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March 31, 2005

African Union cites progress on conflicts

Jeremy Schwab

African Union Director of Communications Desmond Orjiako made a bold prediction to the crowd of over 70 people gathered at Northeastern University last week.

“I predict that by 2007, there will be no war in Africa that will attract media headlines so that people can say, ‘Yes, that is Africa,’” said Orjiako, a well-known public figure in Africa.

Orjiako aims to promote a positive image for the continent and for the fledgling African Union, the organization of 53 countries that aims to promote peace, democracy, economic development and expanded health care in Africa.

Orjiako, whose visit to Northeastern was sponsored by the Department of African American Studies and other campus groups, cited progress in some of the conflicts raging in various African countries. In February, African Union representatives and representatives of some West African countries successfully pressured President Gnassingbe of Togo, who had inherited the presidency from his father, to promise democratic elections within 60 days.

African Union representatives have also been involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Ivory Coast, both countries that have suffered from civil war in recent years.

In the Sudan, the African Union has sought to play a peacekeeping and monitoring role in the Sudan conflict. Representatives from the AU have told the United States they want monetary support, so that they can send African troops to calm the situation.

The approach to the Sudanese conflict, where the AU and its member countries are seeking an African solution to an African problem, is representative of the AU’s approach to other issues impacting the continent.

The African Union is leading the development of a manufacturing plant for generic drugs to fight the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. The AU aims to reduce the cost of telecommunications by creating a more uniform phone system. The AU’s member countries have signed a non-aggression and self-defense pact, and the AU reviews countries’ level of democratic governance on a voluntary basis.

Founded in 2002, the AU replaced the former Organization of African Unity. The OAU successfully fought for freedom from colonial rule, but was less successful in providing economic growth, democracy and internal peace.

Following the end of apartheid in South Africa, the genocide in Rwanda and disinvestment in Africa on the part of the United States and former Soviet Union following the Cold War, African heads of state felt it was time for a new approach to the continent’s problems.

The AU was born, and a chief goal of the new organization is to unite African nations in resolving civil wars or potential civil wars, through troop deployments or negotiations.

The disinterest among former colonial powers and the United States in Africa may give the AU more leverage to affect conflicts diplomatically and militarily.

“In Togo, the AU had one advantage,” said African American Studies professor Kwamina Panford, whose connections to the AU helped facilitate Orjiako’s visit. “Britain, Germany, the United States and France did not interfere as they usually do. The end of the Cold War is like a two-edged sword. In the short term, it creates chaos. But in the long run, it will enable Africans to determine their own destiny more.”

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