AU’s 20th anniversary brings mixed feelings on continental legacy

Indeed, the list of current civil wars, armed conflicts and military coups in Africa remains alarmingly long.

For example, on October 25, 2021, the Sudanese military took control of the government in a coup. In Ethiopia, the government has been fighting against regional rebel forces since November 2020, consequently triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Moreover, tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to keep the continent in suspense. Although both sides now appear ready for diplomacy, armed groups, which each country accuses of backing, in an attempt to destabilise the other, continue to wreak havoc in DRC.

Sudan, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali are currently suspended from the AU for military coups, causing many commentators to remark that Africa is stepping back to the ‘70s when such actions were the order of the day.

According to Maru, the many crises have been worsened by pan-African institutions facing “a terminal crisis of leadership” and their credibility being “increasingly undermined by a lack of decisive interventions”.

These challenges have led many to question whether the AU needs strategic overhauling and repositioning.

“In many ways, the AU has incrementally improved its responses to coups and other conflicts by creating instruments in place to respond to unconstitutional changes in government, and other peace and security issues on the continent,” Balogun said.

But the inconsistency of its responses has muted the body’s efficiency, he added.

“For example, the AU has typically taken a stronger stance against unconstitutional government changes in places like Madagascar in 2010, Guinea-Bissau in 2012, as well as quick condemnation of coup attempts in Burkina Faso (2014) and Burundi (2015),” Balogun said. “In recent cases, the AU has been quick to suspend members and condemn these actions yet has been silent on certain unconstitutional transitions (notably Chad).”

Economic potential

Another of the AU’s objectives is free trade and marshalling the economy to take advantage of the continent’s diversity, economic potential and huge demographic as a ready market – one of the biggest in the world.

And it has taken giant steps on the path to achieving this.

The most recent example is the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2020, potentially the largest free trade zone in the world. It is an AU initiative that “creates the prospect of true continental integration,” as Balogun noted.

Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some African countries were among the fastest-growing economies in the world. There was a rise in investments in multiple African start-ups and the technology sector was generally booming.

Until the pandemic slowed down proceedings, the AU appeared to be on a promising path to achieving its goals of socioeconomic integration and sustainable economic development continentally. Its efforts are now focused on rejuvenating the economies of member states as they battle the effects of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During the pandemic, it played a pivotal role in tackling the virus on the continent. And although that episode has undone some of those gains, there are positive signs that the AU could still achieve a grander status as an umbrella for all.

“The AU was also one of the first regional blocs to adopt a multilateral response to COVID-19, as the Africa CDC was a key partner with WHO in disseminating PPE and developing best practices on contact tracing,” said Balogun. “There are also new challenges that were high on the agenda during the time of [former Nigerian president Olusegun] Obasanjo and [former South African president Thabo] Mbeki, such as food security and climate change. The AU has made progress on collaborating with key global partners on that front.”