This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of the African Union (AU). Sixty years ago, the OAU was proclaimed, opening a new chapter in the joint self-improvement and common development of African countries. Over the past 60 years, the African Union has taken over the baton of history, united and led African countries to make strides on the road of development and revitalization, and led Africa's international status and influence to continue to rise. Today, Africa is proud of the achievements of the past 60 years while continuing to chart the way forward with a sober and pragmatic attitude.
"A symbol of unity and unity"
On 25 May 1963, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the leaders of 31 independent African States adopted and signed the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, deciding to establish the OAU. May 25 is also designated as "Africa Day" by the OAU. Since then, the OAU has become the largest regional organization in Africa and a symbol of the unity and unity of the continent. In July 2002, the African Union officially replaced the OAU and shouldered the sacred mission of maintaining peace and stability in Africa and realizing Africa's development and renewal.
After the establishment of the OAU, the independence and liberation movement in Africa flourished. The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki, commented that the establishment of the OAU was the result of Africa's collective pursuit of political freedom, peace and social prosperity, which are prerequisites for the development of the African continent. Since its establishment, the OAU has played an important role in promoting understanding among African peoples and cooperation among States, enabling all members to adopt coordinated positions on issues of common concern to Africa in the international political arena and effectively safeguarding Africa's interests.
After replacing the OAU, the African Union has made many achievements in institution-building and policy guidance, economic integration, peace and security.
In January 2021, the African Continental Free Trade Area was officially launched, and the African economic integration process made breakthrough progress. According to the implementation of the first ten-year plan of the African Union's Agenda 2063 (2014-2023), Africa has made great progress in accelerating the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area and promoting sustainable economic and social development. Fifty-four AU member states have signed the AfCFTA Agreement. As of November 2022, 44 Member States had deposited their instruments of ratification.
Countries have also made positive progress in promoting cross-regional trade connectivity. In 2022, eight countries representing five regions of the African continent – Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia – became the first batch of "free trade pilot countries" in the African Continental Free Trade Area.
At present, the first two stages of the three phases of the African AfCFTA negotiations have been basically completed, and the third phase of the review of the Digital Trade Protocol and the Women and Youth Trade Protocol is being intensified. AfCFTA Secretary-General Vamkele Mene revealed that for the first time in Africa's economic history, the Protocol on Rules of Origin has reached 88.3% harmonization, "which will promote the continent to become a more attractive investment destination and accelerate the industrialization process".
In June 2022, the World Bank and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat jointly released a report stating that the African Continental Free Trade Area is expected to bring huge development opportunities to Africa, predicting that by 2035, African countries are expected to create 18 million new jobs and lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty.
The AU has also made outstanding achievements in conflict prevention and management, post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding. Last November, under the auspices of the African Union, the Ethiopian government and the anti-government organization "Tigray People's Liberation Front" reached a peace agreement in South Africa, deciding to end the two-year armed conflict in northern Ethiopia.
Africa's contribution to world peace and development
"African countries' emphasis on solidarity and self-improvement is the result of the influence of Pan-Africanist ideas. Over the years, under the influence of pan-Africanism, the African continent has achieved a series of tangible development results, including the establishment of some sub-regional organizations, a unified market and cooperation mechanisms among relevant countries. Yang Baorong, a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies and the China Institute of African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with this reporter that pan-Africanism has also helped African countries effectively control the security risks and risk factors in the region.
"The establishment of the OAU and the development of the African Union are symbolic achievements of Africa's unity and self-improvement. In recent years, Africa's regional economic integration has been steadily advancing, of which the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area is the latest achievement of Africa's solidarity and self-improvement. Liu Jisen, dean of the Institute of African Studies of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said in an interview with this reporter that in the process of opposing imperialism and colonialism, African countries have established national self-confidence and national self-respect, and after independence, they have constantly explored development paths that conform to the national conditions of African countries, and spoken out with one voice, hoping that Africa will become an influential force on the international stage and make African contributions to world peace and development.
China is the largest developing country in the world, Africa is the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries, and China and Africa have always been a community of common destiny. Over the past 60 years, in the process of Africa's march toward unity and self-improvement, China, as a good brother and partner of Africa, has played a positive role that cannot be ignored. In the past 10 years, under the guidance of China's true and sincere policy concept on Africa and the correct concept of righteousness and interests, the development of China-Africa relations has pressed the "accelerator button", entered the "fast lane", and entered a new era of building a closer China-Africa community with a shared future.
Faki said that China stands with Africa in its struggle for national independence and liberation; China stands with Africa in its efforts to accelerate its development and revitalization and to participate more in international affairs. The African side values China's strong support for African integration, connectivity and the construction of the free trade area, and looks forward to working with China to promote the construction of a Africa-China community with a shared future in the new era.
