The African Union as an International Organization, from OAU to AU - Research Paper Example

Introduction Many studies have been done about the International Organizations (IO) in the world with the European Union and the United Nations oftenbeing used as case studies. It is obvious that in the IO real, one can shed light on different aspects of IO. For the purpose of this paper, I shed light on the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the African Union (AU). It is beyond this paper to give the reader an in-depth analysis of the OAU and the AU and the several bodies it consists of. I attempt to give the reader a notion of the OAU and the AU and assess the road to the establishment of the AU that is based on the fundaments of the OAU. I start this paper with why I define the OAU and the AU as an IO. I continue with a brief overview of the history of the OAU that paved the way for the establishment of the AU. In the paragraph that follows, I give a brief description of how the OAU became the AU. I continue with the vision and objectives of the AU followed by an assessment of the structure of the AU and discuss the six most important bodies of the AU and its three financial institutions. The budget of the AU will then discussed where I identify several reasons why it is hard for the AU to find the necessary funding. I end this paper with a brief summary of this paper and a conclusion about the AU as an IO. The AU as an International Organization Many scholars from the International Relation realm have studied IO. From the widely available literature about the study of IO, one can identify various definitions of IO. Both terms can be analyzed as being intertwined or as two independent terms. In the case of the OAU and the AU, to what extent can one see the OAU and the AU as IO It is clear that its member states are from the African continent as like the European Union (EU) and are all sovereign states. In addition, the OAU and the AU are based on a convention that was designed by the founding members of the OAU and the AU and which all member states have to ratify. On an international level, the OAU and the AU are to serve the main interest of Africa as a continent. I define the OAU and the AU as an IO with the strongest argument that the OAU and the AU are consisting of sovereign states. Furthermore, the AU is based on the "EU-Model" while the EU is widely considered as an IO. Therefore, one can not reject the notion of the OAU and the AU not being an IO and by the same token accept the notion of the EU to consider an IO. The History of the Organization of African Unity The OAU was established on 25 May 1963 with the formation of two groups namely the Casablanca group and the Monrovia Group. The objectives of the OAU during the decolonization period were to support African states to gain their independence, to promote the unity and solidarity and to strengthen cooperation among the member states of the OAU. In addition, the OAU also ensured that its member states uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity among member states. On an international level, the OAU promotes international cooperation and to protect the interests of Africa (OAU 1963). The OAU charter that formally established the OAU was signed by 32 governments of African states in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since the establishment of the OAU in 1963, the OAU made considerable progress in implementing the objectives and one can see the progress as the foundation for the establishment of the AU. However, it is beyond this paper to scrutinize the historical strengths and weaknesses of the OAU since it development. I, on the other hand, will shed light on several facets of the OAU as an institution that eventually led to the establishment of the AU. From OAU to AU From the objective to support African states for their fight for independence, one can conclude that the OAU accelerated the process of decolonization in Africa and by 1994 all 54 African states were independent. Unfortunately, this has been seen as the only objective that the OAU successfully implemented and realized. Within the widely available literature and studies about the OAU, one can easily conclude that scholars from the International Relationship realm see the OAU more as a failure than as a success as the OAU had both external and internal problems that it had to deal with. These problems were partly caused by the leadership of the two groups on which the OAU was based on. The OAU was established during the Cold War, both the United States as well as the Soviet Union used their power to influence African politics via the different positions of the Casablanca group and the Monrovia group (Panford 2006). This undermined the leadership of African government and thus the effectiveness of the OAU to act as an international organization. Nzongola-Ntalaja even depicts the failure of the OAU as failed African leadership (Nzongola-Ntalaja 1989). Panford concludes that the failure of the OAU has eventually led to the establishment of the AU (Panford 2006). Though one can raise serious doubts about the effectiveness and efficiency of the OAU, it took until July 1999 that the member states of the OAU decided to establish the AU with the amendment of the Charter of the OAU but it was until 2002 that the AU was officially established. The amendment was to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the OAU. It was during this Sirte Summit where the declaration was designed that identified 6 objectives in order to cope with the challenges that the OAU faced in the new millennium (African Union 2002). The road to the establishment of the AU During the Sirte summit, the Heads of State and Government of the OAU issued the declaration in which was called for the establishment of the AU. Although the Sirte summit initiated the call for the establishment of the AU, it was followed up with four other summits: (1) The Sirte Extraordinary Session where it was decided to establish the AU, (2) The Lomme Summit that adopted the Constitutive Act of the AU, (3) the Lusaka Summit