda, have kept the rebels out of Bangui, but rebels control much of the rest of the country. The Tigray War in Ethiopia has left millions in need of humanitarian aid. Eritrean troops are said to be supporting the Ethiopian government, and there have been border conflicts with Sudan.
The term Coup Belt originated from coups that were staged beginning in the early 2020s, including in Mali in 2020 and 2021, Guinea, Chad, and Sudan in 2021, two in Burkina Faso in January and September in 2022, and Niger and Gabon in 2023. The region also saw attempted coups in Niger and Sudan in 2021, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia in 2022, and Sudan and Sierra Leone in 2023.
One of the objectives of the AU is to "promote peace, security, and stability on the continent". Among its principles is "Peaceful resolution of conflicts among Member States of the Union through...
African Union peacekeepers
