The Challenges Impeding the Future Success of the African Union

This January 23-31, 2015, African leaders converged in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to take stock of our (Africans) success after abandoning our epic journey to the Promised Land that marooned us in the desert. The African union (AU) faces many challenges that are unique compared to successful regional organization(s) like European Union (UE) which has had remarkable progress. This begs the question why AU hasnt made similar progress. What pundits fail to realize is that, while the two organizations are similar and have similar goals, the African Union has several disadvantages when compared to the EU.

The EU is situated in a relatively stable and prosperous region of the world with well-established members and uncontested states. The same cannot be said however of the AU, which is located in the most unstable and war-torn part of this world. Many African states are engaged in civil conflicts or with neighbours, and for the inhabitants of many regions, war and violence is a daily occurrence. Many states are unstable, with government either unable, unwilling or encouraging violence in some cases like Darfur.

The AU face problems of recruitment since the criteria for membership is based on being within the region, as opposed to having to meet certain economic or political goals, such as it is in the EU. Majority of EU nations are democratically and economically free, many countries in Africa are under authoritarian rule. It can logically be inferred that an institution such as the AU, with its ability to intervene in the affairs of sovereign nations, and its democratic institutions, would be a hard sell to the authoritarian regimes that exist in Africa, as dictators tend to dislike having power taken out of their hands.

Also, poverty level among AU nations presents a huge challenge with the number of persons living under poverty line staggering. Of the 175 countries reviewed in the United Nations Human Development Report 2010, 25 African nations ranked lowest. While it is true that some countries like South Africa have met with relative success, many countries have met with little to no progress, with the economies of some actually declining in the last 25 years.

With many of its member-states in abject poverty, funding for the AU has been difficult to collect. This impoverished berth being blamed on past colonialism, unequal trade norms with the economic north, and on practices by the IMF, such as the disbursement of massive structured loans that our countries had little hope of being able to repay, and yet are expected to make interest payments on.

African economies are generally very narrow and have the lowest GNPs in the world based on the export of single goods like Tea, Diamonds or oil, on the international market. This obviously makes their economies tenuous and vulnerable to fluctuations. Integrating the economies of various African Nations with each other and then increasing their involvement in international trade whilst attempting to safeguard them from the negative aspects of globalization is a daunting task to say the least and will prove to be a massive challenge.

One cannot outline the challenges AU face without mentioning the unprecedented health crisis of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has swept Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 60% of all people living with HIV, equaling a total of 26.8 million people. Last year alone, 2.4 million people died from AIDS. This crisis has reached unprecedented levels, and is a huge issue for that AU and the world at large, to address. The burden of caring those infected weigh heavily on the already strained AU budget. Clearly, the African Union faced unique problems in its early stages and the strategy to counter these challenges will determine whether it survives or fails.

However, AU remains relevant for many reasons. As peace and security is desirable to promote in as many regions as possible, it would be prudent to look at the options available in regards to the African region. With peace and eventual integration into the global economy as the goal of our relations with Africa, our best option to achieve this is the support of the AU.

The saying "An African solution to an African problem" is very apt in this situation, as any attempt to intervene with foreign troops on a large enough scale to police and affect change in Africa would be an enormous undertaking, and likely would be met with some resistance from the people in Africa, due to the past history of Africa being under the yoke of colonialism. This is not to say that no foreign troops should ever be deployed to stabilize this continent, but foreign efforts should only focus on supporting AU in its initiatives rather than supplanting it.

For lasting peace to occur, African institutions (economic and political) must be strengthened to deal with the problems facing Africa. Therefore, industrialized nations should avoid being engaged militarily and financially in Africa for a drawn out and extended term but must provide support to the AU in the terms of resources and knowledge.

To avoid having the burden of managing the affairs of Africa for an extended amount of time, the “First World” must ensure that the African Union not only has the mechanisms in place to deal with current problems, but also problems that may resurface in the future, such as inevitable problems with integration into the global economy.

AU remains a good strategy through which the world can deal with the single greatest health issue to confront us in the modern era, the spread of HIV/AIDS. The AU can be used as a mechanism, within the auspices of the international aid community, to help stem, and eventually reverse the tide of the epidemic. Make no mistake that HIV/AIDS is not an African problem, but a human one, and as human beings, we cannot with good conscience neglect this issue. The AU provides us with an excellent tool for addressing this concern.

As mentioned earlier, Peace and stability are necessary in Africa. There is much controversy about failed states around the world, with mention of Iraq, North Korea and others, and the danger they present to the peace and security in the world.

Think now the dangers that are presented by a failed continent? Africa is the most violent and war-torn region in the world and it is only a matter of time before this constant warring affects the rest of the world. Think about the danger that would be presented if a rogue African state came into possession of a nuclear device? Think of the loss of life that would occur either in a neighbouring African state, or somewhere else in the world? If global security is a paramount concern of nations today, then support for the AU must be generous, forthcoming and immediate from the West.

By Okwaro Oscar Plato. Plato is an analyst with Gravio Africa Consulting. The views are his own.