Africa's Rocky Road to Continental Unity

Abstract

This paper discusses Africa's Rocky Road to Continental Unity' - a sub-topic of the 50th OAU/AU Anniversary 2013. Theme: Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance. For purposes of historical awareness and clarity, the discussion revisits how the concepts evolved and positioned centrally in the road to Africa's contemporary continental unity. The paper argues that, though Pan-Africanism has played a leading role in raising the consciousness of African nationalists on the inevitable independence of Africa and the need for its economic and political unity, the institutionalization of Pan-Africanism to OAU in 1963 which later metamorphosed into AU in 2002 as mechanisms for enhancing regional integration in Africa has not significantly promoted the envisaged continental unity. Continental unity is now a sideshow. It is not taking centre-stage stance of the current crop of African ruling elite. It is recommended that Africa's ruling elite need to change their mindsets and discard the grounded national sovereignty parochial interests. Instead, they need to acquire an inclusive democratic governance path, in the process, for greater regional multi-dimensional integration quantitatively and qualitatively in the content and context of the 21st century. This change is inevitable if continental unity is to be cherished by Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance