New growth on deep roots: prospects for an African Union government

What are the prospects for a United States of Africa?

By: Sturman K
Published by: Institute for Security Studies, 2007
Via: Eldis

This paper traces the roots of the Pan-Africanist vision for the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and then examines the prospects for its revival in the African Union (AU). It also analyses the AU Commission’s ‘Study on an African Union government towards the United States of Africa’ – a discussion document issued by the office of the chairperson of the AU Commission.

The ideals of founding fathers Nkrumah, Selassie and Nyerere did not have the support of the majority of African leaders, who were all concerned to a greater or lesser degree with the consolidation of state power. However, this began to change when members of the OAU agreed upon creating a multilateral peacekeeping force in response to foreign and unilateral interventions during conflicts such as the Chad civil war in the 1970s. Following the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (1981) signaled a gradual evolution from strict non-interventionist norms to a more interventionist role for the OAU in conflict resolution and human rights enforcement.

The transformation of the OAU to the AU shows an organisation tending towards the supranational, and proposals in the discussion government on an AU government confirm this tendency. It seems a gradualist model of regional integration may well be the more realistic course for pursuing the economic and security interests in Africa for the 21st century.

In conclusion:

• the problem with the debate on an AU government or a United States of Africa is not so much the Pan-Africanist ideas themselves, but the lack of credibility of their current proponents
  
• the proposals for a United States of Africa, brought to the table by Libya, focus on the centralisation of power without attention to democratic checks and balances
  
• consolidation of new norms of humanitarian intervention and a strong regional human rights mechanism require further debate on the rights and responsibilities of sovereignty within the AU
  
• the spirit of the Pan-Africanists can be revived, without taking literally the proposals from the Cold War era, for a United States of Africa.

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