Elusive unity remains Africa Union’s toughest test

By Paul Wafula

NAIROBI, KENYA: Unity remains elusive for the continent 50 years since the formation of the African Union.

So as the AU turns 50 today, one of the main concerns would be if this goal is achievable in the next half a century.

But the greatest headache would be if the continent would increase the momentum of its economic engine in order for the next generation to tell a better narrative when it marks its 100 year anniversary.

The African Union leaders are also on the spot why member countries are yet to open doors amongst themselves to tap into an enviable potential key among them an ever-growing market.

Grand corruption

Home to some of the world’s fastest growing nations, the continent is still being weighed down by the twin challenges of corruption and poor leadership. Leaders are counting on the private sector to support the economic growth of the continent that has been earmarked as the next frontier of growth.

“Today, the role of the private sector as the engine for growth and economic development in Africa and the rest of the world is generally accepted,” Mr Erastus Mwencha, the deputy chairperson of the AU commission said in his keynote address dubbed ‘Securing Africa’s Renaissance’. Available data shows that Africa’s private sector accounted for more than 80 per cent of total production, two-thirds of total investment, and three to fourths of total credit to the economy over the 1996-2008 period.

“Africa is now safer and indications are that both foreign direct investment and intra-African investment are picking up. Stability due to the AU’s intervention in collaboration other partners are improving,” Mwencha said.

Some of the interesting figures expected to support the rewriting of the continents narrative are its 1 billion population, 54 countries and annual population growth of 2.3 million. What is also interesting is that 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 25.

Africa also controls 60 per cent of the world’s arable land.

“These numbers present huge markets for the private sector. Africa is now one of the most profitable regions for investment,” Mwencha added.

Eliminating poverty remains a key target of the leadership of the body headquartered in Ethiopia.

The 54-member African Union, which began in 2002, still has on its table of unfinished business, the challenge of how to be a force for stability on a continent regularly troubled by violence, conflicts and coups. But this will depend on its ability to mobilise resource to implement its decisions.

The continent is also facing the reality of the growing unemployment among the youth. The union is expected to chart ways of how to deal with this ticking time bomb. In his speech yesterday in Addis Ababa, Carlos Lopes, the UN Under-Secretary-General notes that Africa’s youth have made an impact on the democratic evolution of the continent.

“I am not talking only about their role in the so-called Arab Spring, which by the way is a misnomer. Spring is not applicable to Africa and it was not only in North Africa that the youth played a role in stopping undemocratic practices at national level,” Mr Lopes said in his speech posted on the Africa Union’s website.

Great strides

“Youth were also central to resisting a sit-tight President in Niger and to the general mobilisation that resulted in the changes in Senegal. Despite these seemingly great achievements, it is sad to note that even though young Africans are more literate than their parents, they are more unemployed with current education levels lagging behind that of China and India,” Mr Lopes said.