Regularising freer movement of people across African borders is one of the continent’s great developmental challenges.
Delegates at the African Union Summit held in Malabo, Capital of Equatorial Guinea, on 27 May 2022 to address worsening humanitarian crises in Africa.
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The AU’s first two decades have largely represented a magical, mystical world of unfulfilled expectations.
High speed trains like this one in Casablanca, Morocco, will benefit from satellite communication support.
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Reasons why women’s voices are ignored in science reporting range from socio-cultural influences that inform gender norms, to perceptions of leadership and political power structures.
Elections, and observer processes are a big priority in Africa.
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Yu-Shan Wu, University of the Witwatersrand; Chris Alden, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Cobus van Staden, South African Institute of International Affairs
Not enough credit is given to the agency African governments have in their dealings with China.
Cameroonian President Paul Biya votes in the presidential elections in the capital Yaounde. He has been in power for 36 years.
EFE/EPA/Nic Bothma
Africa has recorded a tremendous growth in its output of academic engineering research over the past 20 years. Greater collaboration can increase this growth even more.
President of the AU Alpha Conde, European Council President Donald Tusk (L) and President of the EU Jean-Claude Juncker.
Reuters/Luc Gnago
The transformation of the EU-Africa summit series into the EU-AU summit is more than just a change of name. It reflects the increasing recognition of the AU as an international actor.
Guests and delegates attend the opening of the Pan African Parliament’s second sitting in Midrand, Johannesburg.
Reuters/Juda Ngwenya
The limited “consultative and advisory powers” of the Pan African Parliament hamper the African Union’s ability to achieve a prosperous and peaceful Africa as envisioned in its Agenda 2063.
By the end of the 1990s, the idea of encroaching deserts had become difficult to defend.
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Attempts to deepen democracy in Africa by limiting presidential terms to two have not entirely quashed a culture of entitlement to rule. Glimpses of it persist, much against citizens’ wishes.
South Africa’s opinion of its role in Africa is at odds with perceptions on the continent.
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South Africa considers itself to be playing a key role in promoting the ‘African Agenda’ in continental and world affairs. But perceptions in the rest of Africa tell a different story.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Sunrise, Florida.
Reuters/Eric Thayer
Achieving greater freedom and equality for all identity groups is African democrats’ primary goal. By contrast, American democrats have traditionally been preoccupied with individual rights.
Africa must rise by becoming self-reliant.
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Africa has been called a “consumer continent” by many, but in reality much of what its people consume is produced elsewhere. Technology is key to Africa becoming a self-reliant producer of goods.
African leaders meet at the African Union Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Silencing the guns in Africa by 2020 will require a Herculean effort on the part of the AU Peace and Security Council, whose remit is to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts.
Investment in science and innovation is needed to help build Africa.
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Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its research and development sector.
Heads of state at an African Union session in Addis Ababa. They have signed up to a plan that envisages strengthening institutions and governance.
EPA/Solan Kolli
If the governing ANC ignores the calls for Zuma’s resignation,it may undermine South Africa’s leadership on the continent. It creates the idea that he can undermine the constitution with impunity.
China’s choice of South Africa to host the China-Africa summit underscores the special relationship between the two countries.
Reuters/Petar Kujundzic
The Africa-China summit will provide an opportunity to get a feel for how Chinese President Xi Jinping is responding to democratic developments in Africa.
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
Lecturer: African Politics and Political Conflict in the Department of Political Science, Stellenbosch University. He is also the Founding Editor of the ‘Journal of African Union Studies’, Stellenbosch University