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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 16, 2002

News Analysis: Powerful AU to Help Solve Problems in Africa

African leaders gathered in Durban,South Africa, in early July to realize the dream of the African Union (AU).


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African leaders gathered in Durban,South Africa, in early July to realize the dream of the African Union (AU).

Actually, the move to jump into fast-track development of the AU is a problem-solving approach to lead Africa out of poverty and conflicts.

Nearly half of African population live under the poverty line of one US dollar per day. As many as 28 million people in Africa live with HIV/AIDS. Africa has six million refugees and displaced persons. The ailing situation is against the achievements of othercontinents which have enjoyed rapid growth in the past few decades.

More importantly, African countries, especially those big countries, have their special interests in setting up a powerful AU while they are placed in the driving seats. For them, the peaceful and socio-economic integrated Africa will create a largermarket which will benefit them most.

The summit host country, South Africa, for example, is currently the biggest foreign direct investment inflow destinationand also the largest source of investment for other African countries. The potential market expansion will attract much more investment.

Furthermore, the highly developed industries in the country will also have a competitive advantage in the integrated market the AU promises.

For those under-developed countries, they need a union to have a same and louder voice in the global stage and meet the challengeof globalization

Therefore, African leaders are building a powerful integrated AU, a power engine capable to steer the development of the whole continent and avoid conflicts. This is a leap forward from the toothless loosely-organized political grouping, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

The Durban summit approved the establishment of four major organs, which include the Assembly of the Union, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Commission of the AU. These are just upgraded ones that took over the function of those organs under the OAU.

The AU is building brand-new branches to ensure developments inits 53 member states. These branches include the Pan-African Parliament, the Africa Supreme Court, the Central Bank, the Monetary Fund and the Investment Bank.

The African leaders also agreed in the Durban submit to establish AU Peace and Security Council, an organ modeled on the United Nations Security Council, to intervene in member states if serious conflicts occur.

This is believed as an effective way to deal with conflicts in member states. Just as the AU decided to keep banning Madagascar'sseat as "a new way of doing things," the AU will have more tough stance over the conflict issues.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), promoted by South African President Thabo Mbeki-led African leaders, was adopted as a key program of the AU. Africa seeks to attract investment through NEPAD on the condition that countries on the continent practice good governance.

Although Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi was reported last month to question the program for the fear that "colonialists" would play, there was a compromise in the summit, which will allowLibya to join NEPAD implementation committee. NEPAD has decided toexpand the number of its members from 15 to 20.

As the powerful AU is being built, the leadership of Africa is contested by the African powers. The problem-solving union is alsocreating problems, but luckily those can be solved through talks and compromises.

No matter who sit on the driving seat, the road to the African recovery is still bumpy. However, at least the integrated AU has started the engine to integrate 53 African countries with different levels of development.


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