where the road map was designed for the realization of the AU and the Durba Summit with the officially launch of the AU and the first Assembly of the Heads of States of the AU. Since the establishment of the AU, its member states have steadily expanded to a total of 51 member states. The AU is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia although other offices might be established somewhere else. The vision of the AU As any other IO, the Heads of State government of the AU has designed a clear vision which is threefold: (1) The AU is the institution of Africa to promote and increase further socio-economic integration that enhances the unity and solidarity between African countries and peoples, (2) The AU is based on one vision of a united and strong Africa based on a strong partnership of governments and all segments of civil society to strengthen solidarity and consistency among the people of Africa and (3) as an IO of Africa, it promotes peace, security and stability in Africa as a requirement for the implementation and development and integration of the Union's agenda. The objectives of the AU In order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the AU as an IO, the AU have designed more comprehensive objectives than its predecessor which one can find in the Constitutive Act of the AU. The objectives of the AU have many similarities when one compares with other IO such as the European Union (EU). However, important to note is that the objectives from the AU do not only apply for its member states but more for the whole African continent. For this reason, one cannot find any statements in the objectives that specifically refer only to its member states as the objectives are only referring to Africa as a continent. From the objectives one can derive several key issues that are imperative for the AU to increase its efficiency and effectiveness and to promote these key issues among African states. Central to the objectives of the AU are development and promotion. Some of the following key issues can be identified from the objectives; unity, solidarity, socio-economic integration, peace and security, democracy and political integration. The structure of the AU The structure of the AU is loosely based on the 'EU-model.' For this reason, the structure of the AU contains some similarities as the EU such as the AU Assembly, the Executive Counsel, Permanent Representative Committee, Commission, Pan-African Parliament, the Court of Justice and the Financial Institutions. In the following paragraphs I will assess several important bodies of the AU. The Head of the state of the AU is the president of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) The Assembly is the highest body of the AU and consists of the Heads of the State and Government or its representatives. The function of the Assembly ranges from monitoring other bodies of the AU to the determination of the policies of the AU. Its decision-making process is based on consensus or by a two-third majority of its member states. Procedure matters are addressed with a simple majority vote. The Executive Council consists of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Member states of the AU or its representatives with the same authority. The decision-making process is similar as that of the Assembly though the Executive Council is responsible to the Assembly. The Executive Council provides issues to be discussed and approved by the Assembly and monitors the implementation of the policies that are formulated by the Assembly. The Executive Council itself discusses and coordinates matters in the areas such as agriculture, communication, food, foreign trade, social security and transport. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is one of the recent established bodies of the African Union as it was inaugurated on March, 2004. The purpose of the establishment of the PAP is to ensure the participation of the people of Africa in the development of the continent (African Union 2002). The PAP consists of 202 legislators from 41 member states of the AU and is headed by the president and four vice-presidents. It is scheduled that the PAP shall met at least twice a year in ordinary sessions which may last up to one month and which is open for the public. The African Court of Justice is similar to that of its European Counter-part and is the principal judicial body of the AU. The Court consists of eleven justices from States Parties and are elected and reviewed by the Assembly for a period of six years. The Court of Justice is headed by the President and a Vice-President. The Commission of the AU which shall act as the Secretariat of the AU has also similarities with its European Counter-part the European Commission. The Commission consists of a Chairman and its deputies and the Commissioners. The function, structure and regulations are determined by the Assembly. The Permanent Representative Committee makes up the Permanent Representative from the member states. The main duty of the Permanent Representative Committee is preparing the work and act according to the instructions of the Executive Council. The Permanent Representative Council is allowed to set up sub-committees when necessary. The AU has also centralized its financial institutions. For the AU, there are three financial institutions; (1) The African Central Bank (ACB), (2) The African Monetary Fund (AMF) and (3) The African Investment Bank (AIB). However, these financial institutions are still in the process of development and these institutions will evolve over time. The ACB will first have an initial period of around 7-10 years in which it is responsible for the supervision of central banks of the member states of the AU. According to the Ethiopian Reporter, the ACB will also manage the international reserves, assisting countries with balance of payments problems and involve in the formulation of monetary policy of national and multilateral central banks. In addition, the ACB will also speed up the process of reformation of the financial sector of member states. Once a common market is created among