African Union

African Union, formerly the Organization of African Unity (OAU), or Organisation de l’Unité Africaine, inter-African organization founded in May 1963 to promote unity and solidarity among African states; to coordinate political, economic, cultural, medical, scientific, and defence policies; to defend the independence and territorial integrity of member states; and to eliminate colonialism from Africa. All independent states are eligible to become members. There are now 53 members. The two most recent ones are Eritrea, which joined after gaining its independence in 1991, and South Africa, which became a member in 1994. Morocco suspended its membership in 1985 in protest at the admittance of the Saharawi Arab Republic (Western Sahara) in 1982. The headquarters of the African Union are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The structure of the African Union remains that of the OAU, which disbanded in 2001. Its policy-making body is the annual Assembly of Heads of State and Government. The Assembly coordinates policy and approves decisions made at the periodic meetings of the Council of Ministers, which consists of the foreign ministers of member countries. Efforts to resolve disputes are handled by the Commission of Mediation, Conciliation, and Arbitration. In 1991 the OAU decided to set up a conflict management division to monitor potential disputes and to try and prevent them erupting into violence; a peace fund was created to finance the division's operations. The OAU had a number of specialized commissions dealing with areas such as economics, transport and communications, and education, as well as a few specialized agencies—including the Pan-African News Agency, the Pan-African Postal Union, and the Scientific, Technical, and Research Commission. The organization, while maintaining its political nature, became increasingly involved with promoting economic integration and cooperation. These efforts led to the decision to establish an African economic community whose treaty was signed by African leaders in 1991. After receiving the required two-thirds ratification, the treaty entered into force in April 1994, and in early 2001 African leaders agreed in principle to proposals to set up an African union similar to that of the European Union.

The permanent administrative body of the organization is the General Secretariat. It is headed by a Secretary-General, elected for a four-year term and aided by five assistant secretaries in charge of the various departments. The secretariat carries out the resolutions and decisions of the assembly, keeps archives, and conducts the organization's public relations.

The African Union's pan-African roots date back to 1900, when the First Pan-African Congress met in London. Between 1900 and 1927 five congresses met to promote black solidarity and protest against colonization, but the delegates were primarily from the United States and the West Indies. During the 1930s the movement was almost non-existent, but in 1944 several black organizations founded the Pan-African Federation, and the Sixth Pan-African Congress was organized in 1945. Africans, who now were in the majority, sponsored resolutions demanding political independence in the 1950s, and new African states formed various political and economic organizations. The first conference of independent African states met in Ghana in 1958. In the early 1960s two blocs emerged. One, the Casablanca Group, consisting of the more “radical” states, was created in January 1961. Under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, it argued for pan-African political unity. The Monrovia Group, including the more “conservative” states, met in May 1961 and outlined a programme of gradual economic unity. Primarily through the efforts of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, prime minister of Nigeria, and Sekou Toure, president of Guinea, representatives from most independent African states met at Addis Ababa in 1963, and on May 25 the OAU was founded by 30 states.

The OAU Charter, as signed at Addis Ababa, reflected a compromise between the prevailing views among the Casablanca and Monrovia groups, envisaging a unity “that transcends ethnic and national differences”. After the formation of the OAU, the two groups disbanded.

In May 2001 the OAU was replaced by the African Union, with the aim of creating economic and political union across the continent, as well as an African parliament and a court of justice.