African Federation Now!

The Accra declaration

2007-07-07T10:07:00.000-04:00

The Accra Declaration adopted by the Heads of States at the conclusion of the African Union Summit states:

The Assembly of the Union, meeting at its 9th Ordinary Session in Accra, Ghana, from 1 to 3 July 2007,

RECALLING our decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 156 (VIII)adopted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2007 on the need for a “Grand Debate on the Union Government” with a view to providing a clear vision of the future of the African Union and of African unity;

CONVINCED that the ultimate objective of the African Union is the United States of Africa with a Union Government as envisaged by the founding fathers of the Organization of African Unity and, in particular, the visionary leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana;

ALSO CONVINCED of the need for common responses to the major challenges of globalization facing Africa and boosting regional integration processes through an effective continental mechanism;

RECOGNIZING that opening up narrow domestic markets to greater trade and investment through freer movement of persons, goods, services and capital would accelerate growth thus, reducing excessive weaknesses of many of our Member States;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING that the Union Government should be built on common values that need to be identified and agreed upon as benchmarks;

ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of involving the African peoples in order to ensure that the African Union is a Union of peoples and not just a "Union of states and governments", as well as the African Diaspora in the processes of economic and political integration of our continent;

HEREBY DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. We agree to accelerate the economic and political integration of the African continent, including the formation of a Union Government for Africa with the ultimate objective of creating the United States of Africa.

2. We agree on the following steps to attaining the Union Government:

a) to rationalize and strengthen the Regional Economic Communities, and harmonize their activities, in conformity with our earlier decision, so as to lead to the creation of an African Common Market, through the stages set in the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (Abuja Treaty), with a reviewed and shorter timeframe to be agreed upon in order to accelerate the economic and, where possible, political integration;

b) to conduct immediately, an Audit of the Executive Council in terms of Article 10 of the Constitutive Act, the Commission as well as the other organs of the African Union in accordance with the Terms of Reference adopted by the 10th Extraordinary Session of our Executive Council held in Zimbali, South Africa on 10 May 2007;

c) To establish a ministerial Committee to examine the following:

i.) Identification of the contents of the Union Government concept and its relations with national governments;

ii.) Identification of domains of competence and the impact of the establishment of the Union Government on the sovereignty of member states;

iii.) Definition of the relationship between the Union Government and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs),

iv.) Elaboration of the road map together with timeframes for establishing the Union Government; and

v.) Identification of additional sources of financing the activities of the Union.

3. The outcome of the audit and the work of the Ministerial Committee will be submitted to the Executive Council, to make appropriate recommendations to the next ordinary session of our Assembly.

Now!

2007-07-01T10:52:00.000-04:00

Now we must be aware! Now we must act!

We must be aware of our recent history. We must be aware of the last 500 years of torture, racism, slavery, colonialism, jim crow, apartheid, lies and oppression.

We must be aware of our lot. Of suffering, disadvantage, ignorance, war, poverty, disease and death.

Now we must act!

The 9th ordinary session of the heads of state of Africa starts today, the only agenda is the grand debate on African Unity. Act!

East African Federation Now!

2007-06-19T19:43:00.000-04:00

Friends,

First I must apologize for not updating this blog as frequently as I should. Work and professional commitments have been overwhelming in recent times and as a result I haven't had as much time to research and write. As a result I will only be updating this blog once a week. I know that this may not be a very comprehensive treatment of the subject matter since there is so much to say and write. I am working to remedy that and hopefully the situation will be resolved soon. Bear with me.

To the matter at hand. Good things are happening. Some have said this is the African millennium, and the events shaping up on the continent may be setting the stage for just that.

I think the most encouraging developments this week are the accession of Rwanda and Burundi into the East African Community(EAC).

Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda went on record saying "the community was the only answer to the "colonial irrationalities" that divided Africa with artificial borders. He said East Africa was the most well-placed to lead Africa out of "the straight jacket of political balkanisation."

"A balkanised African continent will not guarantee the future of the black race as well as other African peoples," he argued.

He warned that Africa was now threatened by global warming. "Who is responsible for global warming? Certain countries which I do not want to mention because I might not be given aid," Museveni explained, drawing laughter from the audience.

Speaking in a mixture of Kiswahili and English, he outlined what he described as other distortions that colonialists created. For instance, he said, the hinterland of Uganda was cut off from its gateway along the Kenyan and Tanzanian coastlines.

You can read all about it here and here

Federation

The East African Community is seeking to fast track it's formation into a political federation. In fact the plan is to write a constitution that will see East Africa have a single government and one President by 2009, and presidential and parliamentary elections by universal suffrage by the year 2013.

In effect East Africa( specifically Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) should be functioning as a single country by 2009.

This will provide considerable impetus for the unity of the rest of the continent. East Africa intends to lead by example, be one of the foundations for African Unity and provide a considerable boost to the momentum for African Federation, which is growing.

East Africa is already engaging its citizens in this discussion, village meetings sponsored by each of the governments have been collecting views on this initiative. A people driven initiative. The outcome has been positive given that most East Africans, predictably, are for Federation.

Progress has been good. According to a recent report on the matter:

A committee led by Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako, consulted East Africans and had recommended that a referendum be held in September 2009 to decide on a federal President and Parliament by 2013.

According to the Wako report, the East African federation would be launched in 2010 with the presidents holding rotational presidency and the first elections for a new federal president and Parliament would take place between January and March 2013.

The three countries which were joined by Rwanda and Burundi yesterday are currently carrying out nationwide consultative meetings seeking views on the fast-tracking of the political federation.

According to President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya:

"With a land area of 1.9 million square kilometers of Africa's most productive landscapes, continued GDP growth of over $41 billion, the East African Community has the potential to be a formidable economic power. E.A. sovereignty will be fundamental to buttressing and building a political entity with democracy."

At the just concluded summit the East African heads of state also agreed to hasten the fast-tracking of East Africa's political federation which would see one political head leading the five East African Community(EAC) members by 2013.

Read about this initiative here , here and here

Private initiatives

Some pro-african business initiatives, led by pan-africanist visionaries are already using business to realize the goal of African Unity. One noteworthy, and profitable initiative is known as the One network.

This effort has already earned international recognition and is singular in it's ambition, vision and scale.

As one report put it:

A leading pan African mobile phone network has expanded its One Network to include East and Central Africa and more than 160 million people in six countries.

Celtel International, the leading pan-African mobile telecommunications company announced today that it was expanding One Network, the world's first borderless mobile network, to include the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of Congo. This comes nine months after the successful launch of One Network in East Africa(Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi).

In September 2006, Celtel made history by breaking boundaries and offering its customers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders without roaming call surcharges and without having to pay to receive incoming calls. This initiative made news worldwide; as it was the first time a mobile company was able to completely remove traditional roaming charges and offer its customers the same services abroad that they could access in their home country such as airtime transfer from friends - Me2u, voicemail and customer service in their local languages.

Following the East Africa One Network launch a great proportion of customers in the region are now benefiting from the service. Speaking last September in Kampala, Nairobi, and Dar es Salaam during simultaneous press briefings Celtel told the public that this was only the beginning of their efforts to connect Africa as no other mobile phone operator has been able to do to date, and that their efforts would not stop within East Africa. Under a year later this promise has been realized by expanding the service to include three other countries within Central Africa.

Commenting on the expansion of One Network, Moez Daya, Chief Executive Officer of Celtel International said, "We are delighted to bring 160 million people from East and Central Africa closer together through One Network. In a region historically dependent on freedom of movement across borders, we are now offering a communications solution that fits the needs of our customers, breaking down barriers and making life better for businesses, families and individuals from West to East. We have made the service easy to use and convenient by putting in place more than 140,000 places where our customers can buy airtime."

Following the expansion of One Network the only change for users within East Africa will be the introduction of the three new Central African countries; Republic of Congo, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Following today's One Network extension into Central Africa, post-paid and pre-paid Celtel subscribers in all six countries will now be able to make calls at local rates, receive incoming calls free of charge and top-up their pre-paid phones with locally-bought airtime cards. Alternatively, Celtel's prepaid customers may top up their accounts with airtime cards they have brought from their home networks, whether in the Republic of Congo, Gabon, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda. The One Network service is automatically activated upon crossing the geographic border into one of the six countries, with no prior registration required or sign-up fee charged.

Read all about it here

For the interested

Finally a note on history. I'm only including this since African history is an area of interest for me and perhaps some of the readers of this blog.

Recent findings have had to revisit the stature of the ancient kingdoms of Kush and Nubia. Research and archaeological findings this year place these two kingdoms on the same stature as ancient Egypt. The three Kingdoms had thriving trade between them, wars and rivalries and were equal in status. This overturns previous notions that tended to elevate the status of ancient Egypt over it's two neighbors.

The BBC report on the findings in Sudan is available here

Africa: The next chapter

2007-06-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

Africa: The next chapter was the theme of the just concluded TED Global Conference.

The introduction read:

Over the past few years, a growing number of people in the TED community have become passionate about Africa, a continent that appears to be at an important tipping point. Its problems and challenges are well known. Less well known is that across the continent, change is afoot. Instead of relying only on development aid, Africans across the continent are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Ingenious solutions are being applied to tackle some of the toughest health and infrastructure problems. Businesses are being launched that are capable of transforming the lives of millions. New communication technologies are allowing ideas and information to spread, enabling markets — and governments — to be more efficient. And the numbers suggest that incomes are starting to nudge up in some countries and real growth is on the way. A new Africa beckons.....

