By Dounia Ben Mohamed, reporting from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
“Those who fight for independence, recalled one speaker, will never die” and forever their souvenir, battle, are still vivid on the continent. At the time when one part of the continent is witnessing outstanding growth rates while other parts are descending in open-ended conflicts, that a new leader must emerge in the political and economic arena, removing, with the help of elders, big wigs of a regime wanted out, and that African population, youth in particular increasingly call for change and unification. Panafricanism is resurrecting from its ashes. The last edition of the forum on peace and security that took place April 21-22, in Bahr Dar in Ethiopia whose topic was on the reform of the African Union” echoed a return to ideas natured by fathers of the independence.
“Tana is an opportunity for us to reflect over the action of key figures of our history”
And it was for one of them that one the round tables of the forum was dedicated; The Egyptian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser. If the latter has remained in history books as the founder of panafricanism, he was also one of the partisans, actors of pan-Africanism, with one of his peers, Kwame Nkrumah with whom it forged a friendship both personal and political. “Tana is an opportunity for us to reflect over the action of key figures of our history,” said Prof. Adebayo Olukoshi, Director for Africa and West Asia, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Ethiopia. Recalling the latter arrived at a historical moment of international upheaval, the end of the Second World War that opened the decolonization process in Africa and placed at the forefront figures such as Kwame Nkrumah and Gamel Abdel Nasser; a friendship which will birth to Kwame Nkrumah’s daughter, Samia, the first ever female head of a political party in Ghana, former lawmaker, and staunch militant in favor of the African unification.
“Those leaders were fighting for a political unity of the continent, a pre-requisite for the economic integration”
“I would like to talk about the man the way I remember him. The first time I met him, I was 4 years old. It was at conference of the OAU, in Cairo. I recall having looked at that man and noticed his beautiful eyes. I asked my mother who was that man and she responded it is the Egyptian leader, a partner of your father. It took me years to understand what mother wanted to say.” To understand that the two men who led the fight for independence in their countries, shared a common vision of the African unity. “That friendship did not stop on a personal plan, but focused on political exchange. I can tell Nasser and Kruma worked a lot together”.
The first would inspire decisions that would mark the second. “Nasser shared with other African leaders, a common vision, a unity of destiny and reflection. They identified a common enemy, the colonizer and met together to fight colonialism. It is that shared vision that led Nasser to play a key role in the liberation and the unification of Africa so that the continent resources benefit African populations. Nasser gave Africa an example by nationalizing the Suez Canal in 1956. African leaders then looked at Nasser with admiration. He had the courage to take back what righteously belonged to Africa. He knew that he was being watched and he nationalized banks, industries. He also initiated radical agricultural reforms, a 2,500 square kilometers of arable lands belonging to the elite, were distributed to farmers without land. “Kwame Nkrumah would follow suit, by deciding to abandon the colonial name of the country for the current one, in reference to the Ghana Empire, the erection of the hydroelectric dam of Akosombo, the nationalization of trade companies… he would mainly participate in the theorization of pan Africanism.
“The economic integration will only become a reality if it is included in the political unification”
A legacy taken up today by his daughter and transmitted to the African youth. “Those leaders were fighting for a political unity. They were convinced that the economic integration will only become a reality if it is included in the political unification, that there was a need for that sacrifice, abandon a part of their sovereignty, that the liberation struggle is only a first step and not an end to attain the economic independence. The economic improvement, the emergence of a new leadership that looks undoubtedly panafrican, to start with Paul Kagame, also the chairperson of the African Union, committed to initiate a series of reforms in order to shake the institution, by ensuring its financial autonomy. The AU whose current roadmap; the Agenda 2063, can never be more ambitious. The time of the new pan-Africanism.
“Africa has improved, recalled one delegate opening the debate. Pan-Africanism today is not that of fathers of the independence.” “If the fathers of the independence saw us today, they would be ashamed of us, said Mohammed Abduakshakoor, young Sudanese founder of the African Youth Commission; an Accra-based association that is building a new pan-Africanism based on its founding fathers. Kglema Motlanthe, former South African President, underlining the importance of coming back to history in order to contextualize the current challenges, urged to read the past and the choice of fathers of the independence so as to better tackle the future. “We know all that Africa’s borders were drawn during the Berlin conference, communities, African populations, are living within borders that have nothing to do with those that they knew and the first generation of leaders accepted those borders. Therefore they stressed on the necessity to establish national identities within its borders Leadership often means to be ahead of the population but it is very important to ensure that those populations understand those changes. Today it is down us to assess the situation, whether we have succeeded in building national cohesion within our countries.” A pre-requisite for the continental unity.
« The time is no longer for ideologies but for a pragmatic approach »
The economist Carlos Lopez, former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, concluded the debate as follows: « The time is no longer for ideologies but for a pragmatic approach. There can be no African integration without unification of the Maghreb. If we focus on the economic aspects, we will realize that yesterday’s conflicts are over. «
Ethiopia, host of the meeting, represented by its prime minister, a country with a new face, and a new economic dynamic, exemplifies this approach namely that of a country that revives its past, an ancient civilization that was led by a particular woman, the Queen of Sheba, who ruled over a territory that stretched from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean … by opening up to the world and the inevitable adaptations it imposes.
By Dounia Ben Mohamed, reporting from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
