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Letter of the President
02 February, 2007
The AU determined to accelerate African renewal
During the last few days, from 28-30 January, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, home to the headquarters of the African Union, hosted meetings of the NEPAD Heads of State Implementation Committee, the African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government, and the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government.
The website "EUX.TV" entitled its report on the Assembly, datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, with the words, "African Union ends without progress". A Pan African News Agency (PANA) report carried by "Africa News", also datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, was headed "African Union summit fails to agree on an African government".
The website "allAfrica.com" published a report attributed to the "Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)", again datelined Addis Ababa, 31 January, entitled "Somalia: AU Summit Concludes with Failure of Raising 8,000 Peacekeepers for Somalia". The Canadian newspaper, the "Globe and Mail", published an Associated Press (AP) report, once more datelined Addis Ababa, headed, "Sudan again fails in bid to lead African Union".
Our own "Beeld" newspaper carried an article, again datelined Addis Ababa, entitled, "SA denies buying time on crime". Among other things this article said "the report of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on South Africa was not tabled before the AU's heads of state, as planned". It said "The South African government has strongly denied that it intervened on Sunday to prevent discussion by the African Union of a report that strongly criticised the crime rate in this country, (South Africa), among other things."
The "Beeld" report went further to say that I had made some comments about the APRM report on South Africa, while "attending the AU's bi-annual conference in the Tanzanian capital". The report concluded with the account that, "In his opening address on Sunday, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria said the APRM project was intended to help countries learn from each other's mistakes, but this would work only if there was no political interference."
This and other reports and the headlines we have cited convey a dismal message of African failure and an entrenched, virtually genetic, African disaster. They convey the message once communicated by a prestigious European magazine a few years ago under the dramatic title, "Africa: the Hopeless Continent". They suggest the persistence of a psychological fixation that feeds a centuries-old and deeply entrenched global Afro-pessimism, that is incapable of comprehending any facts indicating that our continent is steadily responding to its most important challenges.
With regard to the simple matter of facts, contrary to what the "Beeld" says, Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia and not Tanzania. The APRM reports are presented to the APR Forum, and not the "AU heads of state".
Because of this, the perfectly public agenda of the "AU (Assembly of) heads of state (and government), which any ordinary journalist can obtain freely and easily, has no agenda item headed, for instance, "APRM reports". This is because the "AU heads of state" never discuss or have the structural possibility to consider the APRM reports. This is because accession to the APRM is entirely voluntary, and currently involves 26 of the 53 Member States of the African Union.
In addition, the "Beeld" reporter who wrote that Nigerian President Obasanjo delivered his "opening address" at the APR Forum "on Sunday (28 January)", which would consider the APRM reports, should be aware of the simplest of facts that the "AU (Assembly) of heads of state" began the following day, Monday 29 January, and not Sunday. This reporter should have known that the "opening address" at the meeting of "AU heads of state" would be made by the then current Chairperson of the AU, President Denis Sassou-Nguessou of Congo-Brazzaville, and not the President of Nigeria.
On 26 January we arrived in Davos, Switzerland to attend the annual global conference of the World Economic Forum. On this occasion, on the same day, among other things, we served on a Panel convened to debate the topic "Delivering on the Promise of Africa". One of the members of this Panel was a major German media owner and publisher. Of the greatest importance with regard to this important global agenda item and the Davos setting, this Panelist distinguished himself by directly addressing the set topic - the Promise of Africa - in plain language, without resort to the traditional "politically correct" rhetoric.
(The members of this Panel, moderated by the Reuters Chairperson, Niall Fitzgerald, were Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia; UK Prime Minister Tony Blair; President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka; Bill Gates of the Gates Foundation; Hubert Burda of the German Burda Media; Pat Davies of SASOL; Madame Sadako Ogata, former Japanese UN High Commissioner for Refugees and current head of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, Kumi Naidoo, CEO of the non-governmental Civicus-World Alliance for Citizen Participation; and the well-known popular musician and defender of the interests of the peoples of the developing countries, Bono.)
