The AU must convene a proper summit dedicated to peace building and economic integration where our leaders can speak the truth to themselves, put order and do common work. Otherwise, Africa will continue to drift from one summit to another.
If a family is meeting in one room, members are talking to themselves, exchanging polite greetings, making speeches with flowers, and walking out laughing for group photos, it’s likely that they weren’t being honest with themselves. This was my impression after the 37th Summit of the African Union, AU, from February 17 to 18 in Addis Ababa.
After attending a few AU Summits, I learned to look beyond the issue, to the recommendations and draft resolutions of the AU Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC). This body of ambassadors or representatives of the member states sets the agenda and drafts the resolutions which, with few amendments, are passed to the Summit by the Executive Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the AU.
As we can imagine, our heads of state are quite busy. So their two-day summits are effectively one day, with large chunks of that day taken up by goodwill messages from foreign officials and bodies like the United Nations. When we add the speeches of our political leaders, there is virtually no time for debate and discussion at summits.
This week’s Summit was no different, except worse in some aspects. The participation of only 35 countries was quite poor, because it meant that 20 African countries did not participate in the Summit.
Second, the unusual happened: An alleged violation of a President’s immunity and rights. Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, claimed that host Ethiopia’s security services tried to prevent him from leaving his hotel to attend the meeting. He said he had to join the escort of Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, before he could leave. The Somali president added that upon his arrival at the AU headquarters, armed Ethiopian guards tried to prevent him from entering the building. He claimed that: “A soldier with a gun stood in front of us and denied us access to this facility.” He also accused the host of “… annexing part of Somalia to Ethiopia and changing the borders of Somalia.”
The Summit appeared deaf to these complaints and to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Abiy’s statement in October 2023 that his country’s landlocked state is an unacceptable “geographic prison” that must change if peace is to prevail.
The theme of the 2024 AU Summit, “Educate an African fit for the 21st century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa” ββwas very good. However, I found the adoption by the Summit of the second 10-year implementation plan (2024-2033) of Agenda 2063, dubbed the “Decade of Acceleration”, a little problematic because we do not have the report of the First 10-year plan. It follows the path of the AU’s delusional agenda “Silencing the Guns by 2020”.
β¦these and other talks on the AU’s G20 membership do not address the continent’s immediate and fundamental challenges, which include insecurity, hunger and economic integration. For Africa to be firmly on the road to economic integration, an effective free trade area, implementable agenda 2063, peace and development, it must rebuild its broken regional blocs and ensure transnational and regional peace.
However, these and other talks on the AU’s G20 membership do not address the continent’s immediate and fundamental challenges, which include insecurity, hunger and economic integration. For Africa to be firmly on the road to economic integration, an effective free trade area, implementable agenda 2063, peace and development, it must rebuild its broken regional blocs and ensure transnational and regional peace.
The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) in North Africa, made up of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, is like a victim of kwashiokhor on life support. Its leaders last met on July 3, 2008, 16 years ago. While Tunisia struggles to recover, Libya is a failed state and Algeria maintains a principled position against Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara by the monarchy in Rabat.
In its bid to escape the regional bloc, Morocco sought asylum in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), but was denied. She had also sought to join the European Union, but was denied entry as an illegal immigrant.
Ironically, the new AU President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, is the President of Mauritania, a country that seceded from ECOWAS in 2000 while remaining in a comatose AMU.
The East African Community (EAC), which includes the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, is one of the oldest and most viable blocks. It has even reached the level of recognizing the identities of member states, as a substitute for international passports. However, it has been bogged down by serious conflict, especially between the war-torn DRC and Rwanda, which allegedly supports the brutal M23 rebels. There are also ongoing disputes between Rwanda and Burundi.
The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) is also suffering from the Rwanda-DRC-Burundi crises. Furthermore, ECCAS member Cameroon has for years experienced a low-intensity civil war in its English-speaking part, as well as a sick, gerontocracy under President Paul Biya.
…the AU Summit did not even scratch the surface of the continent’s immediate security and economic challenges. When the new AU President, Ghazouani, spoke of the need to realize Africa’s socio-economic development aspirations, build continental stability and ensure Africa’s dynamic presence on the world stage, he should realize that the continent should be led with the appropriate way. direction.
Gabon is still in the hands of the military, which on August 30, 2023 overthrew President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Another ECCAS member, Chad, has been effectively under military rule for over three decades.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, served as Chad’s foreign minister. After General Mahamat Deby toppled Chad’s government on 20 April 2021, Faki ensured that the regime was free from AU sanctions.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), made up of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan, is one of the most conflict-ridden regions. Somalia has been a failed state for decades, Sudan has experienced a civil war between its army and the Rapid Support Force since April 2023, and the signs of the civil war in South Sudan are still visible. Ethiopia has been embroiled in serious conflicts with the Tigray and Amhara regions, while its Oromo ethnicity remains restless.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been perhaps the most stable, while nine of the 15 ECOWAS members face severe degrees of instability. Guinea-Bissau does not allow its parliament to function. Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are under direct military rule. the President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, is serving an illegal and unconstitutional third term. Senegalese President Macky Sall has blocked general elections and Sierra Leone claims to have foiled a coup on November 26, 2023, while Nigeria has been ravaged by terrorism, kidnappings and robberies.
Thus, the AU Summit did not even scratch the surface of the continent’s immediate security and economic challenges. When the new AU President, Ghazouani, spoke of the need to realize Africa’s socio-economic development aspirations, build continental stability and ensure Africa’s dynamic presence on the world stage, he should realize that the continent should be led with the appropriate way. direction.
The AU must convene a proper summit dedicated to peace building and economic integration where our leaders can speak the truth to themselves, put order and do common work. Otherwise, Africa will continue to drift from one summit to another.
Owei Lakemfa, former secretary general of African Workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
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