African Union And Future Of African Continent

Despite the fact that the fallout of the events of 11 September, 2001 in the USA are expected to affect developing nations, particularly Africa, the world's poorest continent, the general trend has been to actualise the concept of the African Union, born at the last and final meeting of the Organisation of African Unity held in Lusaka, Zambia from 9 through 11 July, 2001.

In this, the Summer Issue of African Perspective, our reader will find two articles dealing with the African Union. There is also a follow-up on the OAU Lusaka summit. The African Union having been created, the continent now stands with a legal and an organisational framework to serve its purposes, namely the summit, the executive council, a pan-African parliament, a court of justice, a general secretariat, a number of specialised committees, an economic, social and cultural council, and an African monetary fund. As it works, the African Union will focus on achieving economic integration within the continent.

It will also endeavour to insure development by providing the suitable climate, which can only be made available if peace and security prevail in Africa, as well as world-wide. In its code of institution, the African Union has taken steps, as yet unprecedented, to curb military coups. The code provides that a regime coming into power through a military coup or by other undemocratic means will not be recognised. It is natural, in the course of addressing the concept of African unity that we are reminded of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, our Profile for this issue., who was and has been one of the champions of African unity.

Our Infofile deals with South Africa which is set to host the first summit meeting of the African Union and which recently hosted the United Nations Conference on Racism, held in Durban. Political analysts accuse the West, namely the US and Europe of adopting a double standard policy regarding Israel, whom they refuse to describe as a racist state. The issue of reparations compensating Africans for the period of slavery is yet another case in point to prove Western double standardism.. One final point remains to be made here: Had the world heeded President Mubarak's call for an international conference on terrorism, now as old as 15 years, it might have been spared the sorrowful consequences of the September events, which are likely to affect all of us, particularly here in Africa.