"In recent years, the development experience and international situation of other countries have provided a reference path and a boost for Africa's unity and self-improvement." Liu Jisen said that the world pattern has undergone major changes and reorganization, highlighting the importance of the integrity and resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain. China has achieved its first centenary goal and lifted itself out of absolute poverty, and China's practice of independently exploring its development path has inspired Africa and become a model for underdeveloped countries to learn from. The good performance of other regional economic integration since its inception has given Africa confidence in its joint self-reliance.
"In the past 10 years, in the complex and ever-changing international situation, China-Africa practical cooperation has achieved remarkable results, which is not easy. China and Africa have further strengthened mutual trust, not only can they view the nature and respective positioning of China-Africa cooperation more rationally and objectively, but also jointly launched a series of cooperation measures that are in line with the development characteristics of the times. Yang Baorong said that this is mainly due to three points: first, effectively solve the development issues that Africa is concerned about; Second, continue to explore new ways of cooperation between China and Africa; The third is to jointly address global challenges.
"China-Africa cooperation is a model for South-South cooperation and global development cooperation, and the two sides should jointly uphold the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all mankind, and continue to work together in the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind." Recently, Liu Yuxi, Special Representative of the Chinese Government for African Affairs, expressed the hope that China and Africa will continue to focus on the implementation of the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, further give full play to the advantages of local, business and non-governmental parties, build traditional pillars such as infrastructure construction, trade and investment, release new momentum in green and digital health and other fields, help Africa's industrialization and economic diversification, and cultivate stronger endogenous development momentum.
Working for Agenda 2063
Speaking at this year's Africa Day celebrations, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy said the continent, with its 55 AU members, is fast becoming an important player on the global stage and that "we have made great strides in promoting and defending the common African position." At the same time, we have a lot of work to do to maintain the spirit of the founding charter and to deliver on the commitments of Agenda 2063."
The President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, Chairman-in-Office of the African Union, said: "Let us be proud of the achievements of the past 60 years, while continuing to chart our future path with a sober and pragmatic attitude. Between 1963 and 2002, the OAU successfully achieved the twin goals of decolonization and the end of apartheid in a specific historical context, "but we still need to jointly pursue unity, peace and development on the African continent and create better conditions for the free movement of goods and people on the African continent by accelerating the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area".
Emil Rwagasana, Deputy Director of the Office of the Vice-President of the AU Commission, said: "Today, all 55 member states of the AU are working towards Agenda 2063. We believe that Africa can achieve more development by 2063. ”
According to the African Development Bank's recently released Africa Economic Outlook 2023 report, Africa's economic growth faces multiple downside risks: first, weak global economic growth is not conducive to Africa's export trade, and sustained global financial tightening has led to higher debt service costs in Africa; Second, the frequent occurrence of extreme weather and natural disasters has caused major losses of life and property, which has aggravated the financial pressure on the government; Third, geopolitical conflicts affect the security of the global industrial chain and supply chain. However, the report believes that despite the "headwinds" in the early stage, Africa's economic prospects are still optimistic, and positive factors such as China's economic recovery are expected to promote the global economy to bottom out, and Africa's economic resilience will be strengthened, and Africa's GDP growth is expected to reach 4% in 2023 and continue to climb to 4.3% in 2024.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that at present, the engine of Africa's economic recovery needs to be activated by reforming the global financial system. He called on the international community to increase investment in Africa and support the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
"China has always supported Africa's independence and unity and self-improvement, which has not only created a good international environment and value orientation for cooperation with Africa, but also increased Africa's self-confidence in carrying out foreign cooperation." Yang Baorong said that in the future, Africa's unity and self-improvement need solid actions: relying on the construction of the African Continental Free Trade Area, accelerate the construction of a unified African market; Further enhance the ability to maintain a safe and stable development environment in Africa; We should strengthen the awareness of a China-Africa community with a shared future, actively create an international environment conducive to deepening China-Africa cooperation, and enable more African people to benefit from China-Africa cooperation.
"Under the leadership of the African Union and the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area, all African countries will integrate into the African Continental Free Trade Area with their own comparative advantages, and a united and self-reliant Africa will surely achieve stability and long-term success." China-Africa friendly relations have a solid historical foundation and strong practical complementarity, and under the guidance of the domestic and international dual circulation theory, China has the ability and willingness to help Africa achieve unity and self-improvement. Liu Jisen said that China-Africa friendly relations and Africa's unity and self-improvement will add more stability forces to world peace and development.
Author: Jia Pingfan
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition