MFI/Radio France Internationale (Paris)
Marie Joannidis
3 July 2002
interview
Durban, South Africa — Organizing A Union For Africa - Durban 2002 (9 of 11)
Named last year at the Lusaka Summit to the position of OAU General Secretary, the Ivorian, Amara Essy, is the man who must bring the African Union into being under the best possible conditions. As a prelude to the Durban Summit, he affirms his faith in the African Union and speaks of the difficulties of his task.
MFI : What are the major challenges the African Union faces ?
Amara Essy : First of all the African Union must be credible. The major challenge is its launching. We will have to first launch the Union at the Durban Summit, then set up the structures - six out of the planned seventeen are ready. The transition period (since the OAU Summit in Lusaka in 2001) ends in Durban. We will then talk about an interim period. We will also elect ten commissioners, including a president and vice-president... and a committee is working on the problem of resources so we can meet the new expenditures and avoid a situation where the African Union would be unable to function due to lack of adequate means.
MFI : If we briefly sum up the OAU, what would you say are its successes and its failures and why ?
A.E. : The OAU was created at the time to decolonise all of Africa and eradicate apartheid, which has been done. The economy was also one of the big issues. But given that we were unable to fight all these battles together, the economic question still remains on the back burner. It is now the most important question, even though we had the Lagos Plan and the Abuja Treaty (for the creation of an African Economic Community within 34 years) but all of that has remained a dead letter. Fortunately, at a regional level there has been progress, as for example, within the framework of ECOWAS in West Africa, or SADC in Southern Africa.
MFI : What will the African Union bring to Africa, more than the OAU ? And what is needed to assure its success ?
A.E. : I think the African Union is in reality an old dream that preceded the OAU and even goes back to 1800, in Haiti. Ghana's President Kwame Nkrumah had himself raised the idea of a United States of Africa (an idea taken up by the Libyan leader Mouammar Gadhafi). We had to first consolidate the independence of African countries before envisaging a broader African Union. I think we have to move faster in the direction of increased and better-adapted integration. Hence the need for increased resources, more adapted structures, more men committed in favour of real African unity. I regret we still see micro-nationalisms within the OAU. People have to believe... as it is a necessity and there is no alternative to the African Union.
MFI : Will you be a candidate within the AU to continue the tasks entrusted to you last year in Lusaka ?
A.E. : I have no comment on this subject. In fact, I have not even been bothered by this question - I do what I have to do, the Heads of state will decide. It was not easy for me to accomplish all this. It is the work of an architect and a fireman at the same time, and conflicts are everywhere. Moreover, there is a problem that has handicapped us, the question of terrorism. The international community had to be mobilized to show that Africa is not a terrorist continent, but a continent victim of terrorism. We have adopted a good number of resolutions against terrorism and even a code of conduct for good neighbourly relations and a text on the prevention of terrorism. This all demands a great deal of energy. And we cannot carry out a reform of the OAU if we don't have relations with international institutions, which has forced me to make many contacts.
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