| As the Lusaka summit of the organisation of
African Unity (OAU) came to a close on Wednesday, many have been left wondering whether
the initial time-tables for setting up the African Union (AU) are perhaps a little
over-ambitious. The same question has to be asked about some of the economic objectives
that have been included within the planning,which extend beyond the structural
developments required to transform the OAU into the more multi-facetted AU. Somebody has
thrown an amount of about US$65 Bn into the discussion arena, suggested to be the
investment quantum needed to get Africa ticking over properly. This seems a very small sum
in the light of the geographic size, the extent of the population, the low level of
infrastructure investment, and the educational needs of the continent. This is not an
argument against starting, but there maybe some disappointment if initial targets are not
meet timorously. |
| It is difficult to shed any tears, even
crocodile ones, for the OAU, which has not achieved very much since its origins in 1963.
Too many conflicts with too many possible solutions, each one belonging to a different
ego, and too few resources to achieve solutions, usually left the OAU stranded, as and
when it ever managed to consolidate a single opinion about a matter. The single
outstanding point of no disagreement was the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, but,
once this had been achieved, virtually all the common momentum disappeared. The OAU has
outlived whatever modest usefulness it may ever have had. Transformation to the AU, with
wider reaching interests and powers, is a welcome event, irrespective of the politics of
some of its founders. |
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