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AN AFRICAN GOVERNMENT
Lead Africas point of view
July 1963, Addis Ababa - July 2007, Accra. Between these two critical meetings for
Africa, so many things have happened in the field of Africas development. A 44-year-
old chaotic mileage separates the two dates, from the founding fathers newly
independent African states summit and the next African Union summit that is to be
held on July 1st to 3rd 2007 in Accra, Ghanas capital. A near carnal bond casts a
bridge over the two events. It was, indeed the first president of independent Ghana who
coined the idea of creating the United States of Africa during the Addis Ababa summit.
But whereas panafricanists like Nkrumah and Cheikh Anta Diop, composing the
Casablanca Group, the revolutionaries group, were fighting for the creation of the
United States of Africa at the outbreak of the independences, it was the option
consisting of maintaining as such the fragmented states cut out by the colonial system to
its dimension represented by the Monrovia Group, the group of the moderate like
Lopold Sdar Senghor that finally prevailed, with the successes and failures we are
familiar with today. By an ironical twist of fate, forty-four years after such splits, it is
Dr. Nkrumahs country and successor that is going to host the African Union Summit
that will launch the formation of the African government, the prelude to the United
States of Africa, so dear to the first president of Independent Ghana. The Nkrumahist
dream is getting back home and the utopia is beginning to come true.
Defeating pessimism
And yet, there is hope for a will to overcome all institutional setbacks already suffered and to
defeat the pessimism among Africans themselves as to their destiny.
Indeed, a survey published in July 2006 on the CNN, under the heading Eye on Africa
revealed a new perspective on the way internet users see the issues regarding Africa and the
Africans. To the question In your opinion, which is the most important factor to solve the
African problems , five possible answers were proposed for people to choose what they
considered the right answers. The proposed answers were: a better leadership, Official
Development Assistance, international trade, corruption and the combat against HIV/AIDS.
The results were edifying! For the new generation making up most of the Internet users
participating to the survey, more than two thirds (66%) thought that in order to solve Africas
problem, there should be first a better leadership, against 23% for the fight against corruption
and 3% for the control of AIDS, Only 1% thought that Official Development Assistance was
the most important factor.
The survey revealed an increasingly shared opinion in Africa, especially among the new
generation, and that is the necessity to promote a better leadership along the whole decision-
making process, because, Africa is first and foremost confronted with leadership problems.
The good news is that this defect is not crippling and it is possible to overcome it.
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has launched the idea, no one can blame them for being diligent and it would even be unfair
for those in favour of the United States of Africa to give in to countries against
In more concrete terms, the idea of an African government upheld forward by Senegal and
two other countries, includes 12 straightforward portfolios: External Relations, Health,
Environment, Education and Research, Trade, Currencies & Finance, Agriculture, Youth and
Sports, Infrastructure, Energy, Employment & Solidarity. In order not to offend the
restrictive nationalism of some countries, Ministers and ministries of this African government
will be Secretaries and secretariats. As to major sovereign portfolios, such as Defence and
Diplomacy, for the time being, they will be left alone, as it is the case with the European
Union.
What do LEAD Africa Fellows think? (LEAD Anglophone West Africa, LEAD
Francophone Africa and LEAD Southern & Eastern Africa)
In the light of the four questions asked to them regarding the relevance of an African
government, its added value compared to African intergovernmental organization, the areas
of competence and challenges attached to such a government, their opinions are as follows:
V. Traps to avoid:
The challenges facing the next African government do not lie in the timely nature of its
creation. We all agree with that. The main thing is the pace at which continental integration
will take place. The powerlessness of the African States, their exclusion from world trade,
and their low human development indexes, indeed militate for the creation of an African-
wide government
On the strength of the lessons learned regarding past failures, civil society assembled around
Lead Africa to put forward previous terms and conditions relating to the creation of the
African government. Fellows have insisted on the fact that African should be at the very
centre of the debate on the formation of the African Union Government which should be a
crucible for the people rather than for the governments. This is why they participate in the
Accra summit debate. They rightfully demand that a roadmap be produced as agreed by all
parties. This road map will specify the objectives and expected outcomes. Besides, they
suggest that such a road map should be accompanied by the creation of an on-going follow-
up and evaluation mechanism in order to avoid traps attached to bureaucracy and to promote
a better coordination of the governments tasks,
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VI. Africa Upright
The creation of the African Union Government is a response from African Heads of State, a
dramatic reaction to the prejudices of the marginalisation of Africa regarding world trade.
