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African Solutions for African Problems

Their country. Their people. Their culture.

dominated European intervention in 2009, Zaire in 1977 and 1978, Rwanda in 1990-1993, and
Mali in 2013."

"Lessons from French Military Interventions in Africa" 434
Fondation Pierre du Bois
Devex. ( June 2012)
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The evolution of the African Union

Just as Africa has ‘moved on’, so as the African Union. It now expects to play an active role
in leading regional economic development. It has established and is growing a role in

peacekeeping. It is using its authority to support political stability when faced with

attempted coups in less stable nations.
It’s obvious to many that the authority of the African Union, and the leverage it could

bring to bear in regions of Africa, would be enhanced if it was given more of a leading role
in the way International Aid is delivered.

It should be the aim of all International Aid to Africa to leave a legacy of a self-

sustaining Africa. Africa’s sixteen landlocked nations (LLDC) can be both a victim of failures
in economic development and political stability of their international neighbours. They can

also be the causes of political instability and economic setbacks. This and other matters

amplify the need for regional development. This in itself argues for a lead role for the
African Union. The differences in self-interest of donor nations simply necessitates that

they give the leadership role to the African Union and give it the means to ‘discipline’ African

governments to fulfil their obligations in any regional economic development.

About the African Union
" The early twenty-first century witnessed remarkable attempts by Africa's political leadership to

promote regional integration as a means of fast-tracking economic progress, facilitating peace
and security, consolidating democratic gains, and promoting the general welfare of the African
people. The transition of the Organization of Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU), as well as

the foisting of a new economic blueprint for the continent-the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD), combined with the growing role of the regional economic communities

(RECs) in harmonizing and creating subregional norms and standards in the political and
economic arena suggests a new trend towards regionalism in Africa.

Indeed, in the new regional integration architecture, the RECs are considered to be the building

blocks of the integration process led by the African Union. This new impetus of a regional