Farewell to wars, Africa gears up for revival
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-10 13:22

BEHOLD, THE UNITED STATES OF AFRICA, BUT WHEN?

Limited by smallness and powerlessness, African voices traditionally gets drown out by the resonance of the rich and influential West and new Asian upstarts. Years of conflicts and disputes have done nothing good to help, either. But African countries have realized in order to have a say in world affairs that eventually affect themselves, they have to speak with one voice.

After a contentious debate at an emergency African Union summit on UN reform in August, 46 of the pan-African body's 53 members reaffirmed a joint position on the continent's Security Council representation adopted in July in Libya, refusing to drop demands for two permanent veto-wielding seats on an enlarged UN Security Council.

The outcome had disappointed the so-called G4 -- Brazil, India, Japan and Germany -- which has been lobbying for African backing for its proposal to enlarge the council to 25 members, with six new permanent seats without veto power and four non-permanent seats.

Algerian Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Baali, one of the most forceful opponents of the G4 draft, felt clearly vindicated.

"We are pleased that the AU has maintained its unity, articulated around the position we adopted" in Libya last month, he said. "We believe the African position is a realistic position, a legitimate position."

The AU, which insists on veto power for two permanent Security Council seats that would be allocated to Africa, seems determined to strengthen its representation in the world body.

Formed three years ago, the AU has played an indispensable role in resolving disputes and maintaining peace in the region, achieving remarkable progress in Cote d'Ivoire crisis and the peacekeeping in the Great Lakes region, and bringing the Sudanese government and the western Darfur rebels together on peace talks.

Furthermore, Africa's leaders have agreed last month that a union government was needed for the poorest continent to hold its own among the world's other regional blocs.

Revisiting an idea that goes back decades ago and was once championed under the banner of "pan-Africanism" by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, the leaders said the union should not only be of governments but also of the African people.

"The necessity for eventual union government is not in doubt," said the leaders in a collective statement after meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

They said the pursuit of a union government should be based on identifiable shared values and common interests.

"Such values may include among others democracy and human rights, liberal economic management framework in particular monetary and fiscal discipline, development of African human resources, agricultural resources among others," they said.

The continent is already heading toward regional economic integration. Several economic blocs in the region, such as the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), have been implementing the practice of custom unions among member states.

Despite the ongoing efforts to integrate and revive the continent, Africa still remains home to virtually all of the world 's "ultra-poor" -- leading critics to complain that not enough is being done to bring the benefits of growth to the African people.