In his statement during the Panel discussions, the German media Panelist to whom we have referred, Hubert Burda, strongly denounced the unfortunate reality in terms of which the media, including his own, is enslaved by a highly negative stereotype of Africans and Africa, refusing to see, acknowledge and report the very many positive things the peoples of Africa are and have been doing to extricate themselves from a centuries-old crisis of dehumanisation.
Speaking during the proceedings of the Panel, I was very pleased publicly to thank him for what he said and to appeal to him to work with us to respond to the difficult challenge to tell the objective truth about our Continent, honestly reflecting both the good and the bad. What has been reported at home and abroad concerning the recent 28-30 January proceedings in Addis Ababa, as reflected above, relative to the distinct and separate institutions constituted by the APR Forum, the NEPAD Heads of State & Government Implementation Committee, and the AU Assembly of Heads of State & Government, forcefully reminded us of the honest and heartfelt remarks that Hubert Burda had made about reporting contemporary Africa in Davos, Switzerland on 26 January.
In its 2007 January 8th Statement issued on the occasion of the 95th Anniversary of our movement, our National Executive Committee directed that one of the milestones we must celebrate this year is "the 50 Anniversary of the independence of Ghana, a watershed moment in Africa's history, giving impetus to the process of decolonisation on the continent and engendering a renewed sense of a common African destiny".
When it considered the issue of who should serve as the 2007 Chair of the AU, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government made the determination that it should elect President John Kufuor of Ghana to this important and prestigious position. This was a unanimous decision, that was proposed, among others, by President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. Like our movement, as reflected in our January 8th Statement, the AU felt that everything should be done to commemorate the historic independence of Ghana in 1957. The decision taken by the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, concerning who should chair the Union during 2007, had absolutely nothing to do with humiliating or rejecting Sudan and President Omar al-Bashir!
As a demonstration of their intent fully to honour the 50th Anniversary of the rebirth of Ghana, the African Heads of State and Government will gather in Accra, Ghana in March 2007, and again in July 2007, to celebrate Ghana's independence, attend to the ordinary business of the African Union, and reflect on the challenge further to accelerate progress towards African integration and unity.
Hopefully, during the July Ghana meetings, the African Peer Review Mechanism Panel (APRM) will also table before the APR Forum of the Heads of State and Government whose countries have acceded to the APRM, its considered and final reports on Algeria, Nigeria and South Africa. (Incidentally and fortuitously, these happen to be the three countries that led the historic African initiative that gave birth to NEPAD and its organically associated African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).)
In this regard, we must also mention the fact that in its meeting in Addis Ababa, the Implementation Committee of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government decided that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, should succeed President Obasanjo of Nigeria as Chairperson of the NEPAD Head of State and Government Implementation Committee, and Chairperson of the APR Forum, once President Obasanjo ceases to serve as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, after the April/May 2007 democratic elections in Nigeria.
Those of us who serve within the structures of the African Union, and daily bear the responsibility to respond to what the World Economic Forum described as the Promise of Africa, have a task to address Africa's actual and real challenges. To succeed in what we have to do, in the interest of the African masses, this means that we must separate prejudice and illusion from the hard and exciting reality of the actuality of the evolving African condition.
As a consequence of this, we celebrate the fact that for the first time ever, at the 2007 Addis Ababa AU Assembly, a united Africa had occasion to celebrate the fact that in 2010, our Continent would, for the first time, have the possibility to host the eminent global sports tournament, the FIFA Soccer World Cup. As a result, the assembled African Heads of State and Government had the possibility, for the first time, to listen to the Presidents of FIFA and CAF and, incidentally, a head of government from Trinidad and Tobago, who could speak for the African Diaspora in the Caribbean. They also launched the International Year of African Football.
We also celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa AU Assembly took the positions it did, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the independence of Ghana. This will enable our Continent to engage in a critical assessment of what its independence from colonialism and apartheid has meant, and therefore what it should do to address the common aspirations that the African masses have shared for a long time, in favour of African unity and an African Renaissance.