Check it out here

African renewal - Thabo Mbeki

2007-06-06T14:11:00.000-04:00

THE AU DETERMINED TO ACCELERATE AFRICAN RENEWAL - MBEKI

The three-day meeting of the African Heads of State and Government (28-30 January, 2007) in Addis Ababa marked steady progress on a number of fronts – despite negative press accounts of the meeting. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa provides an interesting perspective on the steady and deliberate steps that are being taken by African leaders to move the continent closer to integration and renewal.

Writing in the ‘ANC Today – the online voice of the African National Congress’ – President Mbeki noted there were more reasons to celebrate and be hopeful about than fret in hopelessness.

During the last few days, from 28-30 January, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, home to the headquarters of the African Union, hosted meetings of the NEPAD Heads of State Implementation Committee, the African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government, and the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

The website “EUX.TV” entitled its report on the Assembly, datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, with the words, “African Union ends without progress”.

A Pan African News Agency (PANA) report carried by “Africa News”, also datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, was headed “African Union summit fails to agree on an African government”.

The website “allAfrica.com” published a report attributed to the "Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)”, again datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, entitled “Somalia: AU Summit Concludes with Failure of Raising 8,000 Peacekeepers for Somalia”.

The Canadian newspaper, the “Globe and Mail”, published an Associated Press (AP) report, once more datelined Addis Ababa, headed, “Sudan again fails in bid to lead African Union”.

Our own “Beeld” newspaper carried an article, again datelined Addis Ababa, entitled, “SA denies buying time on crime”. Among other things this article said “the report of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on South Africa was not tabled before the AU’s heads of state, as planned”. It said “The South African government has strongly denied that it intervened on Sunday to prevent discussion by the African Union of a report that strongly criticised the crime rate in this country, (South Africa), among other things.”

The “Beeld” report went further to say that I had made some comments about the APRM report on South Africa, while “attending the AU’s biannual conference in the Tanzanian capital”. The report concluded with the account that, “In his opening address on Sunday, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria said the APRM project was intended to help countries learn from each other’s mistakes, but this would work only if there was no political interference.”

Don't believe the hype

This and other reports and the headlines we have cited convey a dismal message of African failure and an entrenched, virtually genetic, African disaster.

They convey the message once communicated by a prestigious European magazine a few years ago under the dramatic title, “Africa: the Hopeless Continent”.

They suggest the persistence of a psychological fixation that feeds a centuries-old and deeply entrenched global Afro-pessimism that is incapable of comprehending any facts indicating that our continent is steadily responding to its most important challenges.

With regard to the simple matter of facts, contrary to what the “Beeld” says, Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia and not Tanzania.

The APRM reports are presented to the APR Forum, and not the “AU heads of state”. Because of this, the perfectly public agenda of the “AU (Assembly of) heads of state (and government), which any ordinary journalist can obtain freely and easily, has no agenda item headed, for instance, “APRM reports”.

This is because the “AU heads of state” never discuss or have the structural possibility to consider the APRM reports. This is because accession to the APRM is entirely voluntary, and currently involves 26 of the 53 Member States of the African Union.

In addition, the “Beeld” reporter who wrote that Nigerian President Obasanjo delivered his “opening address” at the APR Forum “on Sunday (28 January)”, which would consider the APRM reports, should be aware of the simplest of facts that the “AU (Assembly) of heads of state” began the following day, Monday 29 January, and not Sunday.

This reporter should have known that the “opening address” at the meeting of “AU heads of state” would be made by the then current Chairperson of the AU, President Denis Sassou-Nguessou of Congo- Brazzaville, and not the President of Nigeria.

On 26 January we arrived in Davos, Switzerland to attend the annual global conference of the World Economic Forum. On this occasion, on the same day, among other things, we served on a Panel convened to debate the topic “Delivering on the Promise of Africa”.

One of the members of this Panel was a major German media owner and publisher. Of the greatest importance with regard to this important global agenda item and the Davos setting, this Panelist distinguished himself by directly addressing the set topic - the Promise of Africa - in plain language, without resort to the traditional “politically correct” rhetoric. (The members of this Panel, moderated by the Reuters Chairperson, Niall Fitzgerald, were Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf, President of Liberia; UK Prime Minister Tony Blair; President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka; Bill Gates of the Gates Foundation; Hubert Burda of the German Burda Media; Pat Davies of SASOL; Madame Sadako Ogata, former Japanese UN High Commissioner for Refugees and current head of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, Kumi Naidoo, CEO of the non-governmental Civicus-World Alliance for Citizen Participation; and the well-known popular musician and defender of the interests of the peoples of the developing countries, Bono.) (South Bulletin- 139 59 15 February 2007 3 )

In his statement during the Panel discussions, the German media Panelist to whom we have referred, Hubert Burda, strongly denounced the unfortunate reality in terms of which the media, including his own, is enslaved by a highly negative stereotype of Africans and Africa, refusing to see, acknowledge and report the very many positive things the peoples of Africa are and have been doing to extricate themselves from a centuries-old crisis of dehumanisation.

Speaking during the proceedings of the Panel, I was very pleased publicly to thank him for what he said and to appeal to him to work with us to respond to the difficult challenge to tell the objective truth about our Continent, honestly reflecting both the good and the bad.

What has been reported at home and abroad concerning the recent 28-30 January proceedings in Addis Ababa, as reflected above, relative to the distinct and separate institutions constituted by the APR Forum, the NEPAD Heads of State & Government Implementation Committee, and the AU Assembly of Heads of State & Government, forcefully reminded us of the honest and heartfelt remarks that Hubert Burda had made about reporting contemporary Africa in Davos, Switzerland on 26 January.

In its 2007 January 8th Statement issued on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary of our movement, our National Executive Committee directed that one of the milestones we must celebrate this year is “the 50 Anniversary of the independence of Ghana, a watershed moment in Africa’s history, giving impetus to the process of de-colonisation on the continent and engendering a renewed sense of a common African destiny”.

When it considered the issue of who should serve as the 2007 Chair of the AU, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government made the determination that it should elect President John Kufuor of Ghana to this important and prestigious position.

This was a unanimous decision that was proposed, among others, by President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. Like our movement, as reflected in our January 8th Statement, the AU felt that everything should be done to commemorate the historic independence of Ghana in 1957.

The decision taken by the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, concerning who should chair the Union during 2007, had absolutely nothing to do with humiliating or rejecting Sudan and President Omar al-Bashir!

As a demonstration of their intent fully to honour the 50th Anniversary of the rebirth of Ghana, the African Heads of State and Government will gather in Accra, Ghana in March 2007, and again in July 2007, to celebrate Ghana’s independence, attend to the ordinary business of the African Union, and reflect on the challenge further to accelerate progress towards African integration and unity.

Hopefully, during the July Ghana meetings, the African Peer Review Mechanism Panel (APRM) will also table before the APR Forum of the Heads of State and Government whose countries have acceded to the APRM, its considered and final reports on Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa. (Incidentally and fortuitously, these happen to be the three countries that led the historic African initiative that gave birth to NEPAD and its organically associated African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).)

In this regard, we must also mention the fact that in its meeting in Addis Ababa, the Implementation Committee of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government decided that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, should succeed President Obasanjo of Nigeria as Chairperson of the NEPAD Head of State and Government Implementation Committee, and Chairperson of the APR Forum, once President Obasanjo ceases to serve as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, after the April/May 2007 democratic elections in Nigeria.

Those of us who serve within the structures of the African Union, and daily bear the responsibility to respond to what the World Economic Forum described as the Promise of Africa, have a task to address Africa’s actual and real challenges.

To succeed in what we have to do, in the interest of the African masses, this means that we must separate prejudice and illusion from the hard and exciting reality of the actuality of the evolving African condition.

As a consequence of this, we celebrate the fact that for the first time ever, at the 2007 Addis Ababa AU Assembly, a united Africa had occasion to celebrate the fact that in 2010, our Continent would, for the first time, have the possibility to host the eminent global sports tournament, the FIFA Soccer World Cup.

As a result, the assembled African Heads of State and Government had the possibility, for the first time, to listen to the Presidents of FIFA and CAF and, incidentally, a head of government from Trinidad and Tobago, who could speak for the African Diaspora in the Caribbean.

They also launched the International Year of African Football. We also celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa AU Assembly took the positions it did, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the independence of Ghana.

This will enable our Continent to engage in a critical assessment of what its independence from colonialism and apartheid has meant, and therefore what it should do to address the common aspirations that the African masses have shared for a long time, in favour of African unity and an African Renaissance.

We celebrate the fact that in Addis Ababa, Africa’s political leaders took the decision to involve the African masses in deciding what needs to be done to achieve the purposes of the African Revolution, including the advance towards the realisation of the objective of African unity.

We welcome the fact that in July, as decided in Addis Ababa, Africa’s political leaders will meet in Ghana in a special two-day session solely to address this important issue.

We celebrate the fact that when it applauded President Obasanjo’s valedictory address, the Assembly confirmed its determination to respect constitutional rule and the rule of law, as a result of which President Obasanjo would not seek to serve during a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Assembly also adopted the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, saying that it constituted “a major step towards the realisation of the democratic agenda of the Union.”

We celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa Assembly paid particular attention to the critical issue of Africa’s involvement in the development of science and technology, resulting in the adoption of an African Indicative Plan focused on the development and application of science and technology to address our Continent’s challenges, including mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change.

We celebrate the fact that, in Addis Ababa, Africa’s political leaders reaffirmed their determination to mobilise all our resources successfully to accomplish the task to ensure security and stability in all our countries.

This represents a binding commitment by all member states of the AU to contribute whatever they can towards the resolution of such confl icts as confront Sudan, Somalia, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Guinean (Conakry), Chad and so on.

We celebrate the fact that the Assembly approved a budget that will provide substantial funds for the implementation of the programmes of the Union. In the past the Union depended on voluntary contributions by the member states and donations from the rest of the world to fund its programmes. This has seriously affected its capacity to advance the objectives spelt out in the Constitutive Act.

We celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa Assembly attracted perhaps the largest number ever of representatives of important non-African countries and multilateral organisations, all of which sought to engage the AU in constructive dialogue. The presence and addresses of the UN SG, the SG of the Arab League, the President of the Palestine Authority, the Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Italy, the Presidents of FIFA and CAF, the CEOs of the ADB, FAO and UNESCO, senior representatives of the EU, the US, UK, French and Iranian governments, and so on, all confirmed that we have succeeded to place Africa among the leading items on the global agenda.

We celebrate the fact that during the few days of our presence in Addis Ababa, we witnessed the opening in the city the first ever campus outside our country of the University of South Africa (UNISA).

This demonstrated Africa’s commitment to put in place the building blocks we need to achieve the objective of African solidarity, integration and unity, specifically focused on using our national strengths to accelerate balanced and mutually beneficial development among our countries. In this regard the Assembly accepted the report of the NEPAD Heads of State & Government Implementation Committee, which include a decision to undertake a comprehensive review of the functioning of the programme ahead of the June G8 Summit Meeting in Germany, which will discuss its cooperation with Africa as one of its principal agenda items.

Significantly, the Assembly also accepted a proposal made by the African Ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs for the elaboration of an African Charter on Statistics. The Charter will be considered by the AU Executive Council (the Foreign Ministers) at its meeting in July. The decision of the Assembly said the Charter “will provide a lasting solution to issues related to the production of statistics on our Continent.” (Clearly the Continent needs accurate statistics precisely to measure the progress we are making in addressing our challenges.

However, the decision to elaborate the African Charter on Statistics emphasises the point that much of what is presented as fact, concerning our Continent, is little more than guess work.

Of course, this gives the possibility to all and sundry to characterise our Continent in any way they wish.

The January 2007 Eighth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU confirmed that our Continent remains united in its determination to pursue the objectives fundamental to the African Renaissance.

These include promoting African integration and unity, ensuring peace and stability, entrenching democracy and a culture of human rights, accelerating socio-economic development to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment, and ensuring that Africa takes its rightful place within the world community of nations.

As an expression of its commitment to achieve these objectives, the Assembly took important decisions to assess the effectiveness of the institutions of the African Union precisely to ensure that Africa realises the faster progress that it needs to achieve.

The AU must ensure that it has the capacity to attain the important goals it has set itself. This is what the January 2007 Eighth Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly decided. With that, it conveyed an unequivocal message of hope to all the peoples of Africa.

This article is reproduced from the South center bulletin (South Bulletin-139 60 15 February 2007 4) of February 2007. Available here

This is another article by President Mbeki, which though unrelated to African Federation, should be very stimulating.

It is a reflection on visit to Vietnam and says in part:

We were privileged recently to make a highly successful state visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This was the first time that I and many in our delegation had occasion to be in a country that had inspired us, for many decades, with an unprecedented example of heroism and self-sacrifice in the struggle for freedom and national independence.

As we grew up in our own liberation movement and struggle, we accepted at least two of Vietnam's outstanding leaders, the late President Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho), and General Giap, as our own leaders. Constantly, we sought to understand what they stood for, what they said, and what they did, because we felt that all this was directly relevant to the victory of our own struggle.

As members of the ANC Youth League and Youth and Student Section, we drew inspiration from the fact that in 1954 the Vietnamese people had scored a famous victory against the French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu. For our education about this and other matters pertaining to the progressive struggle at home and abroad, we were privileged to have access to the progressive newspaper, New Age, until it was banned.

Among my treasured souvenirs from the visit to Vietnam are some books by General Giap, the great military leader who led the Vietnamese armed forces in the titanic struggles stretching over a period of 30 years, from 1945, during which they defeated first the French armed forces in 1954, and then the US armed forces in 1975.

In many ways, the victories of the Vietnamese people against the major world powers during the 20th century echoed the historic successes scored by the African slaves of Haiti at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, when they defeated the Spanish, British and French military machines.

Surely, one day, when we act to expose our youth to the historic struggles of the oppressed for their liberation, we will communicate the unequivocal message that the victories in Haiti and Vietnam occupy pride of place among the great moments that they and all freedom-loving people should celebrate for all time...........

Thabo Mbeki

Submission from Civil Society Organisations to the Pan African Parliament- The way forward

2007-06-05T12:21:00.000-04:00

Submission from Civil Society Organisations to the Pan African Parliament on the Proposal for Continental Government

14 May 2007, Gallagher Estate, Midrand, South Africa

Thirty-five African and international civil society organisations working in over forty African countries participated in the first Consultative Dialogue with the Pan Africa Parliament under the theme “Building Effective Mechanisms for Civil Society Engagement with Pan African and Regional Institutions”.

Aware of the 7th ordinary session of the Pan African Parliament being held under the theme of “African Union Government”, the Consultative Dialogue provided an opportunity for civil society organisations to reflect on the proposal on the Union Government in preparation for the African Union Summit in June 2007 in Accra, Ghana.

After carefully studying the Study for the Proposal for Continental Government and the Study into the Modalities for Continental Government, it is clear that without the full involvement and participation of African women and men, the vision of a Peoples Union will not be realised. In this regard, the Pan African Parliament could play a pivotal role in catalysing informed dialogue at both continental and national levels.

Consequently, we hereby recommend to Honourable Members of the Pan African Parliament that they consider including in their position on Continental Government, the following seven points;

1. Support the vision of deeper political and economic continental integration underpinned by the principles of democracy and rights based governance

2. A commitment to inform their National Assemblies and convene public consultations before the July Summit

3. Prioritisation in the work of the Pan African Parliament committees, the national implementation of continental legal instruments and policies;

4. A proposal to the Heads of States in July for clear consultation mechanisms for African citizens prior to all of the decision-making stages of the Continental Government;

5. A clear call to the Heads of States to immediately abolish visas for Africans travelling within Africa, as a precursor to the lifting of all restrictions on African men and women to reside, work and trade throughout Africa;

6. A further call for a clear domestic financing strategy for the proposed new functions, which may include the options of taxing air flights and other creative ways of raising revenue for the Union Government and lastly;

7. The need for increased speed in rationalising the regional economic communities so that they can become effective building blocs for continental integration.

While institutional renewal and consultation within the African Union and its Specialised Organs is important, the immense political will needed to realise political and economic integration will only be sustained if our peoples are informed and supportive of such efforts. A public mandate is necessary for Continental Government to succeed.

We urge members of the Pan African Parliament, in true recognition of their representative role, to champion this process. Lastly, we assure the Pan African Parliament of our commitment to sustain the dialogue through regular submissions and interaction.

Signed by participants from the following organisations who attended the Consultative Dialogue with the Pan African Parliament:

ACCORD – South Africa

ACORD

Africa Institute of South Africa

African Civil Society Organisation ACSO

African Forum for Debt and Development – AFRODAD

AFRIMAP

Centre for Policy Studies

Centre for Public Participation

CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Golden Centre of Learning

Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia

Denis Hurley Peace Institute

Economic Justice Network

Electoral Institute for Southern Africa

G20 – Platform for Civil Society Organisations - Mozambique

Institute for Democracy in South Africa

Institute for Democratic Governance - Ghana

Institute for Global Dialogue

Institute for Policy Studies

Mwelekeo wa NGO - MWENGO

Oxfam GB

SADC-Council of Non Governmental Organizations SADC-CNGO

Southern Africa Trust

Southern African Regional Poverty Network -SARPN

Southern African Research and Documentation Centre - SARDC

Electoral Institute for Southern Africa

Southern African Trade Union Co-ordination Council -SATUCC

The Centre for Multiparty Democracy - Kenya

Trust Africa

UN Millennium Campaign

University of KwaZulu-Natal- Centre for Civil Society – CCS

The Statement has been also endorsed by:

ActionAid International

Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition

Send Foundation – Ghana

Pan African Movement

Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme

Centre for Democracy and Development - Nigeria

Reflections on globalisation

2007-06-04T12:40:00.000-04:00

These are excerpts taken from an inspiring speech given by the Acting Director-General of the Institute of International Relations, Mr. Nguyen Quang Chien at the Vietnam Institute of International Relations on the occasion of Africa Day in Hanoi, 25th May 2007. The full text is available here:

The topic I was asked to focus on has been addressed extensively almost everywhere, including, I am certain, here at the Institute of International Relations.

Writing about the period between 1848-1875, in his book, The Age of Capital, historian Eric Hobsbawm says that:

"An enormous amount has already been written about the nineteenth century, and every year adds to the height and bulk of the mountain ranges which darken the historical sky."