the member states of the AU, the ACB will perform as the central bank of the AU just like the ECB of the European Union (EU). The AMF is responsible for payments and settlements of transactions that results from commercial exchanges between central banks. Thus, with the creation of the AMF, central banks do not only have direct relation with other central banks but also directly with the AMF. The AMF will also be responsible to accelerate the process to create a common African value. The funding of the AMF is based on the notion of "Bubscriptions to the capital" by member states in their own national currencies (Ethiopian Reporter 2007). The AMF also provides lending to member states. The AIB main purpose is to meet the challenges of economic integration and to increase Africa's competitiveness and to accelerate the integration process. It supports multinational African businesses as well as the private sector. Furthermore, the AIB also finances development and investment projects in the communication, transport and infrastructure industry. The budget of the AU As any other IO, the AU has a public budget in order to realize its objectives. However, among the member states of the AU there are a lot of poor countries. This makes it hard to finance the annual budget for the AU. Besides, many member states have a significant external debt and this has resulted in a debate among politicians about how the AU can cope with this debt issue as it mitigates financial development. The OAU was largely depending on statutory contributions from its member states to finance its activities. For the AU on the other hand, statutory contributions are not enough to fund the activities of the AU as the operational requirements are substantially higher than that of the OAU. In addition, the AU also needs to increase its funding for the implementation of its projects and continental programs. For this reason, it is vital for the AU to find additional funding and financial resources. President Wade of the Republic of Senegal argues during the Conference of African Ministers of Economy and Finance (CAMEF) that the AU should be more focused on local funding the establishment of adequate and stable resources, funding which can be easily mobilized and import taxation for alternative funding. According to the BBC News, the annual budget of the AU in 2004 was US$43million. Summary In this paper, I briefly discussed the OAU and the AU as an IO. The Author argues that both the OAU and the AU can be considered as an IO for several reasons which are threefold: (1) The AU consist of sovereign member states, (2) The AU is based on the Constitutive Act which all future and current members have to ratify to make the AU legally bonding and (3) The AU is loosely based on the "EU-Model" which is widely accepted among scholars of IR to be an IO. When one sheds light on the structure of the AU, one can easily identify similarities with other IO. From the total of 10 bodies that one can identify within the body of the AU, I have addressed the six most important one, namely the Assembly, the Executive Council, the Pan-African Parliament, the African Court of Justice, the Commission and the Permanent Representative Committee. The financial institutions of the AU consist of three main financial institutions; The African Central Bank, the African Investment Bank and the African Monetary Fund. These three institutions are responsible for the development and to implement reform of the African financial sector. The funding of the AU is a complex and perhaps a sensitive issue for some of the states as many member states are underdeveloped states. Statutory contribution alone is not enough for the AU to fund its activities and it remains to be seen how the AU will face the challenge of finding the appropriate funding in the future. Conclusion From the above assessment of the AU, one can conclude that the AU is still in its development stage and it remains to be seen whether the AU can be more successful than its predecessor. One reason why one can be critical to this notion is that the leaders of today's AU were also the leaders of the OAU. Fortunately, the leaders of the AU and its member states are aware of the importance to make the AU successful in order to develop Africa as a continent in the twentieth-first century. In addition, the AU made some substantial progress to cope with the problems that it is facing. For the AU as an IO, its bodies of the AU can be seen as independent bodies of the AU as these bodies have their own objectives and activities. However, these bodies of the AU are together responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of the AU as an International Organization. However, the AU have to evolve and make significant progress as an IO and have to develop and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its body. Only then, one can perhaps expect that the AU will travel the same path towards further integration and development as the EU once did. References Internet sites About the African Union. "African Union in a Nutshell." African Union. 2003. 11 November 2007. . About the African Union. "The Constitutive Act." African Union. 2003. 11 November 2007. . About the African Union. "Vision and Mission." African Union. 2003. 9 November 2007. . The Organs of the AU. "The Assembly of the Union." African Union. 2003. 9 November 2007. . The Organs of the AU. "The Executive Council." African Union. 2003. 9 November 2007. . The Organs of the AU. "The Pan-African Parliament." African Union. 2003. 9 November 2007. . The Organs of the AU. "The African Court of Justice." African Union. 2003 9 November 2007. . The Organs of the AU. "The Commission." 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"Pan-African Parliament now a Reality." African Recovery 18 #1 (2004) p.19. Panford, Kwamina. "The Transtion from the Organization of African Unity to the African Union." Africa's Development in the twentieth-first Century: Pertinent Socio-Economic and Development Issues. Ed. Kwado Konadu-Agyemang and Kwamina Panford. Hampshire. Ashgate, 2006. 69-72. Read More