Security and economic development in Africa today are more effectively achieved through regional formations than through the African Union (original) (raw)
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The African Union: Ensuring a More Effective Role Towards Regional Peace and Development
The KRF Center for Bangladesh and Global Affairs (CBGA), 2024
The African Union (AU) has emerged as a pivotal force in shaping the continent’s trajectory, representing the collaborative aspirations of 55 member states and over 1.3 billion Africans. Established in 2002, the AU succeeded the Organization of African Unity (OAU), inheriting its pan-African vision while embracing a broader mandate to accelerate economic integration, promote sustainable development, and amplify Africa’s voice on the global stage. As the world witnesses a shift in global power dynamics, the AU’s role in championing Africa’s interests and fostering regional cooperation has become increasingly significant. Being rich in diversity, resources and young people, Africa is in an important position for change but is at the same time ready to take some risks and reap the rewards of its resourcefulness.
The African Union as a human security arrangement
Research Handbook on International Law and Human Security, 2022
The African Union has articulated an approach to human security that incorporates political, social, economic, and environmental factors. However, Africa continues to experience wars, violent conflicts, and other threats to human security largely because the AU's mechanisms for dealing with these issues are inadequate. The AU's Peace and Security Council is poorly run, the relationships between the AU and Regional Economic Communities are not smooth, and Africa's capabilities to address human security threats are deficient. Despite the rhetoric about self-pacification, the AU human security architecture is dependent on outside funding, which enables outsiders to shape Africa's agenda. Moreover, the AU's activities under the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) have been state-centric and fallen short of addressing threats to human security. The AU needs to fully operationalize APSA and the African Governance Architecture, subscribe to their guiding principles and persuade its members to support the activities identified in their roadmaps.
Interrelationship between the African Union and Nigeria
The African Union (AU) is drawing near to its tenth anniversary in 2012. It was created in July 2002 to succeed its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which was founded in 1963 . It was created during what Lloyd terms the third wave of regionalism in which there was a spur in regional agreements worldwide (2002). According to Tieku, the AU is an intergovernmental organization that was designed to achieve three broad goals. First, it is intended to bring together the plethora of sub regional institutions in Africa in order to pursue continent-wide co-operation and integration amongst African states. Second, it aims at creating the conditions for African states to engage in social, economic and political relations in a way that will make war between them unlikely.
Anyigba Journal of History and International Studies, 2021
Regional integration today is very popular all over the world. Quite a few number of integration organizations have been established and old ones revived after the end of the Cold War. In Africa, the continent’s leaders transformed the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to African Union (AU) in 2002 to enable the region meet the challenges posed by the increasingly world market and to facilitate the expansion of markets that will aid industrialization and subsequent political integration. However, the African leaders’ efforts in making the continent economically viable are yet to bear satisfactory fruits. While other nations have successfully used their integration mechanisms to improve the economic welfare of their citizens, Africa lags behind despite the existence of a new economic plan called NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development). The paper sets to examine why integration is difficult to achieve in Africa. Basically, the study is qualitative. It utilized existing literature on African integration and NEPAD in order to enhance our knowledge on the roles of the African Union. The findings reveal that Africa is being constrained by internal and external factors in its quest to integrate the economies of the different sub-regions within the continent. Thus, the study concludes by recommending among other things that African Union should develop clear and coordinated positions on their political and economic goals and the strategies for achieving them. Key words: Integration, role, partnership, continental, African Union
The African Union: Successes and Failures
Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics, 2019
and Keywords The African Union (AU), an international organization comprising all 54 independent states in Africa and Western Sahara, was established in May 2001 to, among other things, promote regional integration, interstate solidarity, peace, good governance and to enhance the African voice in the global system. This article examines successes and failures of the AU. The central argument is that the pan-African organization is like the proverbial forest that has bad trees dotted around its many good trees. The AU has been very successful in addressing the needs of the African political class but it is yet to make a significant difference in the lives of many ordinary Africans. The importance of the pan-African organization to African political elite is such that they would have created it today if it did not already exist. The AU has socialized African leaders to accept liberal values as the foundation of international cooperation in Africa; enhanced the agency of African political class on the world stage; and established progressive and innovative rules and norms for the African continent. It has also created many useful decision-making structures that have contributed to the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts in Africa. The AU has, however, been less successful in connecting its activities and programs to many ordinary Africans; providing common public goods and services valued by commoners in Africa; giving voice to the majority of young people in Africa; promoting intra-Africa trade, good governance, and financial independence of the African continent as well as struggled to address the expressed material needs and quotidian concerns of ordinary Africans.