The same can be said about the fact that so much has been written on this matter of globalisation - some good, others not that good - that "every year adds to the height and bulk of the mountain ranges which darken the historical sky". Indeed, because of the 'darkened historical sky', at times when we analyse the current era and in a sense try to illuminate the 'darkened historical sky', we fall prey to the seduction of the glitter of the modernity of the current conjecture and begin to believe, wrongly, that this is a self-contained period which can be tidily separated from other historical epochs.

So seduced, we may even convince ourselves that nothing lies beyond this self-contained period and as Francis Fukuyama boldly proclaimed at the beginning of the 1990's that this is "the end of history and the last man'.

Fortunately, real history is more dynamic, durable and complex to come to an end merely because one ideology, in this case neo-liberalism, seemed to have vanquished rival ideologies.

I therefore approach this topic on the assumption that there is a general understanding of the dialectics of history, that what is happening now has germinated from the seeds of the past and that in turn this period will leave its positive marks into the future and for us from the developing countries this will be like flowers that sprout and blossom as winter gives way to the sunshine of spring.

Often, we use the term globalisation without dissecting its meaning and in many ways we have seen those who have political and economic power in the world using the term to justify actions that benefit this small section of humanity, thus engendering strong opposition from the oppressed and the marginalized.

Accordingly, we have a situation where the powerful and the marginalized would agree on the elements that constitute globalisation but disagree on the advantages and disadvantages of the phenomenon.

Classical theorists such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels and others, engaged in a huge effort to analyse the complexities of a changing world, characterised by industrialisation as well as the globalising nature of that phenomenon.

Indeed, the phenomenon of globalisation is not new. It appeared in different forms at various periods of history.

Among others, Karl Marx spoke about this phenomenon during his time. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx said:

"The discovery of America, the rounding of the Cape, opened up fresh ground for the rising bourgeoisie. The East-Indian and Chinese markets, the colonisation of America, trade with the colonies, the increase in the means of exchange and in commodities generally, gave to commerce, to navigation, to industry, an impulse never before known, and thereby, to the revolutionary element in the tottering feudal society, a rapid development.

"Modern industry has established the world market for which the discovery of America paved the way."

He continued:

"The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere.

"The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of Reactionists, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood. All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilised nations, by industries that no longer work up indigenous raw material, but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the globe. In place of old wants, satisfied by the productions of the country, we find new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal inter-dependence of nations.

"(The bourgeoisie) compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image."

Mr. Nguyen Quang Chien continues that the above passage:

Gives a clear description of the nature of globalisation in the era of the capitalist mode of production and consumption.

The globalisation that we are engaging today is a phenomenon that has evolved in a process of qualitative historical changes that have brought about the hegemony of the capitalist mode of production and consumption on a global scale.

Although socio-economic interaction on a global scale goes back to antiquity, the difference with this phenomenon in the capitalist era is its pervasiveness and depth, reaching the most remote corners of the world as well as radically uprooting the traditions, cultures as well as social fabrics and systems everywhere.

Because of the avarice and the insatiable appetite to amass as much profit as possible and dominate markets, capitalism has to use all means possible, including military conquest so as to 'nestle everywhere, settle everywhere and establish connexions everywhere".

This insatiable appetite and the concomitant aggression to satisfy it led to the colonial and imperial invasions of vast areas of land in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Accordingly, whether in Vietnam, South Africa or Chile we see how, historically and adapting to the local conditions, the bourgeoisie has been able to give a cosmopolitan character to the capitalist mode of production and consumption.

Both before and after Marx, the globalisation of economic relations benefited the rich and the powerful. Initially, this powerful and rich group was almost exclusively confined to the colonial lands. For instance, early in the 20th century, the economist John Keynes explained the exotic lifestyles of the British when he wrote in his book 'The Economic Consequences of the Peace'. He said:

"The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such a quantity as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their delivery upon his doorstep; he could at the same moment and by the same means venture his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprises of any quarter of the world, and share, without exertion or even trouble, in their prospective fruits and advantages; .Most importantly of all, he regarded this state of affairs as normal, certain, and permanent, except in the direction of further improvement, and any deviation from it as aberrant, scandalous, and avoidable."

(P7, A Future Perfect, J. Micklethwait & A. Wooldridge, Published by Crown Publishers, 2000)

One of the central elements ensuring that the Londoner enjoyed that exotic life was the quick movement of products. The phone, the steam engine, the telegraph and the advent of electricity ensured that products could be easily ordered 'from the whole earth'; whatever quantity as might have been fit could easily be carried and delivered at his doorstep.

Clearly, the telephone, steam engine and electricity radically changed the means and pace of communication among people and between countries.

Today the rich have become richer and more extravagant while billions of people continue to live in misery, a point succinctly put by the then Administrator of the UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown, when he said:

"In large parts of the world, inequality is increasing, both within and, particularly, between rich and poor countries. Our Human Development Report estimates that the income gap between the fifth of the world's people living in the richest countries and the fifth in the poorest was 74 to 1 in 1997. This is up from 60 to 1 in 1990 and 30 to 1 in 1960.

"The international development goal of halving poverty by the year 2015 is receding fast. Of the 6 billion people on our planet, an estimated 2.8 billion are struggling to survive on less than two dollars a day. And 1.3 billion live in absolute poverty, surviving on less than one dollar a day."

(Mark Malloch Brown at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, 25 October 1999).

As in the past periods, a critical feature in the capitalist mode of production and consumption is the speed with which people, products and ideas move. While the means of transportation is still very critical and central in today's society, what has clearly made a decisive change is the speed with which information flows and the quality of such information.

This radically faster movement of information derives from the development of computer technologies, ensuring rapid computing capacity based on digitisation and the almost instantaneous transmission of information by digital signal processes through radio, satellite or fibre optic cables that have brought about a real revolution in the realm of communication as well as the dissemination and use of information and knowledge.

Although these technological advances are the continuation and modernisation of old technologies, it is their pervasive reach, their qualitative and quantitative impact on the socio-economic conditions and relations of people as well as their profound ability to supplant established social and cultural systems that distinguishes them from those of the past.

Again, as we know, all major technologies strongly influence both the means and the structure of production and this has certainly been the case with these modern technologies. Certainly, the majority that Malloch Brown spoke about are excluded in this communication and information technology.

So, what does all these mean to us, as the people of the South?

Globalisation is a fact of life. There are a number of challenges facing us developing countries. Among them is the impact this phenomenon has had on areas such as:

* domestic industries;
* trade between the developing countries and between the developing and the developed countries;
* local cultures;
* the nation-state and sovereignty;

Chairperson,

Throughout history, the rich have always been defined by the large amount of resources at their disposal. This is still the case today. One of the distinct features of the modern globalised economy is the growth and rapid national and trans-national movement of capital. Among other things, this has resulted in trade in money coming to represent much larger values than trade in goods.

The consequent ability of short-term capital to cause serious crises in the real economies of many countries, as happened in the ASEAN region in 1997/1998 has been discussed extensively. However, the availability of these large volumes of capital in the world economy also signifies the possibility to increase investment in the real economies of countries, drawing on accumulated global savings, as Vietnam has done and is doing.

The process of contemporary globalisation has also been accompanied by the further concentration and centralisation of capital, leading to the emergence of mega-corporations that play a dominant role in their sectors. We see this process continuing everyday, with regular news of mergers and acquisitions leading to the creation of more and more multinationals in various sectors such as banking, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, oil and gas, ICT, electronics and other sectors regarded as highly profitable.

The full text of this speech is available here.

Here is an interesting image I found on the BBC website of one of the Meroe pyramids of Sudan (not Egypt).

New Africa

2007-06-04T12:15:00.000-04:00

It's a good day, no an exceptional day when I read a report that starts like this:

A TOP-LEVEL United Nations (UN) report on the world economy released yesterday has heaped glowing praise on Africa, saying it is the only region in the world where growth is quickening rather than slowing.

The report goes on:

"Africa remains on the march to economic prosperity," said the updated midyear report.

"The economies of the continent are expected to grow by 6% in 2007, at a slightly stronger pace than in 2006, when an average growth of 5,6% was posted. Strong growth is expected to continue into 2008."

For once, sub-Saharan Africa was set to outperform the rest of the continent, with growth quickening to 7,1% this year from 5,9% last year . This compared with a global growth rate of 3,4% -- down from 4% last year -- while developing economies were expected to grow 6,4% against 6,9% in 2006, said the UN.

You can read the full text of the report here.

The Economics of African Federation

2007-05-30T20:55:00.000-04:00

A report "Reflections on Africa's historic and current initiatives for political and economic unity" by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) in Ibadan attempted to analyse objectively the economic and socio political impact of African regional integration.

According to NISER:

The hopes for a New International Economic Order (NIEO) arising from various international socio-economic and political negotiations, particularly after world war II (1939-1945), became largely misplaced in the 1950s through the 1960s, inter alia, due to the lopsided socio-economic development pattern which accompanied such negotiations.

For example, the terms of trade worsened for the world’s primary products producers (mostly African countries), while it improved for the producers of manufactured goods (industrialised countries such as the United States of America and the European countries).

Against this background, the progress of such African primary producers, who incidentally adopted the ‘isolationist’ development approach to their respective national development programmes, as a whole, was (and is still) no where comparable to the progress made in the rest of the world; particularly in the industrial European countries - producers of manufactured goods.

