African unity: Why the world celebrates it

Africa Day is celebrated around the world annually on May 25. Formerly known as African Freedom Day or African Liberation Day, this day marks the foundation of the Organization of African Unity  – known today as the African Union – on May 25, 1963. 

The origins of African unity

The idea of bringing together the leaders of African countries for an official conference was first proposed by Ghana. On April 15, 1958, a little over a year after the country gained independence, Kwame Nkrumah, who was then Prime Minister of Ghana, convened the First Conference of Independent States. The leaders of Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Ethiopia arrived in the city of Accra to participate in the conference. 

At the time, only eight African countries were independent. However, the conference demonstrated Africa’s strong determination to renounce colonial and imperialist rule. The meeting in Accra was the first pan-African conference which brought together various African nations, and it became a platform for further cooperation in the field of decolonization and peace efforts. 

At the conference, the participating countries adopted a special declaration and a set of political resolutions for coordinating their further work. The meeting confirmed Africa’s desire to cooperate in the field of peace and security, jointly work towards stopping the production and testing of nuclear weapons, and reduce the number of conventional weapons.

The member countries agreed to respect the UN Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence laid down at the Bandung Conference, which had been held three years earlier. The participants also agreed to strengthen solidarity with the dependent peoples of Africa, work towards eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms, and jointly defend their independence and territorial integrity.

At the next conference, held in 1960 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the member countries were joined by a ninth African nation – Cameroon, which gained independence from France and Great Britain that same year – on January 1, 1960.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of Algeria’s National Liberation Front, which led the war of independence from France in 1954-1962, and delegates from Nigeria, Somalia, and Congo (Leopoldville), who had the right to an advisory vote. The latter countries declared independence shortly after the conference. 

At the 1960 meeting, the participants first drew attention to the danger of neocolonialism. They decided to establish control over foreign companies and to require Western powers to set exact dates for granting independence to the remaining African nations. 

Addis Ababa summit 

The question of creating a political organization made up of African nations was finally settled in May 1963. That year, the pan-African conference, which was again held in Addis Ababa at the invitation of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, was attended by representatives of 31 African countries, who proclaimed the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

The OAU was established on May 25, 1963 – the day which later became known as Africa Day. In one way or another, this day is commemorated all over the world, and in some African countries, including Ghana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mali, and Zambia, Africa Day is a public holiday.

The organization’s core principles included strengthening unity and solidarity, developing comprehensive cooperation between African nations, protecting the independence and territorial integrity of the countries, eliminating all forms of colonialism, preventing interference in internal affairs, and settling conflicts in a peaceful way. Members of the OAU agreed to coordinate their actions in the fields of foreign policy, economy, defense and security, science and technology, education, culture, and healthcare. 

One of the OAU’s main tasks was to promote the decolonization of African countries such as Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, and Southern Rhodesia. The OAU promised to support the fight for freedom in these countries and to close military access to colonial powers. A charter was also adopted to improve the living conditions of OAU member states throughout Africa, to which Selassie added the following words, “May this convention of union last 1,000 years.”

African Union 

Throughout the years, the Organization of African Unity steadily expanded. By the end of 1973, it included 42 countries. Its main governing bodies – such as the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, and the General Secretariat – were established at that time. The African Support Committee which provided aid to national liberation movements in Africa was also created, and members of the OAU agreed to contribute 1% of their national budgets to the Africa Fund.

Inter-African economic cooperation also developed. With the assistance of the OAU, the African Development Bank and the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) were founded. 

Important decisions on combating the remnants of colonialism and racism were made during the organization’s annual meetings. For example, a resolution on general disarmament, the prohibition of nuclear weapons, and the declaration of Africa as a nuclear-weapon-free zone was approved during the OAU’s second assembly, held in Cairo in July 1964. 

At the fifth assembly, which was held in Algeria in 1968, the OAU condemned the actions of Israel – which captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem,and the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War – and demanded the liberation of all occupied Arab territories. In 1971, the so-called “Declaration on the Question of Dialogue” was adopted at a meeting in Addis Ababa. This document rejected the idea of a “dialogue” between independent African nations and South Africa, where the apartheid regime was still in force. 

