"We all want a United Africa, United not only in our concept of what unity connotes, but united in our common desire to move forward together in dealing with all the problems that can best be solved only on a continental basis."
Kwame Nkrumah

Formation of the OAU

Long before the formation of the Organization of African Unity, a lot of effort was made to channel African inspiration for freedom, equality, justice and progress. The long years of the Pan African movement brought about the OAU. Thus, the founding of OAU is the evolutionary outcome of earlier regional and Pan-African gatherings.

The number of independent African States continued to grow at the turn of the 1960s. The need to preserve their independence, to ensure cooperation among themselves for economic and social development as well as in international affairs, and to support the independence of the rest of the African continent led African States to found a common continental platform.

Initially, Africa was divided into two groups - the Casablanca bloc and the Monrovia bloc; each with its own strategy for uniting Africa. The Casablanca Group was made up of countries which considered themselves "progressive". The Monrovia Group was more "conservative" and "gradualist". This division constituted a serious danger for the continent's integration effort.

In spite of this division into groups, African States came together and agreed on a compromise formula for achieving unity. Thus the founding fathers, the Heads of State and Government of 32 independent African countries met on May 25 1963, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to lay the base for a common front. A charter institutionalizing the movement for African unity was adopted and subsequently ratified by the participating governments. Under the charter, a permanent body named the Organization of African Unity was launched.

Emperor Haile Selassie I's welcoming address struck the keynote of compromise and unity which pervaded the proceedings.

(Excerpt from the Emperor's opening speech) [Full version]

"We know that there are differences among us. Africans enjoy different cultures, distinctive values, special attributes. But we also know that unity can be and has been attained among men of the most disparate origins, that difference of race, of religion, of culture, of tradition, are no insuperable obstacles to the coming together of peoples. History teaches us that unity is strength and cautions us to submerge and overcome our difference in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity...

... Unless the political liberty for which Africans have for long struggled is complemented and bolstered by a corresponding economic and social growth, the breath of life which sustains our freedom may flicker out."

During the conferences of independent African States held in the early years, economic problems to be faced by independent Africa were noted. There was consensus that the smallness and fragmentation of post-colonial African national markets constituted a major obstacle to sustaining sizeable economic operations .The importance of achieving sustainable economic development through cooperation was recognized.

(Excerpt from Kwame Nkrumah's speech) [Full version]

"No independent African State today by itself has a chance to follow an independent course of economic development, and many of us who have tried to do this have been almost ruined or have had to return to the fold of the former colonial rulers. This position will not change unless we have a unified policy working at the continental level...

We need a unified economic planning for Africa. Until the economic power of Africa is in our hands, the masses can have no real concern and no real interest for safeguarding our security, for ensuring the stability of our regimes, and for bending their strength to the fulfilment of our ends. With our united resources energies and talents, we have the means, as soon as we show the will, to transform the economic structures of our individual states from poverty to that of wealth, from inequality to the satisfaction of popular needs. Only on a continental basis shall we be able to plan the popular utilization of all our resources for the full development of our continent."

Thus from the beginning the need for economic cooperation was identified and was also incorporated into Article 2 of the charter- "the Member States shall coordinate and harmonize their general policies, especially in the vital sectors of the economy, transport and communications."

In addressing the economic problems of the continent, the OAU has adopted various resolutions and declarations on economic development and integration of African countries at its summits in Algiers (September 1968), Addis Ababa (August 1970 and May 1973) and Libreville (July 1977). In December 1976, it adopted the Kinshasa Declaration calling for the establishment of an African Common Market within 15 -25 years. Also, in July 1979, African Heads of State and Government adopted the Monrovia Declaration of commitment " to promote the economic and social development and integration of our economies with a view to achieving an increasing measure of self-sufficiency and self-sustainment"

In 1980 the OAU Extraordinary Summit adopted the Lagos Plan of Action, which incorporated all the implementation guidelines of the previous resolutions and declarations. It called for a far-reaching regional approach to the socio-economic problems of the continent, with the ultimate creation of an African Common Market as a major step towards the continent's union.

The commitments in the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos were translated into concrete form in Abuja, Nigeria, in June 1991, when the OAU Heads of States and Government signed the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. It provided a framework to achieve regional integration on the continent by consoldiating the over fifty-odd national economies into a single continental market through a gradual process of coordination, harmonization and progressive integration through the activities the existing and future regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa.

The Abuja Treaty has been in operation since May 1994 when the required number of instruments of ratification for its coming into force was deposited. Currently, the OAU is officially referred to as the OAU/AEC.

The fourth Extraordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of African Heads of State and Government met in September 1999 in Sirte, Libya and adopted the Sirte Declaration. The thrust of this declaration is indeed to emphasize the expediency of the Abuja Treaty by establishing an African Union and all related institutions, including the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Union, the African Court of Justice and the Pan-African Parliament. Following this, the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted during the Lome Summit of the OAU on 11 July 2000 to replace the OAU Charter. It came into effect officially on May 26 2001, thirty days after the deposit of the instruments of ratification by 2/3 of the members of the OAU, However the charter remains operative for a transitional period of one year.

African Union

From 9-11 July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia, at the fifth Extraordinary Session, Africa set a new direction for the future with the official formation of the African Union (AU). The AU aims at political and economic integration that will pave the way to a better life for all Africans.

(Excerpt from K. Y. Amoako's, opening statement at the Lusaka Summit) [Full version]

"By moving ahead with the African Union, this meeting represents a historic opportunity to accelerate regional integration - a challenge to Africa made more demanding today by the far-reaching changes occurring in the global economy. A pragmatic regional integration agenda holds out the prospects of improved living standards for our people and the dividends of assured peace and stability that will accrue from the synergies between diplomacy and development. It also offers a gateway for our continent to enter the competitive global market. Furthermore a strong regional economy can facilitate the pooling of risks between otherwise vulnerable economies, and enable the continent to exploit complementarities and attract the levels of investment required to sustain economic growth and development in Africa"

The Constitutive Act of the African Union states that there will be an Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Union and the Secretariat will be called a Commission. An Executive Council of Ministers of the Union is expected to be very active, as well as the Pan- African Parliament of the Union. There will also be a permanent Representative Committee, a Specialized Technical Committee of the Union, an Economic, Social, and Cultural Council, a Court of Justice and Financial institutions.

The objectives of the Union as stated in the Constitutive Act the are to;

(a) Achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the peoples of Africa;

(b) Defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States;

(c) Accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;

(d) Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its peoples;

(e) Encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

(f) Promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;

(g) Promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;

(h) Promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments;

(i) Establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and in international negotiations;

(j) Promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the integration of African economies;

(k) Promote co-operation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African peoples;

(l) coordinate and harmonize the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;

(m) Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology;

(n) Work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and the promotion of good health on the continent.

The African Union is modelled largely on the European Union. It will be better placed to address the enormous challenges of Africa's development.