{"id":16837,"date":"2022-05-25T10:25:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T08:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.kivuavenir.com\/?p=16837"},"modified":"2022-05-25T10:25:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T08:25:38","slug":"pan-african","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kivuavenir.com\/en\/pan-african\/","title":{"rendered":"Pan-African integration has made progress but needs a change of mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"

Integration would mean a truly united Africa \u2013 either a federalist \u201cUnited States of Africa\u201d or the African Union (AU) exercising\u00a0binding powers over member states<\/a>. At present the AU merely serves as a platform for coordinating the interactions of its\u00a055 member states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although some progress has been made, more needs to be done to achieve the goal of integration.<\/p>\n

Member states need to move beyond paying lip service to unity, and empower critical AU organs. This requires a shift in mentality. States need to appreciate the need to sacrifice some autonomy for common socioeconomic and political gains. Lacklustre commitment to continental integration is connected with Africa\u2019s peripheral position in global dynamics.<\/p>\n

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In my view, as a researcher of the institutional dynamics of Africa\u2019s integration process, pan-African integration is in a crucial phase. This phase is as important as the creation of the Organisation of African Unity\u00a0in 1963<\/a>\u00a0and its eventual replacement with the AU\u00a020 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A pan-African worldview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a 1969 speech, the then Tanzanian president, Julius Nyerere,\u00a0captured<\/a>\u00a0what the African worldview entails:<\/p>\n

We recognise that we are involved in the world and that the world is involved in us. Involvement without understanding, however, can be embarrassing and even dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

A pan-Africanist worldview understands that the continent cannot exist in isolation. However, this must be accompanied by a determination to drive an agenda that enhances pan-African goals.<\/p>\n

This position reflects the views of many of Nyerere\u2019s contemporaries, and those who came after him, on how Africa should position itself on the global stage.<\/p>\n

Kwame Nkrumah\u2019s\u00a0\u201cAfrican personality\u201d<\/a>, Thabo Mbeki\u2019s\u00a0\u201cAfrican renaissance\u201d<\/a>, and the oft-repeated\u00a0\u201cAfrican solutions to African problems\u201d<\/a>\u00a0have also been used to capture the essence of an effective pan-African worldview.<\/p>\n

Mbeki\u2019s idea speaks to restoring Africa\u2019s dignity, and pushing for its economic and political development. Nkrumah\u2019s advances the principles of societal equality. It places the community over the individual in preparing African societies to establish a federal union of African states that is assertive on the global stage.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s working<\/strong><\/p>\n

The continent has seen some positive developments that could advance integration. They include the adoption of the following instruments and processes:<\/p>\n