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Power in Numbers: African Union Summit in Ghana

by Jordan Yerman | July 1, 2007 at 10:03 am

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A vast continent rich in natural and intellectual resources, Africa is still an outsider on the world political stage, seen more as a tool and a market than as a viable player. The AU summit, underway in the Ghanian capital of Accra, seeks to change that. Deep wounds from colonialism and tribal warfare, infected by corruption and humanitarian crises in areas such as Darfur and Somalia, continue to plague Africa, and efforts to unify such a diverse set of interests have proven slow so far.

Leaders of the African Union begin a three-day summit in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday focused on plans to forge a confederation of states that can help the world's poorest continent exercise greater clout on the world stage.

Police and soldiers lined the streets of the Ghanaian capital as the heads of state of the 53 members who make up the AU began arriving on Saturday for the summit, the ninth since the AU's creation five years ago.

But while previous summits have been dominated by crises in individual countries, the latest gathering is almost entirely devoted to debating the creation of what has been dubbed by some as the United States of Africa.

One of those in town is Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi, seen as the prime instigator behind the project that he would like to see result in a common foreign and defence policy.

His journey to Accra has taken him through some of the poorest countries of Africa such as Mali, Guinea and Liberia at the head of a vast convoy -- stopping to rouse the people for their support.

"In Accra, the voice of the people must be heard ... the leaders [will be] forced to listen," he said in one rally in Guinea.

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egoigwe

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at 10:26 on July 1st, 2007

Ah ha J! Thanks for putting this up on the board. But I wouldn't dream rich on this one. My country Nigeria has 36 states and rarely do governors get toether to speak with A voice. Already Christian Africa is highly suspicious of the intents of this so-called African government and has been of its Promoter-in-chief Gadaffi forever, and for good historical reasons that plodded the slave-trade routes of Arabia.

I tend to recognise it for it is; a move intended to stem the tide of Westernization that is taking over Africa and its drift towards Western mercantilism but in the final analysis they all ultimately pursue the same agenda; to control African resources and subject its citizenry to continuing poverty whereas a minority wallows in decadent and obscene wealth. Period!

Jordan Yerman

at 10:53 on July 1st, 2007

I guess I'm just an idealist, Ego! It's sort of like in George Orwell's Animal Farm, where the pigs weren't really interested in freedom from the tyrannical humans, but were more concerned with becoming the new exploiting class. Ultimately, power does corrupt. Still, I suppose I'd prefer an Africa in charge of its own destiny on the global stage, rather than getting whored out to the West, but I don't even begin to understand the complexities of the local-level politics of the thousands of different regions! It's just that so many people I've met there were SO SMART, they could have easily run their local areas so much better than many of the political leaders were.