African Union

The African Union is an institutional embodiment of the postcolonial vision of Pan-Africanism. Many of Africa’s political and intellectual leaders embraced the concept first envisioned early in the twentieth century by leading African American activists and intellectuals, such as W. E. B. Du Bois.

The organization is also founded upon the international relations concept of regional integration, which refers to the unification of individual nation states in a geographical region into a larger unit or whole. The process of regional integration is complex and dynamic. It requires the willingness of the individual member states to share and\or unify resources, policy making, and policy implementation. In essence, it requires each member to relinquish some measure of their sovereignty. The level of integration is determined by the degree to which member states agree to share resources and responsibilities. The goals of the African Union are collective economic prosperity, improved levels of national security, the preservation of cultural identity, and continental cohesion.

Brief History

The African Union (AU), is the successor organization to the Organization of African Unity (OAU). For member states, the formation of the AU was a decisive moment in the postcolonial history of the continent of Africa and a major progression in the mission of its predecessor. The main mission of the OAU was to rid the continent of the remaining residues of colonization, including South African apartheid; the promotion of African solidarity and unity; cooperative economics; and the protection of state sovereignty and security. The mission of the AU is the structural integration of key areas of governance and policy making on the continent.

The OAU cleared the path for the emergence of the AU. Several OAU missions laid the necessary foundations upon which the AU was founded. These included the Lagos Plan of Action, which implemented strategies of self-reliant development; the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights and Grand Bay Declaration and Plan of Action on Human Rights, which promoted human rights protections on the continent; Declaration of Political and Socio-Economic Situations, which established the principles of peace, democratic development, and security; the African Economic Community Treaty; and the Unconstitutional Changes of Government and Lome Declaration, which established a plan of action for responses to non-democratic regime changes on the continent. The OAU put mechanisms in place to coordinate efforts to address pandemics, international terrorism, refugee and displaced persons crises, and the small and light weapons trade.

In September 1999, the heads of state and governments of the member states of the OAU membership issued the Sirte Declaration, which called for the establishment of the African Union with the mission of accelerating the process of continental integration. The main objective was to position the continent to play a greater role in the global economy and to consolidate the resources of the member states to address the social, economic, and political consequences of globalization.

The new organization was launched under the leadership of Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi , through four significant Summit agreements: Sirte Extraordinary Session (1999), Lome Summit (2000), Lusaka Summit (2001), and Durban Summit (2002). Durban launched the AU with the convening of its first assembly. Fifty-three African nations became member states, the sole exception being Morocco.

African Union Today

The legal and institutional framework of the African Union is designed to confront the many Herculean challenges posed by globalization and the end of the Cold War. The organization defines its mission as one to create "An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena." The organizational structure includes an assembly and executive council, as well as the Permanent Representatives’ Committee; Peace and Security Council; Pan-African Parliament; Economic, Social and Cultural Council; African Court of Justice, Members Commission; Portfolios Commission; and a variety of technical committees. African Union financial institutions include the African Central Bank, African Monetary Fund, and African Investment Bank. The key organ of day-to-day management, AU Commission, is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Since its inception, the effectiveness of the institution has been tested by a series of security, political, and medical crises on the continent. Opinions vary as to how well or whether the organization has succeeded in meeting these challenges. The AU has, however, remained actively engaged in African affairs.

In 2023, an AU conference convened at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The points of discussion included the state of peace in Africa, the activities of the Peace and Security Council, and the implementation of the AU Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa; the governance of the global political, financial, and energy policies, as well as the food crisis; the AU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa; the evaluation report of the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan and the development of the agenda for the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan; and climate change.

One major area of priority for the AU is the economic unification of Africa’s struggling economies. There are eight regional economic communities recognized by the AU, but each has its separate regional treaties. The AU adopted a protocol for relations for each of the regional economic communities, but the long term strategy is to fully integrate the entire continent, using as its model the European Union.

The AU maintains consistent progress toward its goals of democratic and economic development and continental peace and security. Its major security challenges include global terrorism, regional civil wars, refugee crises, and regime corruption. The AU has been successful thus far in fostering international partnerships with rising powers in the international system, most notably China. The strategies that the AU adopts to manage the competing interests of China and the traditional western powers is of major concern for international relations and a diplomatic challenge for the AU.

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