The idea of creating CIPINA was born following a painful observation made by its founders the day after the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the African Union. A brief historical reminder of the creation of this institution is necessary to better understand its evolution and attempt to draw up its balance sheet. At its birth, two ideological conceptions on the nature of African integration divided the founding heads of state of the organization. On the one hand, those of the Casablanca group for whom the consolidation of a political unity, materialized by the idea of founding a United States of Africa, was necessary. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian head of state, independence activist and pan-Africanist, was part of this group and said in substance: “We are Africans and nothing but Africans, and we can only pursue our interest by uniting within the framework of an African community.” On the other hand, there was the Monrovia Group led by Senegalese President Leopold Sedar Senghor, who believed that the design of the African Union should lead to the creation of the Organization of African Unity as a group of sovereign states committed to respecting this sovereignty. Since its birth in 1963 in a context of decolonization, the OAU, which became the AU in 2002, has grown from 32 member states at the start to 54 in 2013. It has also evolved from a coordinating organization to an integration institution, in the sense that it now has an Assembly, an Executive Council, a Permanent Representatives Committee and a Commission. In addition, since 2004, it has had an action plan focused on five priority areas.
- Institutional transformation
- Promoting peace (peace and security council)
- Promoting Food Security and Good Governance (African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights)
- Promoting regional integrity
- Building a shared vision within the continent and adopting a protocol on the Court of Justice of the Union
Despite these important achievements made by the AU, it is still necessary to note many shortcomings that can be attributed to the lack of funding for projects related to the aforementioned areas, of consensus between government teams and the weakness of regional integration. It can also be noted that the creation of its military intervention force had raised a lot of hopes in the continent, but the disappointment was great to note that the problems of funding and logistics demonstrated the limits of this force. The direct consequence of this inertia can be illustrated by the French intervention in Mali in January 2013, the cacophony created within the organization on the management of the Arab Spring file, the inability of the organization to manage its own affairs to the point that, for example, in the case of Libya, it took an intervention by the UN and NATO for a return to stability in this country to emerge. The organization is also struggling to find a consensus within itself, hence its difficulties in making its voice heard on the international scene. Conflicts of people and leadership undermine the organization, as was seen during the election of its president in 2012.
In this context, Africa is, unfortunately, a vast construction site and it needs all its sons to realize its dream. This could only become a reality if it succeeds in putting in place:
- Strong political and economic integration
- A regional integration, the basis of which is incontestably a genuine national integration within the 54 member states of the AU in order to avoid any risk of balkanization
- Stable political conditions to build strong states preventing territorial conflicts
- Strong civil society organizations acting as countervailing powers to ensure good governance in African countries.
- A policy of transfer of sovereignty and conflict prevention
- Regional diplomatic and military actions to avoid any risk of contagion in the event of a conflict between two states, given the interdependence between states that are still very fragile.
- An effective and sustainable economic recovery plan
Obviously, the assessment that can be made of the fiftieth anniversary of African independence is, in our eyes, far from meeting the expectations of our populations. For this reason, CIPINA will try to contribute to the building of a New Africa, that of tomorrow, with at its head a new elite from the post-independence generation, proud of itself, uninhibited and above all armed with all the skills necessary to give it a new vision and a new way of governing. It is only at this price that its image, its New Image will be perceived positively by its partners. For the greatest happiness of the NTA (New Type of African).