The emerging undesirable trends of socio-economic and political developments at both the pre-and post-colonial periods in the countries of these African primary producers made it clear, especially within the first decade of these African countries independence that, the development gap between them and the industrialised countries would continuously widen over time in the absence of any determined effort, on their part, to reverse the dangerous development trend. In recognition of the weaknesses in the isolationist development approach to salvage these African countries from their deplorable development position, about the only realistic option open for adoption was to take appropriate concerted measures capable of strengthening these African countries individually and collectively in order to compete more effectively in the global economy (OAU, 1963).

This initiative came simultaneously with the emergence of well-integrated nations of regional sizes, notably, the United States of America (USA), the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and China.

Probably, the consequential disparity observed between the respective eco-political powers of these large nations and regional groupings and those of the un-integrated ones combined, reinforced the African inspiration into initiating the practical move towards regional and sub-regional economic integration.

Coincidentally, there were instant experiments of this new vogue (economic integration) in Europe and Latin America, prompted largely by the great concern over economic subordination and the consequent socio-political insecurity of their respective regions when faced with the realities of the world giants at their door steps, especially in the 1940s through the 1950s.

Given the positive impacts of regional/sub-regional groupings on the Latin American and European economies, ‘economic integration’ constitutes a vogue as a concrete economic target for facilitating the attainment of the objectives of “collective self-reliance and self-sustenance” under an economic regional framework. Thus, in Africa, the lessons of experience from these experimentations could hardly have escaped the socio-economic and political elites at independence.

Against this background, regional and sub-regional groupings couched under cooperative approach to economic development, focussed on collective self-reliance, started springing up in Africa as well as the developing continents of the world.

In spite of the numerous regional/sub-regional groupings which sprang up amidst abundant development potentials (human and material resources), the pace and pattern of socio-economic and political development in the African region, particularly since the early 1980s, became susceptible to the conclusion that the direction of economic development cannot possibly guarantee rapid, effective and desirable economic transformation (Edozien and Osagie, 1982: 97-118).

This has culminated in what many analysts on African economic development define as: African countries declining GDP, high stagflation pressures, food crisis and heavy burden of external debts (Phillips, 1989).

In recognition of the foregoing development problems in Africa, the existing regional/subregional groupings have for about two decades of policy reforms in the region, initiated the move to redress the indicators of economic decline. This has therefore created an inspiration for renewed interest in regional integration as a strategy for dealing with the deep-rooted structural problems in the African region.

Based on the “Washington Consensus” of trade liberalisation, stable macroeconomic policy, getting prices right, and minimal government interference within the globalising world, more emphasis tend to be place on the opening up of African economies to international competition to return African countries to a path of sustainable growth.

Incidentally, economic growth mostly in the 1990s weakened due to such exogenous developments as drought and floods in various parts of the continent, declining aid and weakening commodity prices. In this regard, current growth rates in African countries are not enough to arrest Africa’s long-standing economic decline or have much effect on widespread poverty (UNCTAD, 1998).

With marginal results of integrative arrangements in Africa, thus far, the “Washington Consensus” acknowledges that:

(1) policy must reflect the fact that with economic liberalisation, markets may not emerge on their own, and may be sub-optimal if they do;

(2) policy must recognise and address directly structural constraints and institutional limitations if incentives are to be translated into a vigorous supply response through new investment for the expansion and rationalisation of production;

(3) in addition to the traditional challenges, governments now must cope with unprecedented acceleration of technological change and the consequences of globalisation as the new global economy does not benefit all countries equally.

On the basis of the foregoing acknowledgment has been the renewed interest in regional economic integration in Africa as a means of overcoming the constraints in individual countries related to their small size, market limitations and other structural problems.

The NISER report recognizes the changing political and social landscape in Africa. In the 1990s many African countries successfully pursued political and social reforms that resulted in a much transformed political and social landscape. Entrenched democratic and personal freedoms and a socially conscious pursuit of transparency. Most of these initiatives were homegrown mass movements. A new wave of liberation.

NISER reports that: In actual fact, the notion of good governance has assumed a central position in the discussions of Africa’s democratisation process.

Although, corruption and nepotism have played a destructive role in many of the African societies in the past, these issues are currently being attended to by many of the African Governments.

Moreover, policy stability and harmonisation that can lead to rapid development are now being taken into consideration.

In short many African societies have now realised that apart from economic gains from democratisation alongside liberalisation and globalisation, there are increasing political gains that can be achieved toward regional integration in terms of political stability of member states.

Also, regional integration has been seen by many Independent African States as impetus to possible solution to the continent’s deep and prolonged economic and social crisis.

Anaysis of preconditions

The NISER report analyses the prevailing conditions in Africa which may be beneficial to the integration efforst that African countries are currently pursuing.

Major among such preconditions are that:

1. The union must be made up of countries of equal socio-economic importance/status to avoid the fear of possible dominance - in religion, wealth, endowment, size, population etc.

2. The size of each of the members of the union must not be so large as to permit any one of them independently to contemplate an essentially national policy of industrialization as an alternative to regional coordination.

A critical examination of these preconditions shows that they are indeed appropriate and desirable for the African region often defined as a region aspiring for collective socio-economic development in diversity-social, cultural, physical and religious matters.

Conclusions

Recently, regional unity is seen in Africa as a possible solution to the continent’s deep and prolonged economic and social crisis. Also, it is seen as a means of breaking the confines of the nation-state as well as removing the multiple socio-economic barriers and thus, opening the African economies to external competition through trade and exchange competition.

A new Africa is beginning to take shape. Many of the Independent African States have been democratised. Also, a number of them have liberalised their economies. In addition, regional integration as well as globalisation are becoming fast recognised and accepted in many African countries. In actual fact, African societies are becoming more open due to the positive effects of democratisation, economic reforms and globalisation.

Given the fact that the long run prospects for rapid development of African nations lie in their success in achieving political and economic unity among and between themselves, the important question is how African countries can successfully achieve regional unity?

That is, what are the challenges facing the African societies in their attempt at regional integration?

The first assignment for the African nations is to sustain the current impacts of democracy. That is, democratisation - cum- liberalisation on the internal front in terms of continued struggle for individual democratic freedoms and rights should be vigorously pursued.

In addition to this, African nations should form themselves into a single regional trade and exchange co-operation to deal with other multilateral trading blocks such as EU, WTO, etc., rather than the current polarised regional organisations.

In actual fact, forming themselves into a single trading block will enable them not only to speak with one voice but also make them to negotiate with other multilateral trading blocks with unified terms of reference.

Moreover, problems of financing several (polarised) regional trade and economic cooperative groupings such as SADC, COMESA, SACU, EAC, IOC, ECOWAS, WAEMU, UEMOA, IGAD CEAO, etc., will be solved through the formation of a single regional trade and economic cooperation.

Further, forming themselves into one regional block will further reduce armed conflicts in several African countries.

In conclusion, regional integration will be the focus of the world economy for a long time to come. Against this background, Africa’s future initiatives should be developed to further consolidate the gains that have been achieved.

The full text of the NISER report is available here

A juicy tidbit, on this day 30 May 2001:

In Germany, lawmakers give the final approval for $4.5 billion in payments to the last uncompensated Nazi victims of slave labor.

Kinda makes you think..............

Some interesting reading, you can find the full text of the speech given by HIM Haile Selassie I on the formation of the OAU in Addis Ababa here.

Defending the African Personality

2007-05-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

One of the stated aims of the African Union and as noted in the June 2006 report on the Union Government of Africa is to effectively defend the African personality.

The subject of defending the African personality is vast, many eminent authors have written tomes on the matter and the history and philosophy of this is much too much for me to give it a fair treatment in one blog, if at all. This is a deep and complex objective, which to fully understand will take much more than this one posting of this blog.

Therefore these are just a few pertinent considerations which deal primarily with how the defence of the African persona is related to African Union and Pan-Africanism. Please bear with me and forgive my inadequate/limited treatment.

In psychology personality is a description of consistent emotional, thought, and behavior patterns in a person.

The biggest attack that the personality of most Africans has suffered is an attack on our humanity. Africans and African descendants have endured and continue to suffer racism, are often denied opportunities on the basis of race and suffer scorn.

Almost every person of color and in particular almost all Africans have endured this attack on their persona. It has become so pernicious that often Africans are guilty of perpetuating racist sentiments and ideologies. Usually because of ignorance petty racist dogmas are pronounced casually and passed off as knowledge.

The AU document states in part:

Finally, given the increasing wave of globalisation, and the emergence of strong
regional, political, economic and trading blocs in other continents, the challenges of
overdependence and under-exploitation of its potentials have increased the
marginalization of the continent in world affairs. Thus, the goal in pursuing
development through a common interest perspective is to bring about human progress
in Africa; restore human dignity to the African people and give Africa a voice in the
global order; promote progressive African social and political values and defend the African personality.

In elaborating this point it will be illustrative how and why Africans have largely lost standing in the world, and why the African personality needs defense.

Attack

Whereas Africans were not the only people who were not as technologically advanced as Europe became during and after the renaissance, no other people suffered the dehumanizing racism, slavery and attack on the personality in as harsh a way as Africans did. The residual effect of this institutionalized abuse is still felt by Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.

