African Union: Hurdles before Agenda 2063

SINCE African Union (AU) legally sprouted from organic residues of OAU on July 9, 2002, years 2011
and 2013 posted historical cairns on modern Africa. Less than a decade into its life, South Sudan became Africa's newest sovereign nation on July 9, 2011. Juba's road to independence from Khartoum was not without a price tag. Indeed, it was a road replete with landmines. It over three decades of strife with Sudan under SPLA auspices does not help matners.

  Around two million ethnic Dinkas and Nuers-including SPLA leader John Garang-were reportedly consumed by this conflict. This makes it one of Africa's darkest moments and worst nightmares. But just when nunc dimits was set to toll, blue lines sprawled across the skies. A referendum midwived by AU and UN followed and South Sudan took the 193rd seat of UN general assembly. How this child of an intractible strife fares presently is topic for another day.

  Then in 2013, AU upped its ante this time on the economic notch, Agenda 2063 with 'The Africa We want' alias was launched.

  As an economic blueprint, Agenda 2063 typifies a macro roadmap to harmonise strategic gains of its fore runners over last decade or thereabouts. Contributions in gains and goals of peer - partner economic schemes like African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), New Economic Partnership for African Development  (NEPAD), African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) deserve coming under one pilot. Hence, Agenda 2063 is conceived as unipolar roadmap for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizen and representing a dynamic force in global politics.

  Taken on another prism, Agenda 2063 stands Africa on modern parameters of how it should do things very differently, as only sure bet for economic development by next 50 years. This,  is capped up in learning from past lessons, building and planning on current progress to meet future opportunities both in short, medium and long terms to boost economic transformation within the next 50 years.

  As if to match words with action and elevate these goals beyond mere blurbs, investigationsshow African Union budgets reclining steadily on the increase over last five years. In - deed, records obtained from Institute of International Affairs, South Africa put AU's budget for 2015 at USD430m. This by no estimation, is no paltry figure for a regional organization that boasts of 1,500 full-time staff with offices in 35 member-countries among its 54 member-nations.

  Further breakdown of this figure shows that about USD 109m of its current fiscal profile will be going into salary and operational expenses. What ever remains as balance will be devoted for peace-keeping funding.

  According to a press release from Directorate of Information and Communication of AU Commission, Agenda 2063 incorporates fundamental elements recharged to rekindle pan-Africanism, inculcate greater sense of solidarity, good governance, self reliance and integration. Speaking further at end of 25th AU Summit in South Africa between 7-15 June, 2015 (with a theme “Year of Women Empowerment and Development towards Africa's Agenda 2063) a resource person, Ms Esther Azaa Tankou, was captivating.

  Addressing invited media, she capped up goals of Agenda 2063 more succinctly. According to her, “Agenda 2063 will ripen an ideal African continent structured around democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, strong identity by the year 2063. Our continent would be set for people-driven development, women and youth participation, common heritage as well as ethics and value re-engineering that molds Africa as a strong global player and partner”, A host of media representatives from Africa and beyond attended Ms Tankou's  press briefing.

  Further analysis of AU commission's press release shows that Agenda 2063 seeks to actualize its dreams in concrete terms, not beyond 50 years. This, it was gathered, through a robust policy thrust that will tripple current African economy, double its present volume of trade and aggressive expansion of free trade zones among members. All these action plans would boost African economy to the tune of USD 2 trn in its short and medium term, it was further learnt.

  A multiplier effect of fore-going projection will naturally reverberate in corally boom in long term,  gleaned from Agenda 2063 documents.

  It might be noted that our own President Muhammadu Buhari attended this week-long function in Jo'burg, South Africa. But that is as far these kudos go. For, beyond hypes and plugs several knocks have trailed Agenda 2063 aftermath its most recent re-awakening.

  First to fire salvo at AU and its latest economic blueprint was a Pretoria based social watch dog, Institute of Security Studies (ISS). Speaking through its executive director, Jackie Cillers, ISS said “AU will continue to struggle going forwards because it is saddled with a very complex, diverse and heterogeneous continent.”

  It further noted that “efforts to move towards political and economic integration (by AU) are often extremely ambitious. But it seldom rolls out commitments rigorous enough to concretize these ambitions in empirical terms.”

  Perhaps, Mr Cillers' “cynicism” sprawls on patent failure of previous blue chip action plans (eg NEPAD) rolled out on Africa, since African Union supplanted OAU in 2002, to ripen into success practically with its masses, access. He may not be alone. For “if Agenda 2063 evisions 'The Africa we Want' by next 50 years, AU should guard its loins against native plagues that afflicted similar plans in the past according to a regional affairs” analyst, Igwe Sunday Okafor.

