Unions are all around us – United kingdoms, United states, united nations, rugby union,
and of course political and economic unions.
But the European Union isn’t the only continental union in fact, it’s not even the biggest.
This video explores the African Union what it is, how it works, and what it might be
in the future.
The African Union is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 55 member states.
It is also a forum for cooperation, which serves to mediate between countries.
To find out why these roles are important, we need to know a little bit about the recent
history of the African continent.
As the evolutionary birthplace of humankind – Africa has had a myriad of cultures and
countries develop over hundreds of thousands of years: but we are only going to talk about
a tiny slice of this vast history.
Following the decolonisation of many of the countries of Africa during the 20th century,
the Organisation of African Unity (or OAU) was set up in 1963 to do exactly that – promote
unity among the countries of Africa, many of which were finding their post-independence
identities.
This organisation trundled along for some decades with limited success, until in 1999
in Sirte, Libya, at an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation arranged by Colonel Gaddafi,
the leaders of the OAU issued a declaration stating that they wanted even stronger unity,
solidarity and cohesion between the people and countries of Africa.
They didn’t just want an organisation for unity, they wanted an African Union, so 3
years later, in 2002 the African Union was born.
So which countries are members of the AU?
The short answer – all of the African countries.
There are some caveats in the slightly longer answer though.
Firstly, the Spanish-owned exclaves on the north coast of the continent are not part
of the African Union, despite being on the continent of Africa – in fact these are
the only pockets of mainland Africa that are not part of the AU.
Next, the AU – as with the UN – does not recognise Somaliland, a region attempting
to break away from Somalia, as a sovereign state.
Rather, the AU recognises this area of land to fall within Somalia.
Conversely, the AU does recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (or SADR) as the
government controlling parts of the disputed Western Sahara, and the SADR has full membership
to the AU.
This initially caused Morocco to remove itself from the Organisation for African Unity in
protest, and it did not join the African Union until 2017.
Finally, the African Union takes a very inclusive stance on people of African-heritage outside
of the continent.
It is officially stated that the AU will “Invite and encourage the full participation of the
African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African
Union.“
But as yet this does not include admitting countries outside the continent of Africa
as full members.
The African Union also has no qualms about suspending the membership of states, particularly
as a punishment for un-democratic goings on.
The Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali and Mauritania
are all members that have previously been suspended for military coups or similar un-democratic
overthrows of government – however at the release of this video, no member states are
currently suspended.
So what does the African Union actually do?
What is it, and what isn’t it?
To answer this question it might be easier to compare it to its perhaps more well-known
neighbour, the European Union.
Both organisations aim to achieve unity and economic ties within their respective continent.
The AU does not have a single currency akin to the Euro, however this idea has been floated
as a future goal.
The AU does not have a visa-free travel zone, similar to the Schengen Zone.
However this is another aim for the coming years, and African Union passports are currently
being rolled-out.
The AU does have a peacekeeping force, and has sent troops to conflict-areas.
The AU does have a Pan-African Parliament – however it doesn’t make laws or regulations,
it has more of an advisory role.
Further, the members of the parliament aren’t actually directly elected by citizens, they
are nominated by the legislature of their home country.
Finally, unlike the European Union, the African Union is comprised of all of the countries
of its continent – which is about 6 and a half times the size of the EU, and at least
2.4 times the amount of people.
The African Union predominantly provides a forum for debate and for collaboration.
It is a continental plenary where issues facing the whole of Africa can be discussed, and
from which formal co-operation can be achieved.
While the African Union does not yet play as much of a role in its citizens lives as
the European Union does for its citizens – the AU has united an entire continent.
This gives it enormous potential for fulfilling its goals of unity and progress for Africa
– and as African nations continue to recover from the constrains of colonialism, the African
Union will hope to act as a positive feedback loop to enhance the growth of African countries
and their people.
Thanks for watching this video about the African Union.
If you enjoyed it leave a thumb or a comment, subscribe to the channel, and check out my
other videos here.
Thanks for watching.