We celebrate the fact that in Addis Ababa, Africa's political leaders took the decision to involve the African masses in deciding what needs to be done to achieve the purposes of the African Revolution, including the advance towards the realisation of the objective of African unity. We welcome the fact that in July, as decided in Addis Ababa, Africa's political leaders will meet in Ghana in a special two-day session solely to address this important issue.
We celebrate the fact that when it applauded President Obasanjo's valedictory address, the Assembly confirmed its determination to respect constitutional rule and the rule of law, as a result of which President Obasanjo would not seek to serve during a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Assembly also adopted the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, saying that it constituted "a major step towards the realisation of the democratic agenda of the Union."
We celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa Assembly paid particular attention to the critical issue of Africa's involvement in the development of science and technology, resulting in the adoption of an African Indicative Plan focused on the development and application of science and technology to address our Continent's challenges, including mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change.
We celebrate the fact that, in Addis Ababa, Africa's political leaders reaffirmed their determination to mobilise all our resources successfully to accomplish the task to ensure security and stability in all our countries. This represents a binding commitment by all member states of the AU to contribute whatever they can towards the resolution of such conflicts as confront Sudan, Somalia, Côte d'Ivoire, Comoros, Guinean (Conakry), Chad and so on.
We celebrate the fact that the Assembly approved a budget that will provide substantial funds for the implementation of the programmes of the Union. In the past the Union depended on voluntary contributions by the member states and donations from the rest of the world to fund its programmes. This has seriously affected its capacity to advance the objectives spelt out in the Constitutive Act.
We celebrate the fact that the 2007 Addis Ababa Assembly attracted perhaps the largest number ever of representatives of important non-African countries and multilateral organisations, all of which sought to engage the AU in constructive dialogue. The presence and addresses of the UN SG, the SG of the Arab League, the President of the Palestine Authority, the Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Italy, the Presidents of FIFA and CAF, the CEOs of the ADB, FAO and UNESCO, senior representatives of the EU, the US, UK, French and Iranian governments, and so on, all confirmed that we have succeeded to place Africa among the leading items on the global agenda.
We celebrate the fact that during the few days of our presence in Addis Ababa, we witnessed the opening in the city the first ever campus outside our country of the University of South Africa (UNISA). This demonstrated Africa's commitment to put in place the building blocks we need to achieve the objective of African solidarity, integration and unity, specifically focused on using our national strengths to accelerate balanced and mutually beneficial development among our countries.
In this regard the Assembly accepted the report of the NEPAD Heads of State & Government Implementation Committee, which include a decision to undertake a comprehensive review of the functioning of the programme ahead of the June G8 Summit Meeting in Germany, which will discuss its cooperation with Africa as one of its principal agenda items.
Significantly, the Assembly also accepted a proposal made by the African Ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs for the elaboration of an African Charter on Statistics. The Charter will be considered by the AU Executive Council (the Foreign Ministers) at its meeting in July. The decision of the Assembly said the Charter "will provide a lasting solution to issues related to the production of statistics on our Continent."
(Clearly the Continent needs accurate statistics precisely to measure the progress we are making in addressing our challenges. However, the decision to elaborate the African Charter on Statistics emphasises the point that much of what is presented as fact, concerning our Continent, is little more than guess work. Of course, this gives the possibility to all and sundry to characterise our Continent in any way they wish.)
The January 2007 Eighth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU confirmed that our Continent remains united in its determination to pursue the objectives fundamental to the African Renaissance. These include promoting African integration and unity, ensuring peace and stability, entrenching democracy and a culture of human rights, accelerating socio-economic development to address the challenges of poverty and underdevelopment, and ensuring that Africa takes its rightful place within the world community of nations.
As an expression of its commitment to achieve these objectives, the Assembly took important decisions to assess the effectiveness of the institutions of the African Union precisely to ensure that Africa realises the faster progress that it needs to achieve. The AU must ensure that it has the capacity to attain the important goals it has set itself. This is what the January 2007 Eighth Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly decided. With that, it conveyed an unequivocal message of hope to all the peoples of Africa.
This page was last updated on Friday January 12, 2007