African Union is Work in Progress

“African Union is Work in Progress”. This came out in an animated presentation delivered by the D.R.C Ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Mawampanga Mwana Nanga at the Institute on 20 November 2017. The students of Contemporary Diplomacy and International Relations profited from this high spirited and active discussion with the Ambassador.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Mwana Nanga reckoned the African Union as a wonderful and eminently sensible concept with a distinguished history that it is embodied in the imagination of the continent’s great leaders and intellectuals of Thomas Sankara, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah among other African leaders.

The Ambassador brought it to attention that there is very little to talk about in as far as African Union’s Strengths and Weaknesses are concerned since it is still work in progress. In his presentation, he propounded that Africa is the cradle of mankind and has the capacity to transform itself into a more profitable bunch if it adequately utilizes its resources. He challenged Africa to move out of its comfort zone and dependency syndrome. The ambassador also reiterated the importance of upholding the ideals of Pan-Africanism to promote unity and oneness among all people of African descent.

As the adage says “Delay is not an option and it is time for action” Ambassador Mwana Nanga said that it is the time for Africa to promote this ideology through the creation of a United States of Africa, promoting unity and togetherness, free movement of people and goods and putting in place macroeconomic measures that would facilitate job creation and entrepreneurship. These investments and policy responses are central to economic transformation and would help to address Africa’s current challenges that render Africans vulnerable to fundamentalism, extremism and forced migration.

The Ambassador concluded that it is none but ourselves who can deliver us from this backwardness and pull out from this economic quagmire. As Africans our hope is in unity and we need to replace those vicious circles of exclusion with the virtuous circles of inclusion, love, togetherness and peace.