Lots of stories have been cavorting around my head, with commentary as I see fit: The disaster in the Horn of Africa represents what the Mail & Guardian calls “a crisis in slow motion.” The perfect storm of famine and the political chaos in Somalia has led to a humanitarian nightmare. The west (ie the […]
This week the second ever Africa-India Summit took place, with New Delhi signaling that it was committed to doing business with the continent and supporting both national and regional development. Trade between India and Africa amounted to roughly $46 billion in 2010, but the partners aim to increase that number to $70 billion by 2015. […]
“This conference cannot close without adopting a single African Charter. We cannot leave here without having created a single African organization…. If we fail in this, we will have shirked our responsibility to Africa and to the peoples we lead.” So said Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie at a Pan-African summit in 1963 at which the […]
Top officials from the African Union visited Washington last week to discuss relations between the U.S. and the emerging pan-African body. It was the second such meeting, and a joint statement was released outlining the “full range” of U.S.-Africa priorities, including democratic governance, economic development, health and peace and security issues. On democratic governance, always […]
The African Union Commission Chairman, Jean Ping, yesterday told an audience in Washington that the International Criminal Court continues to target African leaders unfairly, accusing the body of “double standards” as it seeks to try those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide — most recently in Sudan and Kenya. Noting that atrocities […]
African Union Chairman Jean Ping will address the U.S. Institute of Peace today following meetings with top officials in Washington. The address, which is expected to touch on hot button issues like the interventions in Libya and Ivory Coast, elections in Nigeria and U.S.-Africa relations, will be webcast live beginning at 2:00 pm EST. For […]
Libyan officials aren’t the only ones seeking to defect to neighboring countries these days. Like the Qadaffi clan in Tripoli, the regime of Cote D’Ivoire’s Laurent Gbagbo has come under international pressure as violence between the incumbent and the opposition escalates. Top level officials, including the head of the country’s armed forces, are apparently seeking […]
As African Union peacekeepers continue to come under attack in Somalia, the mission there, known as AMISOM, received two pieces of good news this week. First off, Uganda and Burundi, offered to send 4,000 more troops to the mission. The two countries account for a majority of what will now be a 12,000-strong force aimed […]
Despite past disagreements with the Libyan leader over the pace of African integration and the awkward fact that Qaddafi provided support for Uganda’s murderous former leader, Idi Amin, Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini is highly critical of the Western intervention in Libya in an article printed by Foreign Policy magazine. While Musevini acknowledges some of the […]
An ad-hoc panel of leaders from African Union countries is set to meet with European Union and Arab League officials tomorrow to discuss the way forward in Libya. The panel, which includes heads of state from South Africa, Uganda, Mali, Mauritania and Congo, along with AU Commission President Jean Ping and current AU Chairman Teodore […]
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding the African Union, as the body seeks to establish itself as a major player in resolving challenges facing the continent. Earlier this month, the United States inaugurated its largest embassy in Sub-Saharan Africa in Addis Ababa, which will host both the U.S. mission to Ethiopia […]
My colleagues over at the Global Food Security blog write today about a new African Union initiative known as the “African Food Basket” that aims to make African countries food secure five years from now. The author of the post points out that achieving food security has been difficult in recent years, with drought and economic […]
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