African leaders will convene in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Saturday for the 37th African Union Summit. At a two-day meeting, African Union Heads of State and Government addressed the challenges of peace, development and integration against the backdrop of a resurgence of coups, a global food and commodity crisis, and increasing geopolitical competition across the continent. Discuss the problem.
In recent years, the integration agenda has taken on particular importance as world powers vie for influence over African countries, as evidenced by the increasing number of 'African Summits' hosted by countries outside the continent. ing.
Africa faces several complex and multifaceted challenges, but today's urgent priority must be continental integration that removes barriers to the movement of labor and capital. To this end, I urge the leaders gathered in Addis Ababa to abandon conventional speeches and meet this challenge head-on. They can draw inspiration from the unwavering determination of the AU founders who came together to reduce the negative effects of colonialism.
To achieve this objective, the Summit agreed to take concrete and practical steps to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a trade system that aims to establish a tariff-free market for goods and services. must be taught. Additionally, the summit will lay the foundations for the creation of a “Made in Africa” economic corridor that will strengthen intercontinental efforts towards a pan-African market.
I have witnessed such promises being made in the past. In May 2022, I was part of the Ethiopian delegation led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during the AU Extraordinary Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. On that trip we visited Kenya, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea. As Minister of Minerals and Energy, I attended ministerial meetings and AU meetings that seemed routine rather than practical steps to address real challenges. As we crisscrossed the continent and attended summits, one question kept percolating in my mind. Why can't Africa and its leaders work together to achieve the prosperity that our people so richly deserve? Perhaps invisible chains are holding us back? If so, what are they?
Then I remembered the parable of the elephant rope. The story is about a young man who happens to come across an elephant camp while traveling in the forest. He noticed that the mighty elephant was tied to a small tree with a thin rope and could not roam freely. The man later learned that the elephant had been kept in the same chains since childhood and was led to believe that it would never be able to break free. This is an apt metaphor for the structural obstacles and systems of thought that continue to impede the long-held dream of African integration.
The truth is, our continent is currently full of large elephants. The population of young elephants is rapidly increasing. A surge in technological and economic innovation. Huge reserves of human and material resources that have yet to be fully explored and exploited. And the consumer base of global products and daily necessities is expanding. But Africa still appears to be held back by a small rope of post-colonial artificial borders and governance models that bind it. The convergence of colonial borders and leadership failure continue to push African countries into civil wars, civil wars, border disputes, and fragile political, economic, and institutional predicaments.
Kenyan-American scholar Makau W. Mutua argues for a return to a precolonial map, a world before European colonizers divided overlapping communities. But of course this raises more questions than answers. Who would initiate or be trusted to undertake such a controversial project? Are colonial borders really the root cause of Africa's conflicts and a barrier to African integration?
Across Africa, boundaries between ethnic and cultural groups are often fluid and porous. It is certainly difficult to determine where one group's region ends and another group's region begins. Furthermore, redrawing Africa's map is likely to only lead to more conflicts. Economic disparities and language barriers may widen. Importantly, abolishing post-colonial borders will not further the goals of African unity and prosperity. We have to think differently.
Let's go back a few decades. At the first summit of the AU's predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in 1963, the founding fathers laid out a powerful vision for continental integration, unity and cohesion. They stressed that it is vital that Africans come together to overcome common challenges and shape the future of the continent. There was great optimism, determination and dedication to working together for the progress and well-being of African people. The leaders articulated a common vision of a united Africa free of conflict, division and underdevelopment. They established African states and established their rightful status as influential independent states.
Aspirations for unity, integration, and intercontinental solidarity are recurring themes in the AU's policy blueprints and the rhetoric of African leaders since the 1960s. The chorus of calls often emphasizes the need for a single African organization to make Africa's voice heard on the world stage and solve Africa's problems. One important question still resonates today. The question is: Can African unity be achieved through a top-down or bottom-up approach, or by winning the hearts and minds of Africans in a post-colonial march to dismantle borders?
Here are some modest suggestions.
First, our leaders need to demonstrate the determination and determination of their 1960s predecessors to reduce the lingering negative effects of colonialism. As then, the goal of a unified and integrated Africa requires removing barriers rather than redrawing borders. We need to think bigger.
To this end, we need to remove restrictions on the movement of labor and capital within the continent. This must be accompanied by major public and private investment in high-quality products in areas ranging from agriculture, minerals and natural resources, renewable energy, technology and innovation, and tourism. For example, low productivity among smallholder farmers can only be strengthened by removing barriers and promoting large-scale commercial agriculture.
Second, there is a need to establish an integrated financial and logistics system to support a single 'Made in Africa' economy. Lessons can be drawn from 'Made in' initiatives in emerging economies such as India and China. The development of integrated infrastructure networks to facilitate intra-African supply chains is a key element of this. Only when we become suppliers, producers and exporters to the world market can we respond to people's demands.
At the same time, advanced technologies are transforming the global economy and power relationship. New financial technologies have the potential to empower Africa's youth. But we need to ensure that ordinary Africans can go online and actively participate in the pan-African market. The 'Made in Africa' initiative and its associated markets will stimulate lagging industries across the continent and elevate Africa's status as a global economic player, rather than a dumping ground for cheap consumer goods. Dew. A robust and competitive market necessarily requires prioritizing and investing in robust regional infrastructure, energy and connectivity.
The list goes on. Protectionist communications, customs, ports and immigration systems are further barriers limiting Africa's integration and economic prosperity. Existing international aid models also remain short-sighted. African countries have the know-how, resources and technical capacity to build what is needed. We can no longer look outside Africa to feed our growing population. Geopolitical tensions across continents continue to highlight how risks to global trade impact already overstretched resources. The development of regional and continental infrastructure networks to efficiently transport goods and services can no longer wait. These are the fundamentals of a thriving global economy. Many of these concepts are already incorporated in the AfCFTA, the second largest free trade area after the WTO, established in 2018. But its high promises to eliminate tariffs and create a single market for goods and services need to be implemented quickly. The speed of its implementation is already slowed by obstructive bureaucracy and a lack of urgency.
In conclusion, it's not 1963. All African nations are independent. Africa's population, at 1.3 billion people, is the fastest growing in the world. But still, the continent's gross domestic product remains much smaller than the GDP of some US states. As capital dries up in other parts of the world and protectionist regulations expand everywhere, African countries can no longer rely on donor funding to drive prosperity. No solution can be found through the ever-expanding diplomacy of African leaders. While renewed diplomatic engagement with the continent is welcome, African leaders need to pursue mutually beneficial deals and build platforms that secure the common interests of all African countries.
When they visit Addis Ababa next week, African leaders should work to identify bilateral strategies for joint investment and resource sharing. The questions for African leaders remain the same. Should we be tied to that little rope, or can we rise up and build the Africa of tomorrow that we all so desperately need?
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.