African Union: a force to be reckoned with or a microcosm of inefficiency and bad governance?

I don’t know how many people are excited or filled with such renewed hope about the just concluded 19th African Union Summit currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme for this year is: “Boosting Inter-African Trade”. There is no doubt that trade will be an invaluable part of any poverty-reduction strategy. However, this can only bode well for the continent if essential elements like good governance, stability and respect for human rights are present.

This is an incredibly difficult post to write not least because I for one question of what lasting value the AU or its predecessor OAU (Organisation of African Unity) founded in 1963 has been. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate throwing out the baby with the bath water – the CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme) has been one of the few initiatives of the AU that has had measured success. (See post on sustainable development 23rd August 2011.)

How can this group of leaders prove that they are more than rabble-rousers when there is so much that is out of whack in the continent? In this post I will just focus on the hunger crisis that is currently sweeping 8 countries in the Sahel region namely: Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, The Gambia and Senegal. The reason for this focus is simple: why does a hunger crisis appear to be a yearly event in some part of Africa or the other? Surely, it couldn’t be that people aren’t hard-working enough or there aren’t enough natural resources? When I think of what it must do to those people’s dignity and humanity to be at the beholden to well-meaning strangers over and over again whilst their leaders live in luxury oblivious to all these – my heart breaks for them. Let’s face we can all criticize the international development machine but then if the governance in these African states haven’t gone so badly wrong; dependence on aid to survive won’t be the reality for millions. But then I do know that bleeding hearts or good intentions don’t solve any problem at all.

Yes, boosting intra-African trade will be one of the keys that will unlock Africa’s potential- however; there are bigger problems to solve before that can even get off the ground. Hunger and instability are two enemies that African leaders have to be willing to confront and deal with. Ignoring the issues or the use of force to quash any dissent won’t hack it anymore. As the reach of technology and social media make further inroads into the most remote parts of the continent, more and more would refuse to embrace the status quo. People can only pushed so far, when they hit the wall and are out of options, they’ll just turn round and fight. The sad reality is that due to the dearth of solid leadership, the mode of fighting back is often destructive – Northern Nigeria and Mali are cases in point.

The political elite in Africa had better take note: Africans aren’t ignorant people whose emotions and prejudice can be eternally stirred to support dictatorships masquerading as democracies. Failure to wake up and smell the coffee can only mean bad news and more chaos; surely the continent can do without that.

Until the next time….