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The United States of Africa is a proposed concept for a federation of some or all of the 54 sovereign states of Africa.

Former Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was the 2009 Chairperson of the African Union (AU), advanced the idea of a United States of Africa at two regional African summits: first in June 2007 in Conakry, Guinea, and again in February 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Gaddafi had previously pushed for its creation at a summit at Lomé, Togo in 2000, having described the AU as a failure on a number of occasions; Gaddafi asserted that only a true pan-African state can provide stability and wealth to Africa. A number of senior AU members also support the proposed federation, believing that it could bring peace to a 'new' Africa. Alpha Oumar Konaré, former President of Mali and former Chairperson of the African Union Commission, spoke in favor of the concept at the commemoration of Africa Day, on May 25, 2006.

Origins

The "United States of Africa" was mentioned first by Marcus Garvey in his poem 'Hail, United States of Africa' in 1924. Garvey's ideas deeply influenced the birth of the Pan-Africanist movement which culminated in 1945 with the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, United Kingdom, attended by W. E. B. Du Bois, Patrice Lumumba, George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta, Dudley Thompson, and Kwame Nkrumah. Later, Nkrumah and Haile Selassie took the idea forward to form the 37 nation Organisation of African Unity, the precursor of the African Union.

The idea of a multinational unifying African state was noted in the French publication Le Monde diplomatique as a successor to the medieval African empires: the Ethiopian Empire, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, the Benin Empire, the Kanem Empire, and other historic nation states.

Demographics

The proposed federation would have the largest total territory of any state, exceeding the Russian Federation. It would also be the third most populous state after China and India, and with a population speaking an estimated 2,000 languages.

Potential development

In February 2009, upon being elected chairman of the 53-nation African Union in Ethiopia, Gaddafi told the assembled African leaders: "I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa." The BBC reported that Gaddafi had proposed "a single African military force, a single currency and a single passport for Africans to move freely around the continent". Other African leaders stated they would study the proposal's implications, and re-discuss it in May 2009.

The focus for developing the United States of Africa far has been on building subdivisions of Africa - the proposed East African Federation can be seen as an example of this. Former President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has indicated that the United States of Africa may exist from as early as 2017. The African Union, by contrast, has set itself the task of building a "united and integrated" Africa by 2025. Gaddafi had also indicated that the proposed federation may extend as far west as the Caribbean: Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and other islands featuring a large African diaspora, may be invited to join.

National views

The nations of Eritrea, Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Cape Verde have supported an African federation. Others such as South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria have shown less interest in the idea. Support appears to be inversely proportional to a nation's power and influence. Doubts have been raised about whether the goal of a unified Africa can ever be achieved while ongoing problems of conflict and poverty persist throughout the continent.

Gaddafi also received criticism for his involvement in the movement, and lack of support for the idea from among other African leaders. A week before Gaddafi's death during the Libyan Civil War, South African President Jacob Zuma expressed relief at the regime's downfall, complaining that Gaddafi had been "intimidating" many African heads of state in an effort to gain influence throughout the continent and suggesting that the African Union will function better without Gaddafi and his repeated proposals for a unitary African government.

In fiction

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the United States of Africa exist as a nation of the United Earth Government, within the Federation. Officer Uhura originates from the states. in the fictional Halo (series) universe, the United States of Africa exist as a nation of the United Earth Government, within the United Nations Space Command.

References

1. ^ "Ambitious plan for a new Africa: Welcome to the U.S.A (that's the United States of Africa)". The Independent. 30 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
2. Thabo Mbeki (9 July 2002). "Launch of the African Union, 9 July 2002: Address by the chairperson of the AU, President Thabo Mbeki". ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa: africa-union.org. Retrieved 8 February 2002.
3. Gaddafi Calls for a "U.S." of Africa, from Mafé Tiga blog, July 1, 2007
4. ^ AU summit extended amid divisions, from BBC News, 4 February 2009
5. "United States of Africa?", from BBC News, 11 July 2000
6. Gaddafi urges pan-African state, from BBC News, 26 June 2007
7. Statement of the UA Commission Chairperson
8. Hail, United States of Africa
9. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (2007). "Organization of African Unity". HighBeam Research. Retrieved 2009-04-27. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. Would a United States of Africa work?, from Le Monde diplomatique (English edition), September 2000
11. "Gaddafi vows to push Africa unity". BBC. 2 Feb 2009.
12. "African Union & African Diaspora Leaders in Harlem: Pres Wade call for United States of Africa, 2017". TheBlackList Pub. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
13. United States of Africa - A Wishful Thinking, from AfricaLoft, republished 4 February 2009
14. United States of Africa may take off in 2017, says Wade, from Guardian Newspapers, published 13 February 2009
15. "Cape Verde president: United States of Africa on the horizon". Sambala Devolopments. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
16. "Gaddafi calls for United States of Africa, one army". Mmegi Online. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
17. 'United States of Africa' Still an Idea Ahead of Its Time, from World Politics Review, 13 July 2007
18. Gadhafi pledges 'United States of Africa', from msnbc, 2 February 2009
19. "AU better without 'intimidating' Gaddafi - Zuma". News24. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.

See also

• African Union
• Arab Union
• Demographics of Africa
• Federal Europe
• Pan-African Parliament
• United States of Latin Africa
• Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League

• African Union
• Continental unions
• Pan-Africanism
• Proposed countries