The African Union Flag

Will the African Union take time out this Africa Day to reflect on its last twelve months? Will there be reference to the aspirations which on May 25^th 1963 gave birth to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)?

Look at primary aims and objectives of the OAU/AU against performance and achievements and you’ll see a huge gap between what was hoped for and what has been.  The narrative is of national and continental political and administrative ineptitudes and apologists for some very bad leaders will tell us it is all down to colonialism and the way it left capacity and capability gaps. Well, fifty plus years after taking over over much of the continent, there must be more to the difficult to fathom disconnect between what Africa has and where Africa is. On the matter of capability, that discussion crosses into a realm of thinking that is dangerous, foolish, and unworthy of the credibility it sometimes get.

Some of the 32 heads of state and government who founded the OAU

Reminders that Africa cannot look after itself leave me hugely irked and I transit into furious irritation when it starts to look more a case that Africa will not help itself.  No prizes then for guessing my reaction to that gathering in Paris of the leaders of four neighbouring African countries meeting to discuss a problem in their own backyard at the suggestion and invitation of the French President. What was that all about?

Boku Haram’s threat to move the kidnapped schoolgirls across the borders and the apparent reliability of their arms supplies suggests you do not need to share Einstein’s DNA to join the dots and conclude a conversation with neighbouring countries on mutual security is a matter of the utmost urgency.  This leads me to my focus today, which is that the African Union’s near timid response to this very sorry saga was not exactly an aberration to the pattern.

The continent, in the lifetime of the OAU/AU, has been plagued by conflict with all its sub-regions experiencing conflicts of various scales and intensities, within and between nations. The obvious lack of food security strategies at national and continental levels also squeezes into what is a rather depressing picture. True, other parts of the world have had issues but Africa’s seem to more readily and consistently warrant near total reliance on action and even relief from outside; from foreign militaries stepping in to stop us killing each other through to pop stars and comedians bringing in famine relief. Actually, I am only holding the AU to its own words as written in its charter and often thrown around in sound bites.

History convincingly makes the case for a comprehensive and affordable security strategy for Africa that is African and at the African Union’s disposal.  Add to that the costliness of defence and put that alongside the concept of economies of scale, it starts to make sense to move away from having lots of small armies or militias dotted around the continent but lacking the key components that make armies want to fight and to do so well. For much of the continent, military capability is seen almost exclusively in terms of numbers enlisted with scant regard for the factors that make the French or British or Americans able to step in with decisive action. I have definitely been in conversations that left me appreciating some of the force generation on the continent is for reasons almost totally unrelated to defence.

Better educated, better trained, better paid, better resourced, better sustained and better motivated to fight people are what the continent militaries need to be if they are to deliver the required kinetic and non-kinetic effects. Unfortunately, the state of most of the Africa’s national treasuries puts this ideal out of reach and thinking will need to shift if to give the idea a chance.  There must be a coming together to get training and clothing and equipment much cheaper. There must even be more willingness to share, just as it must be that certain functions remain the preserve of countries best able to deliver them. Most of all, there must be appreciation that without leadership on this matter and willingness by the member states, the security landscape on the continent will remain near amateurish and the AU itself will be unable to have the punch that backs up its words. The incentives for countries to participate are numerous but it shouldn’t take too much effort to convince ‘brothers’ who always seem keen to hug each other to work together…

Whatever the case, what prevails must be challenged.  Having forces you cannot quickly deploy, adequately accommodate, properly feed, appropriately clothe, and decisively command, is in military parlance “not an act of war” and risks leaving Africa condemned to the “spectatorism” it exhibits most times there are problems on the continent.  Whether it is to repel the advance of terrorist groups, be the line between belligerents, or help deliver famine or disaster relief, the AU needs to start getting more of a grip. Collectively, the continent’s countries must position themselves to support each other. There would need to be assurances that involvements and deployments would be proper and that they only support or protect legitimacy. In other words, there cannot be credibility issues clouding the a what would be a mutually supporting defence concept.

Basically, it is time the AU made itself more of a relevance to the continents people’s and move away from being what sometimes seems just a trade union seeking the interest and protection of the continent’s leaders. Of course, it will need the African countries to become more interested and proactive on matters related to each other and to each other’s peoples. A fundamental mind set shift is needed and the AU can justify its existence by putting the continent on the road to being able to confidently declare – ‘we are our brothers’ keepers’.