Professor Ali A. Marzui has described one of the ramifications of centuries of prejudice as a kind of "schizophrenia". Here is an excerpt from his paper entitled "The debate on African Identity":

Yet strictly by the measurement of technology there seems to be little doubt that African societies which developed into states were often significantly more advanced in the use of sophisticated tools than African societies which were still primarily based on a pastoral or herding way of life. Some of the African states evolved into cultures of monuments, brick and mortar civilisations. At the pyramids of the Nile or the castles in Ethiopia, or at the awesome ruins of Great Zimbabwe, or at the remains of Gedi in Kenya, one is visually reminded of this monumental side of African history, the history of kingdoms and dynastic empires which also believed in using stone and brick to erect durable testimony to their life-styles. This is the theme of gloriana in African history.

But alongside these African societies of centralised complexity and gloriana have lived people who are either still hunters and gatherers primarily or, at a more advanced state of technology, have become societies which deal with domesticated animals. The hunters and gatherers include the Khoisan ("Bushmen") of the Kalahari and, with even more complex skills, the BaMbuti ("Pygmies") of Zaire. The pastoral and herding communities have included, as we indicated, the Somali and the Masai, and also a substantial section of the Fulani who are spread over much of west Africa (not to be confused with the Hausa-Fulani), the Tuareg of the southern Sahara and other pastoralists on the march. For centuries all these so-called "tribes without rulers," illustrating civilisations of subtle simplicity rather than complex structures, have co-existed alongside the more elaborate states and monumental gloriana. Even the term "simplicity" underestimates the underlying intricacies of these pastoral and hunting societies, but there is little doubt that their technology has been significantly less developed than the technology either achieved indigenously or imported by African states and the makers of Africa's monumental history.

The massive cultural arrogance of Europeans was later to influence the indigenous personality of the continent, and create at times schizophrenia among the Westernised Africans. Defending themselves against European contempt, one school of African thought emphasised that Africa before the European had had its own complex civilisations of the kind that Europeans regarded as valid and important civilisations which produced great kings, impressive empires and elaborate technological skills. This particular school of African thought looked especially to ancient Egypt as an African civilisation, and proceeded to emphasise Egypt's contribution to the cultures and innovations of ancient Greece.

We may call this school of African assertion a school of romantic gloriana. It seeks to emphasise the glorious moments in Africa's history defined in part by European measurements of skill and performance, including the measurements of material monuments.

In contrast to this tradition of romantic gloriana is what might be called romantic primitivism In this the idea is not to emphasise past grandeur, but to validate simplicity and non-technical traditions, Romantic primitivism does not counter European cultural arrogance by asserting civilisations comparable to that of ancient Greece. On the contrary, this school takes pride in precisely those traditions which European arrogance would seem to despise.

ALI A. MAZRUI
From The Africans: A Triple Heritage (1986)

Professor Mazrui illustrates very well the attitudes that have come to define the assault on the the African personality. The resultant has been pseudo-rationalizations, derivative ideas and conclusions from the "European arrogance" that he describes.

As noted earlier, no other race of people has come under such severe attack regardless of their level of technological advancement.

Indeed even now, Africa is always pointed out as an example of backwardness, ill health, ignorance, unnecessary internecine violence. This perception often leads to marginalization, attitudes of condescension, the enforcement of negative stereotypes, apathy and the erosion of our relevance in the world.

And Africans are still under threat. In my opinion the largest threat is to the personality of the African. The last 500 years of the African "loser" has already done enough damage. Everyday we are confronted with people who have been divorced from their pride, culture, humanity, to all intents and purposes people who have been reduced to nothing more than caricatures of humanity.

We certainly cannot afford to go that route again, now we are called to defend the African personality. The biggest threat to us and our descendants is this assault on the African persona.

A recent article in the New African publication says:

Africa, a continent (still) for the taking:

After many centuries of slavery and colonialist rule, Africa is still politically so vulnerable to looting from outsiders with or without association with unscrupulous and corrupt Africans themselves.

Approaches and solutions

Many sages in Africa and in the African diaspora have wrestled with this problem. From some of the earliest Pan-Africanists, we hear the voice of Marcus Garvey who opined:

"All of us may not live to see the higher accomplishment of an African Empire-so strong and powerful, as to compel the respect of mankind, but we in our life-time can so work and act as to make the dream a possibility within another generation."

Marcus Mosiah Garvey

The negritude movement inspired many. A movement rooted in the search for African pride and an explicit endorsement of African Unity as underpinning any real effort to rescue the personality of the African.

The following excerpts from a brilliant paper by the eminent scholar of African history Professor Manthia Diawara, himself a product of Negritude should be illustrative of the quality and depth of thinking that went into that movement. The paper is derived from a class that Professor Manthia Diawara gave on the subject of Negritude, focussing on the work of WEB DuBois and Sarte the celebrated existentialist.

"The class began with W.E.B. Du Bois's The World and Africa, which refutes the racist thesis primarily associated with Eurocentric historians that of all the continents, Africa had made no contribution to world history and civilization. Du Bois's main objectives in this celebratory book, as in his classic Souls of Black Folk, were threefold: to write the history and culture of the people of Africa and African descent; to enable African Americans to identify with Africa as a proud and dignified source of identity that could be placed on an equal footing with Europe, Asia, and North America; and to posit Africa's humanism and rich heritage as a compelling argument against racism and colonialism. Du Bois believed that freedom was whole and indivisible, that Black people in America would not be completely free until Africa was liberated and emancipated in modernity; his Pan-Africanism was born out of the consciousness of freedom as a common goal for Black and Brown people.

Clearly, the struggle for Black rights in Negritude coincides with Sartre's Marxian analysis of the condition of the working class in France; and with the Civil Rights movement in America. The role of the Black poet, like that of a demiurge, is to create a new man, a new woman in a new World, and not to ghettoize the muse.

Fanon, a young writer coming out of the Negritude movement, was the first to agree with Sartre and to declare the pitfalls of racial identification in his pathbreaking book, The Wretched of the Earth: "The unconditional affirmation of African culture has succeeded the unconditional affirmation of European culture"1 (212).

Some of my students said that Sartre's universalism was Eurocentric; his sources -- Orpheus, Prometheus, the Bible, the proletariat -- were all from a European scholastic tradition, not from Egyptian or ancient Sub-Sahara African sources. It did not grant the Negritude poets time enough to digest what their Blackness meant to them and what they wanted to do with it.

Yet Negritude, as part of decolonization, was important because, for the first time, it enabled Black people in France to assert themselves in the political, psychological, and artistic spheres. This would later lead to the independence of several African countries with Negritude writers among the heads of state.

Negritude enabled Africans and West Indians, for the first time, to deploy Blackness as a positive concept of modernization: be proud of your ancestry, discover the beauty of Blackness, and let Negritude unite you against colonialism. It is because the Negritude poets turned inward to become conscious of their own historical situation that they discovered a truth bigger than themselves; it is because they sang their love song from within this specificity that it shone and inspired other liberation songs. "

DuBois argues the perfectly legitimate position that Professor Mazrui has called "African societies of centralised complexity and gloriana" and how this is often obscured and hidden by the Eurocentric version of history that is preponderant in modern education.

Professor Manthia Diawara goes on to elaborate that:

Today, people still give selectively, and there remains an essentialist tendency which links Whiteness to such universal practices as scientific inquiries or classical music. For example, the reluctance to give generously or let go of things leads some scholars to keep referring to the novel as only a Western narrative form, as opposed to a form invented in Europe at a particular moment in history.

Clearly, to write a novel today one does not have to be an European or agree with an European way of life. A parsimonious gift system colors our vision of America itself, whose civilization is called "Western." But notwithstanding the presence of Americans of European descent and the development of certain ideas and practices that originated in Europe, the fact remains that the identities of Americans derived as much from a flight from Europe and its monarchist, Victorian, and religious cultures as from Africa and Asia; America is not culturally interchangeable with Europe, just as it cannot be with Africa and Asia.

Interestingly enough, the reference to America's Western identity is no more than the European-Americans' desire to insert themselves permanently in the very image of Americanness, and to maintain the power to reproduce themselves as the ideal and universal Americans.

This type of essentialism remains a problem as people continue to lay claim to certain universal elements discovered by their ancestors at a particular time in history; obviously they are still suffering from a separation anxiety. The mishandling of the loss of a country of origin and the psychological split engendered by the flight from Europe to America leads to a denial of new American identities, to a permanent misrecognition of these new identities as purely Western, and consequently to racism and xenophobia.

A good example of Eurocentricity in history is the often ignored fact that resistance to slavery started in Africa in some of Africa's societies of centralised complexity. The famous letters from Affonso,a King in Congo, to then King of Portugal João III protesting the practice and actively fighting and rescuing slaves on purely humanitarian grounds are often ignored and instead resistance to the slave trade is ascribed solely to western Christian efforts. You can read excerpts from King Affonso's letter on 18 October 1526 to his portuguese counterpart here.

Solutions:

This blog is about solutions.

"So I, for one, want to see reforms. I want to see intra-African integration, not because we will garner some utopian share of world commerce, but first and formost because it will improve our lives here. It will free up the time of African businesspeople to do business here.It will lower costs. It will make the African consumer's plight so much more hopeful. We must build for ourselves. If we do that others will come."
K. Y. Amoako (taken from Accelerating the pace of Integration-Keynote address to the African Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meetings Symposium on "Regional Cooperation and Integration in Africa: Progress, Challenges and Obstacles" on 26 May 1998)

"I strongly believe that Pan-Africanism is even more relevant today than it was in the 1960s. Then it was necessarily visionary but it was this very idealism that served to limit Pan-Africanism to a dream, limiting its scope and to a large extent derailing it. When the hard reality of development set in, the ideals of Pan-Africanism were quietly forgotten and were put on the shelf to gather dust. Yet Africa's place as an equal partner at the global table can only be assured if it thinks and acts regionally."

