As celebrations are under way to commemorate fifty years of The Organization For African Unity, OAU, now known as AU, African Unity, many questions still abound.
Fact! 60 per cent of untouched arable land in the world remains in Africa. Fact! Africa is the zone that offers the largest investment returns in the world! Fact! Consumer expenditure is projected to grow in Africa from 600 billion US Dollars in 2010, to 1 Trillion US Dollars in 2020. Fact! 40% of Africa's current population is under 35, yet steady employment stands at only about 30% over all. Although the potential opportunities are far greater than any other continent, as natural wealth is found in most of the 53 African countries, foreign investment has increased 90% since the 70's, and so has infrastructure, although this is yet to trickle down to the man and the woman in the streets.
The OAU, although it's founding members intended to be a pan -africanist organization, defending the principle that what is good for one nation will be good to its neighbor and so on; is still plagued with strong nationalist sentiments, many leaders, still preferring to adhere directly more to their people and culture, than to one generally accepted modi operandi. Easy nationalism wins internal elections.
It has taken 50 years to overcome quite a few problems, even though many still persist, the occasional armed conflict, famine, out of control corruption, tribalism, to mention just a few still ponder the magical land.
Surely to embrace one Africa, with one common goal, a clear common path, to undergo common sense objectives, such as triplicating trade within ourselves by facilitating the crossing of goods, and people within our borders, so our economies can become far more dynamic and unified, constructing an african inter state highway or african inter state rail road line, can only be seen as the obvious, and beneficial to africans and beyond , and one does not have to have a university degree to see this.
It is a dire shame many of our leaders or so called leaders are yet to see the light. But it is absolutely imperative for our survival, not only for Africa's survival, but beyond; that those given the opportunity to change the course of Africa begin to see the larger picture as a hole, side line their personal selfish interests, and see down the line, that they simply are obligated and not by choice, to leave a positive legacy, if only for their immediate generations to come. let the next fifty years establish Africa as powerful, respectful, continent, where most of it's people are at least minimally taken care of, where the private sector has boomed tenfold thus creating millions of much needed jobs, and I look forward to the day my children can take the train from Tunisia all the way down to South Africa, or drive down the highway safely, without having to board an aircraft.Then Africa will no longer be whispered as africa but roar as it should AFRIKA!!!