Through some Lead Africa Fellows, African populations see well an African government
which would speak as one to defend the continents interests everywhere. They have a clear
idea of what should be the aims and the modis vivendi of such a new supra national
institution, in addition to the way its members are chosen. Admittedly, they have their own
doubts which, however, are rather constructive. They call for a participatory and elective
approach in setting up the African government. They would also like to see a national
transparent, pragmatic style of management of the institution, which would imply, as far as
these are concerned, the setting up of a body to monitor and assess the objectives set and
outcomes expected. They call for a truly popular dimension to the institute so that it may be a
link between African populations, rather than between the leaders only. For Fellows, there
are expectations, demand and pragmatism seldom seen in Africa so far, revealing a new
mindset. The people stand for a proactive approach, based on a good knowledge of the
continents needs. They do not expect solutions to come from elsewhere, they insist on
fending for themselves and make very relevant suggestions.
Participatory approach
In the minds of the Fellows from the three African regional blocs who gave their opinions, it
is not just a matter of criticizing the decision made by the African countries to take care of
themselves, predicting failure in the more or less long term. Instead, Fellows tacitly adopted a
constructive to confront the African problems. In this connection, the solution should not be
imposed from the top to the bottom, by policy makers on the people. It should be seen as a set
of proposals from the sectors of the nation and its working populations. The policy makers
debate is thus informed by constructive ideas which are capitalized by decision-makers. If
not, what would be the aim of leaving Africa to Africans without those mainly concerned: the
peoples and Civil Society? Without involving the new generation, in political decision
regarding their future, this would certainly result in a short lived spineless African
government with no grip on reality, and consequently illegitimate.
That is what happened to an otherwise promising NEPAD, which died out as hastily as it had
been thought up and created. African Civil Society has almost never been involved in the
decision-making process, which often leads to failure. If this is the case, it never happens by
itself. When involved in the debate, it is often frustrating that civil society should be reduced
to the role of a foil. The USAs unwillingness to fund the Diamniadios platform as part of
the MCA as happened in other African countries, stems from the same fact that neither the
populations concerned, nor the civil society had participated in the design of such a big
project which was to completely change the lives of the neighbouring populations.
Fortunately, since then, things have been put right, while waiting for the American funds.
According to the late news the project is again in hand of the United State of America.
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If the cap fits
Civil society involvement should be taken more seriously making it less dependent on the
mood of policy makers. Having it involved, regarding the decision-making process should
result from the creation of a mechanism which is systematic, permanent and independent
from policy-makers. This has been so well understood by United Nations Institutions so that
none of their actions and policies is elaborated without the contribution of the civil society. It
would be wise for the African government to draw on such experience that were used to good
effect elsewhere. Otherwise it would very probably be inefficient and useless.
The African government should not be seen as a decision by African heads of States alone.
Nor should it be seen as the vision of the Senegal-Libya diplomatic tandem, which is striving
to deliver. It should be everybodys business, every countrys concern, even those countries
who for the time being are for a progressive approach. There should be a substance shared by
all, strategic orientations and a well defined programme in order not to be a powerless
institution, as is the case now with the African Union Commission where appointments elude
the chairman. Commissioners do not come under him as a matter of hierarchy and their
mission eludes him totally at the expense of an efficient-community based work
The issue of the contents of the African government programme is important to see whether
the population will feel more concerned than in the past, and to avoid a new failure which
will be more traumatic. That road map is seen as a real community-based and continued log-
frame. Thanks to this institutional framework, Africa will, for the first time, speak with one
voice at world forums, where her fate is being decided. She will be more audible and more
articulate, based on her oneness and unity. Africas voice will reach the whole world, since
where there used to be a mosaic of nations, she will stand for 53 nations, representing 53
markets. She will represent almost one billion people.
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What is Lead Africa?
LEAD Africas a consortium of the three LEAD Programme Members in Africa. (LEAD
Anglophone West Africa, LEAD Francophone Africa and LEAD Southern and Eastern
Africa.) It is one of the LEAD International chapters covering 53 countries in the African
continent. Its aim is to contribute to the emergence of a network of leaders committed to
promoting sustainable development and endowed with the skills and knowledge in terms of
the evaluation of the policies and prospective deflexions for the future of their continent and
of the region.
LEAD Africa is a network of about 350 Fellows throughout Africa. These Fellows are from
all sectors, (Civil Society, private, media, academia) With its ambition to contribute to the
emergence in the region of a new type of leadership, open and and sensible to the
imperatives of sustainable development, LEAD discards the eventuality of being
marginalised when debates interesting Africa are at stake. This approach is in line with it
objectives. And this is the not the first attempt, since a similar exercise was undertaken with
the Peer Review Mechanism.
Approach for the elaboration of this document
It consisted of two methods: consultation of the Network Members via Internet and telephone
interviews of two Fellows in each country. In both cases, a questionnaire was elaborated. It
is the answers to the questions that constitute the basis of this analysis.
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