A United States of Africa

“Africa Must Unite” greets each visitor to the website of the African Union and is the theme of this week’s 9th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union. The call to create a unified political and economic community, similar to the European Union, has been supported by many as the key to solving Africa’s problems of poverty, under-development, and the free movement of peoples. Economic leaders already hope to release a unified currency for the East Africa bloc and the West Africa bloc – combining Anglophone and Francophone communities – by 2009. AU Commission Chairman, Alpha Oumare Konare noted that "…political integration…will give us more clout and bargaining power when negotiating with other blocs." He announced his intention to emerge as a united front, one of the original goals of the AU, as soon as 2015.
Opposition activists showed up by the hundreds to argue against the economic partnership agreements (EPA) and the possible influx of cheap foreign goods that would undercut domestic markets. Analysts have argued that the EU has pressured the AU for many years to create EPAs and that resources devoted to health, education, and water provision will be further strained by these arrangements. For more information, please click here. For information about African currency blocs, click here.