South Africa became a full member of the OAU only in 1994, after the end of apartheid. On July 9, 2002, thirty-nine years after its establishment, the Organization of African Unity was transformed into the African Union (AU), with South Africa as one of its founders. 

Although the headquarters of the AU is still in Addis Ababa, its legislative body, the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), is located in Midrand – a suburb of Johannesburg. 

Agenda 2063

Although the need for a “broader mandate to meet the challenges of a rapidly globalizing era” led to the formation of the African Union, pan-Africanism and the unification of Africa remain one of the AU’s main goals. Despite the fact that the AU is a political organization, it pays particular attention to economic integration as a means of achieving political unity.

The African Union adopted an important document titled “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want,” which defines Africa’s goals in the coming decades. It was adopted during the celebration of the OAU/AU’s Golden Jubilee in 2013 and is a sort of blueprint for the continent’s future (2063 being the 100th anniversary of the organization) as seen by AU and African leaders. 

The document outlines social and economic development, continental and regional integration, democratic governance, and peace and security issues. The agenda also confirms the AU’s pan-African course. 

In 2018, the African Continental Free Trade Area was established as a means to encourage the development of continental and regional integration. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the project was launched only in 2021. However, in the future this initiative could help eliminate economic barriers that facilitated the trade of African companies with foreign markets but hindered intra-continental business operations. 

Meanwhile, certain other goals outlined in Agenda 2063 have not yet borne fruit. For example, the presence of terrorist organizations in the Sahel and Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram militant groups in Somalia and Nigeria demonstrate that the organization needs to update its security policy. There are also problems in the economic field. As a result of Covid-19, the continent’s economic growth slowed to 3.3% in 2020, and Africa entered its first recession in 25 years.

Despite the fact that the organization has made great progress since its founding, Africa Day serves as a reminder that the AU still has a long way to go to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063. 

What’s so special about Africa? 

Africa is the second largest and most populous continent after Asia. There are 54 countries in Africa, but the African Union is made up of 55 countries, including Western Sahara (SADR), which is not recognized by the UN. Between 1,000 and 2,000 languages are spoken on the continent – which, according to a report by Harvard University, is about one third of the world’s languages. There are five subregions in Africa (North, South, Central, West, and East Africa), and they all greatly differ from one another. Africa’s total area, including adjacent islands, is about 30.3 million square kilometers – which corresponds to about 6% of the total surface area of the Earth and 20.4% of its land area. As of today, the population of the African continent amounts to about 1.49 billion people.

With its great number of countries and ethnic groups, Africa is a treasure trove of languages, traditions, and cultures.

Celebrating Africa Day 

When representatives of Africa’s 31 sovereign nations met for the first time in 1963, an Africa that would be completely free from the apartheid regime and colonialism seemed like a distant dream. 60 years later, the dream has come true: today, the African Union consists of 55 sovereign member states that jointly act in accordance with the concept of “an Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”

The theme for Africa Day 2023 was “Our Africa, Our Future.” It reminded all Africans that the continent belongs to them, and that they are the ones who should shape its future. This theme echoed the words of Haile Selassie, spoken at the organization’s first meeting in 1963, “Africa is today at the midcourse, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of Tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past into the future. The task on which we have embarked, the making of Africa, will not wait. We must act, to shape and mould the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history.” 

Every year ahead of Africa Day, the African Union sets a special theme for the celebrations, which it considers particularly important. The 2024 theme is: “Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century.”  The AU attributes the urgency of this problem to the global education crisis and challenges in meeting the organization’s Sustainable Development goals.

The fundamental human right to education is essential for progress, but access to education remains a problem for Africa’s young people. One of the most problematic regions is sub-Saharan Africa, where, according to UNESCO, one-fifth of African children aged 6 to 11 do not attend school, and 60% of young people aged 15-17 do not have a basic education. Africa’s main challenges include the lack of access to schooling, the poor quality of education, and gender inequality. One of the AU’s goals is to alter this situation across the whole continent.