  These two commentators may not be altogether off beam. Over 585 million people or 75 pc of entire population in sub-Saharan Africa still wallow in brink of poverty, according to recent UNDP estimates. Hence, not a few wonder whether NEPAD for instance fares better than those exotic TV ads and documentaries.

  Many factors,  may account for such lopsidedness that seemingly peters African action plans into mere sloganeering. Ola Bello, a fellow at Institute of International Affairs (IIA) South Africa periscopes Agenda 2063 differently. Africa lacks skilled personnel at critical sectors of its economy like construction. So AU will always find it difficult to plug capital flights, according to him.

  Mr Bello further blamed inability of AU since inception to reconcile regional and national interests among its members. He noted also that there has been no radical paradigm departure over these years. This, he suggested, will weigh in on Agenda 2063 and its potentials to fly safely.

  Also bludgeoning Agenda 2063 and its capacity to actualize its goals is Daniel Silke. He is director of Town-Based Political Futures and Consultancy, Cape Town, South Africa. According to him, “there has always been a disconnect between AU's lofty rhetorics of good governance and actual performances of individual leaders in Africa.

  “What does Ms Tankou believe will convince critical analysts of AU’s capacity to thread out a continent of good governance in 50 years' time, under Agenda 2063 emblems, when some of its leaders had been in government for past 50 years? Mr Silke queried.

  Investigations show that Silke may not be far from the mark. It was gathered that leaders who call AU's shots at present indeed epitomize infernal phenomenon of “sit-tightism” on Africa.

  These are leaders, under various nomenclatures, that seem to see their names as suns which Africa must wake up to live under everyday. For instance, it was learnt that Mr Robert Mugabe became President of Zimbabwe in 1980. He is still in office, and even led his country's delegation to last Presidential inauguration in Nigeria. To make matters more refractory, Mugabe is rotating chairperson of AU. Here, perhaps, may lie such disconnect observers stress in AU's lofty rhetorics and individual antecedents of Africa leaders.

  With a “leader” of Mugabe's pedigree on modern Africa's wheel of fortune, predicated on democratic values (like human right and good governance), skepticism may naturally clout its voyage. To draw home this point, Mugabe like an intractable whitlow on an index thumb, was at his intransigent best at AU's 25th Summit. He upbraided International Criminal Court (ICC) for proferring war crime charges on Omar Al-Bashir over his atrocities in Darfur region. Mugabe declared that ICC is not wanted in Africa, and even asked EU Commission to apologize for condemning third term government in Burundi.

 IT WAS gathers that such stance as foregoing by AU topshots may explain its non-condemnation or investigation of Al-Bashir (not to talk of sanction) over his indictment by ICC for war crimes.

  It will be recalled that Al-Bashir even visited Nigeria in 2013 for AU. Indeed, he also participated in last AU Summit in Jo'burg without being arrested, despite South Africa being signatory to Rome Convention. Thus, with AU hobnobbing  with questionable characters in its fold, not a few are miffed that its commitment to those ideals espoused in Agenda 2063 is suspect.

  Interestingly, same AU that Mugabe goaded to resist western “imperialism” which to him ICC symbolizes, still goes cap in hand to western donor agenices. For instance, National Light learnt that AU member states contributes only 5pc of its annual budgets. The remainder comes from European commission, World Bank and other donor bodies in form of  grants and aids. There is, therefore, a sprawling disconnect between this foregoing double-dealing by AU and genuine devotion to its avowals in Agenda 2063 as can bleed this action plan to uncany death.

  Still beaming searchlight on sit tightotism as strictures on  “The Africa We Want” project, Robert Mugabe is certainly not alone. There is Cameroun's Paul Biya who annexed his country as a fief in 1982. Like Mugabe, elections in Cameroun have been reduced to mere rubber-stamping mechanism for Biya's agenda of ruling for life. There is also Eduardo Dos  Santos who has remained Angola's maximum ruler since 1979. Nor does anyone miss Emperor Sassao Ngueso who became CDR president between 1979-1992, returned again in 1997, and remains till date. It therefore threads curiosity over what novelty could arise from an agenda inspired by these anachronistic “leaders” on good governance and democratic ethos.

  With this set of characters on AU levers, it poses no difficulty to locate its unwieldy flaggelation in a vortex of anachronism. Perhaps this partly explains AU dithering on Omar Al-Bashir saga since 2009. Despite being a wanted man on ICC list, Al-Bashir still attended AU Summits in Nigeria and South Africa without being handed over Interpol as enshrined under Rome convention of ICC. African leaders hide under the policy of non-interference of AU to obstruct justice for this warlord who submerged entire Dafur region up to Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan in an endless blitzkrieg of rape, bombings, murder and torture. Over 300,000 people have been killed in Dafur conflict since 2003, and another seven million displaced, according to United Nation Commission for refugees. Yet, Al-Bashir walks on the continent like a strongman cast in iron.


SOURCE: National Light