Lalla Ben Barka
Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

Be Aware, be political and lobby for African Unity

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, at its 8th ordinary session in Addis Ababa from 29-30 January, 2007, decided that the next ordinary session of the Assembly to be held in Accra, Ghana in July, 2007, will be devoted to a “Grand Debate on the Union Government.” In the same vein, the Executive Council of the African Union will hold a retreat of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Durban, South Africa from 8-9 May, 2007 to brainstorm on the state of the union, which is to the same effect as the Grand Debate.
Read about it here

Independence

2007-05-25T08:59:00.000-04:00

Today is Africa Day.

On the 25 May, 1963, the leaders of the then independent Africa, made history and gave significant impetus to the continent's collective but then incomplete struggle for independence, by establishing the Organization of the African Unity. Nearly, four decades followed, in which African states stood united in the framework of the OAU, while making efforts to give depth and meaning to their political independence and striving for the socio-economic development of their peoples. Those efforts yielded positive results, culminating in the establishment of the African Union (AU). 25 May is therefore celebrated and commemorated every year as Africa Day.

In the 2006 study commissioned by the AU the point was made that:

Since becoming politically independent, African countries have made efforts to individually address the economic and social challenges they all face with limited success.

This has been partly the result of various impediments, including in particular lack of good governance and an overall unfavourable international economic order.

In order to improve their development performance, African leaders are increasingly convinced that they must act collectively.

Background

There are 9 regional bodies in Africa also known as Regional Economic Communities(RECs) and their experiences should be illustrative.

The 9 regional bodies in Africa are:

1.) Arab Maghreb Union(AMU defunct) this has largely been replaced by the the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (COMESSA) or more commonly Cen Sad

2.) The Southern African Development Community(SADC)

3.) The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA)

4.) The East African Community(ECA)

5.) The Inter-governmental Authority on Development(IGAD)

6.) The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS)

7.) The Central African Economic and Monetary Community(CEMAC)

8.) The Economic community of Central African States(ECCAS)

9.) The West African Economic and monetary Union(UEMOA)

All but one (the AMU) of these regional bodies are functional and report progress in achieving their objectives. All of these RECs were established with eventual federation in mind and they now constitute some of the fundamental building blocks of the African Union.

One of the most vibrant of these is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA ). COMESA is currently under the spotlight because as we speak its heads of state summit is ongoing in Nairobi, Kenya. You can read about that here.

These regional bodies have been acting collectively. And COMESA, currently meeting, has been reporting impressive results.

For one President Gulleh of Djibouti and outgoing president of COMESA said export indicators showed that the COMESA market was gradually replacing the European market as the main export destination of some of our countries.You can read the daily nation article here.

"The Comesa free trade area has been qualified as a trail blazing achievement in trade liberalisation," said Kenya's Vice President Moody Awori in his remarks during the Council of Ministers Forum at the Kenya International Conference Centre, Nairobi.

A world bank report states that trade growth within the COMESA Free Trade Area has now reached 20 percent a year, and that it has increased from some $1 billion in the year 2000 to over $5 billion last year. More than 300% growth. The world bank article is here.

This is the predicted reduction in over-dependence. Real moves towards true independence.

Interactions

There is a fairly straight forward interaction between, the strength of ones currency and ones standard of living. A person who earns in a strong currency will generally experience life as being cheaper, especially if they depend on imported goods from a "weak" currency zone. This is exactly the opposite for someone who lives in a weak currency zone. They will find most goods to be expensive, the price of consumer good as being steep and consequently will be subjected to a lower quality of life.

This problem is compounded if the weak currency zone is dependent on imports, indeed in Africa the word over-dependent has been used, perhaps in contrast to independent.

This point is made very well in the AU report which states that in Africa at present:

"There is also a strong dependence on expatriate technicians and technology; and an attachment to export-led growth strategy, emphasizing the production and export of raw materials and agricultural primary commodities in exchange for manufactured goods, imported from developed countries, mostly former colonial powers, thus jeopardizing the industrial development prospects of these countries.

Trade is another example of Africa’s over-dependence. The terms of trade are increasingly moving against Africa, which has no alternative but to accept declining earnings from a rising volume of exports while simultaneously having to pay more for its imports. Financing Africa’s development is also largely dependent on inflows of financial resources from Official Development Assistance (ODA) and mounting external indebtedness, in spite of recent debt relief measures.

Over dependence also occurs in the education and health sectors. The education sector is largely dependent on external assistance for such basic requirements as trained teachers, classrooms, textbooks, scientific equipment, and appropriate curricula. The same applies to the health sector when addressing trans-borders chronic diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), but also regarding attempts to provide safe drinking water and elementary sanitation facilities."

The evidence from COMESA therefore is that collaboration works. The COMESA Secretary general Erastus Mwencha has come out strongly in support of the Free Trade Area, arguing that it has contributed to the 5.8 per cent economic growth posted recently by the economic bloc.

COMESA was only a free trade area, nothing more. It was not as single nation, with a single currency with an single market completely devoid of barriers to trade as envisaged for the African Federation.

The AU Report goes on to point out that:

"In this respect, some studies have shown that because of its geographical position, a United Africa would have the unique potential of producing most types of food and agricultural produce throughout the year, thus putting an end to the chronic cycle of drought-related food shortage in some parts of the continent.

Africa being well endowed with natural resources, the concerted exploitation of the energy potential of its ecological zones would not only make many countries less energy dependent, but also enable the industrial processing of the huge mineral resources of the continent.

Infrastructural development is also a major challenge. Africa being the second largest continent in terms of size and population, the building of the required transport and communications infrastructures would make it one of the most competitive markets and, potentially, the most attractive in terms of returns on investment."

Some thoughts on prayer and apathy

2007-05-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Friends,

We are always praying, praying for answers, for solutions.

We pray for relatives who can't find a job, who have embarked on a dangerous journey across the waters to live illegally away from home. We pray for friends, relatives, acquaintances who are sick, who are hungry, who are facing insurmountable challenges. We pray for ourselves, for a secure future, to avoid everyday perils that we constantly face. Indeed we pray a lot in Africa.

How then can we afford to be apathetic. When solutions present themselves, isn't it an answer to those prayers.

No solution has presented itself so neatly, so easily, so conveniently as African Federation! Africa must unite, and this goal is within our grasp. If we achieve this it will be no less than a blessing. A real transformation of our daily lives, our self esteem, our self respect and dignity that we could characterise it as no less than a miracle .

So if there is an opportunity for your prayers to be answered, for your neighbour to finally get a job, or your sister to be healed, or an acquaintance to get an education, or even for something good for yourself you must seize it. There is no alternative. The answers will be presented to us, just as you can lead a cow to the water........

You can do the simple act of recommending this blog to a friend, of forwarding this email to a someone you know. We must all be political, we must lobby and convince the least person amongst us of the value of this mission. We must each of us become political about this cause.

In this way our prayers will be answered.

Study on the Union Government Of Africa - June 2006

2007-05-24T09:27:00.000-04:00

A study commissioned by the executive council of the African union submitted a report on the potential benefits of an African Federation. Subsequently a report was tabled to the ordinary session of the assembly of heads of state of the African Union in June 2006. The full text of that study is available here. These are some of the most pertinent point of that study:

Background:

1. Africa has consistently influenced the world community since the very origin of
humankind. Africans participated in the growth and development of knowledge, the arts,
and spirituality. The Pan-African movement was essentially anchored in this historical
legacy and the imperative necessity of the continent and its Diaspora to regain its dignity
after centuries of slavery followed by colonial rule.

2. Since becoming politically independent, African countries have made efforts to
individually address the economic and social challenges they all face with limited success.
This has been partly the result of various impediments, including in particular lack of good
governance and an overall unfavourable international economic order. In order to improve
their development performance, African leaders are increasingly convinced that they must
act collectively.

3. Today, there is a growing recognition among African countries of the need to provide the
African Union with stronger continental machinery in order to work on agreed strategic
areas of focus yet to be identified. To that end, the Assembly of the AU set up two ad hoc
committees of Heads of State and Government which concluded that the “necessity for
eventual Union Government is not in doubt”. The Union Government must be a “Union of
the African people and not merely a Union of states and governments”. It must have
“identifiable goals” and be based on a set of clearly identifiable shared values and
commonality of interest…and on the principle of strict adherence”.

Common interests and constraints

1. Common interests are derived from the challenges facing the continent as a whole,
namely its over-dependence on the external world and the under exploitation of its
enormous development potentials at national, regional and continental levels. They
are clearly elaborated in such seminal documents as the Lagos Plan of Action, the Cairo
Agenda for the economic and social development of Africa, and the NEPAD Action Plan.
The challenge of over-dependence is critical in areas such as agriculture, human
development, science and technology, industry, trade and finance.

2. Over several years, food security has become a matter of great concern for many
African countries. Frequent climate-related disasters (drought, deforestation, and
desertification), as well as food losses, have led to chronic food shortages in several
countries, thus making them dependent on external food supply. Actually, with Africa’s
several sovereign entities, most of them mini-states, national self-sufficiency in food is
not a feasible option for many of them.

3. There is also a strong dependence on expatriate technicians and technology; and an
attachment to export-led growth strategy, emphasizing the production and export of
raw materials and agricultural primary commodities in exchange for manufactured
goods, imported from developed countries, mostly former colonial powers, thus
jeopardizing the industrial development prospects of these countries.

4. Trade is another example of Africa’s overdependence. The terms of trade are
increasingly moving against Africa, which has no alternative but to accept declining
earnings from a rising volume of exports while simultaneously having to pay more for
its imports. Financing Africa’s development is also largely dependent on inflows of
financial resources from Official Development Assistance (ODA) and mounting external
indebtedness, in spite of recent debt relief measures.

4. Over dependence also occurs in the education and health sectors. The education sector
is largely dependent on external assistance for such basic requirements as trained
teachers, classrooms, textbooks, scientific equipment, and appropriate curricula. The
same applies to the health sector when addressing trans-borders chronic diseases, such
as malaria, tuberculosis and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), but also
regarding attempts to provide safe drinking water and elementary sanitation facilities.

5. The challenge of under-exploitation of Africa’s development potential is also
compelling. In this respect, some studies have shown that because of its geographical
position, a United Africa would have the unique potential of producing most types of
food and agricultural produce throughout the year, thus putting an end to the chronic
cycle of drought-related food shortage in some parts of the continent. Africa being
well endowed with natural resources, the concerted exploitation of the energy
potential of its ecological zones would not only make many countries less energy
dependent, but also enable the industrial processing of the huge mineral resources of
the continent. Infrastructural development is also a major challenge. Africa being the
second largest continent in terms of size and population, the building of the required
transport and communications infrastructures would make it one of the most
competitive markets and, potentially, the most attractive in terms of returns on
investment.

6. Finally, given the increasing wave of globalisation, and the emergence of strong
regional, political, economic and trading blocs in other continents, the challenges of
overdependence and under-exploitation of its potentials have increased the
marginalization of the continent in world affairs. Thus, the goal in pursuing
development through a common interest perspective is to bring about human progress
in Africa; restore human dignity to the African people and give Africa a voice in the
global order; promote progressive African social and political values and defend the
African personality.

7. In doing this, there is need to develop the human potentials of Africa and include the
people in the development process. It should be realized that what unites Africans far
surpasses what divides them as a people. It pays to speak and act with one voice than
with many voices. In unity, Africa can realize and achieve a lot. The global system is
such that a dismembered and balkanized continent will have weak bargaining strength
on all scores.

8. An all embracing common interest of the African continent is, therefore, to build its
collective capability and capacity to act as a stakeholder and not an outsider in world
affairs, and to fully participate in shaping international norms and agenda. This is
indeed an important and over- arching objective of the Union Government

Key Conclusions:

1. The proposed Roadmap is divided into three phases of equal timeframe. The Initial
Phase commences immediately after the decision of the Assembly at the next session
of the African Union summit, will be devoted to establishment of the Union
Government (i.e. steps and processes that are necessary for the immediate
operationalisation of the Union Government). The Second Phase will be devoted to
making the Union Government fully operational in all its components and to laying
the constitutional ground for the United States of Africa. The Third and final Phase
will aim at the facilitation of all required structures of the United States of Africa at
the levels of the states, the regions and the continent.

2. The proposed Roadmap also takes into account the principles of gradual
incrementalism and multi-layered approach. In this respect, all proposed strategic
areas of focus need not be covered at the same time or all items of a given area.
Also, during the three phases, actions are required simultaneously at national,
regional and continental levels. The actions indicated in each phase represent those
that are essential in the process leading to the achievement of the final objective of
the United States of Africa. They do not include regular activities carried out at
various levels within and outside the Union.

3. Finally, the timeframe of the ROADMAP would depend on several factors, including
first and foremost, the political will and commitment of Union Members. It will
also depend on particular circumstances of individual potential members of the
Union. In this regard, all segments of the population in Union Members should first be
made to understand the importance of the Union Government project, and then
encouraged to participate effectively in its realization. Also, the Union Government
should be fully operational in all its components before it is transformed into the
United States of Africa.

4. Taking into account these factors, a 3- year period is recommended for each
phase, so that the United States of Africa would be formed by the year 2015.
Thus, African countries, acting collectively and with solidarity, would endeavour to
reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set in the Millennium Declaration
of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Finally, a special note for the African descendants in the diaspora:

The African Union and this study recognises the huge contribution of these African descendants to the fundamental principles of pan-africanism. And the ongoing struggle for the promotion of the African identity and values. As noted in this study:

All African countries can claim membership of the Union Government based on the
principle of strict adherence to its rules. In addition, countries with certain population
make up could be given the status of Associate Members of the Union Government. In that context, relationships with the African Diaspora will be given special attention.

Brothers and sisters, it's time to make history!! Promote the agenda, promote, promote.

African Federation Now!

2007-05-24T01:17:00.001-04:00

Friends,

This is the official start of something great. It all started with an email I sent to the head of the African union outlining the objectives of this campaign. I have posted the full text of the email below.

I also forwarded this email to a few friends. The response was impressive. I got so many positive responses to this initiative.

This campaign just got started but it has to achieve its objective. Which is quite ambitious. The two main objectives are:

1. The drafting and adoption of an African constitution.

2. The formation of a single African government, according to the aforementioned constitution and which rules a single nation, an African Federation of States.

This is the time to act. The African Union is currently collecting views on the Union Government of Africa. You can read more about it here: http://www.africa-union.org/augovernment.htm.

Statistically almost every African supports this initiative, and almost every prominent African has gone on the record as supporting this initiative. But not enough lobbying has gone into elaborating this shared vision and keeping it in the public purview. African Federation Now! is a lobby, and the above two objectives are its entire purpose.

If you are an African, this is the most important lobby you will ever support.

An African Federation will instantly transform Africa. Africa will instantly become a major player on the world stage, the African economy will be boosted by a scale.

African people are blessed with 25% of the worlds resources, 45% of its gold, 50% of its diamonds, a significant proportion of its oil, large quantities of other valuable minerals, forest, water, human resources, natural beauty and vast verdant arable land. Africa is blessed with abundance. This African Federation will instantly be a major player on the world stage.

The African Federation will also be a solution to the sometimes petty internecine violence that often afflicts the small fragmented countries that constitute Africa right now. It will eliminate unnatural borders, the legacy of colonisation. It will save Africa from the politics of ethnicity and elevate our politics to one of policy and mature debate.

A single African government, benefiting from scale, will afford to invest resources on a much larger scale. Combating ill health, ignorance, promoting science and technology. Because of scale African foreign policy will have a more far reaching impact, African bargaining power will be greatly improved.

If you are an African, and even if you are not, it is for these reasons that this is the most important campaign you will ever be involved in.

You can help us to get this message across. You can help by spreading the word. Make yourself heard!

A few generations, a few times in history are called, each one, to be counted. This is such a time.

Write to your contacts, media personalities, politicians, prominent personalities, friends, anyone. The more the better.

Together we can build a movement, a surge of fervour for our African Federation.

This is the next natural step in Africa's history and it is far less challenging than when our individual nations had to struggle for independence and human dignity, each one on its own. We have not fulfilled Africa's destiny until we have accomplished African Federation.

Please copy and send the text of the email/letter below to as many of your contacts as possible, forward it to them with the subject "African Federation Now!". Remember to forward a copy to the AU leadership at the following addresses: AUgovernment@africa-union.org, KonareAO@africa-union.org

Keep up the pressure. African Federation Now!

The full text of the letter we wrote to the AU leadership is below, forward to as many people as you can.

Sir/Madam,

I am writing to enlist your support for the campaign known as African Federation Now!

We have become increasingly disappointed with the slow pace of integration and especially the African federation agenda. This is a well known agenda that has been endorsed by practically all prominent African leaders. We have therefore decided to launch an African federation campaign. We intend to promote this campaign by all means available to us. In the mass media, over the internet and mostly at a grass-roots level.

The campaign known as African Federation Now! will seek to inform and motivate citizens of Africa and leaders to fast-track a program of African Political Federation. Almost every African, whether in Africa or in the diaspora tacitly supports this agenda, and yet the leadership in the continent seem to be dragging their feet. Perhaps it is a lack of leadership, perhaps a lack of motivation. But the benefits of African Federation are clear and numerous.

African federation is the key to solving governance, ethnic conflict, economic and social problems in Africa and in promoting security, African interests and bargaining power worldwide. This is why most Africans at the grass roots level already support this agenda and more need to be informed about it. This process is political and therefore lends itself to a political campaign.

Ideally the effect of this campaign must be felt by all African people and especially the leadership. We envisage an initial outcome to be a timetable that is endorsed by African governments who are willing to participate in the Federation. This timetable should see a Federal constitution and a Unity government setup as soon as possible.

This campaign, must end in an African Federation and a single African Federal Government. This may sound ambitious right now, and maybe it is, but it must be done. And it must be done now! There is no better time than now, and we are committed to putting energy and time into this agenda.

This is an ambitious project, but nothing will be achieved if we do nothing.

I am writing now to enlist your support, and this campaign could use your support. Support in terms of campaigning, strategy, access to useful contacts, referrals to useful materials and current thinking, current research and any resources that could help this effort.

You can read more at the blog for this campaign at http://AfricanFederationNow.blogspot.com

Best regards,

African citizen