Many African thinkers and experts have long spoken about the potential economic power of the continent and what should be done to realize this potential. Our leaders of yesteryear have clearly outlined a program of action meant to achieve the stated objectives. 

The internal strives within many countries that have pioneered this project impacted at the pace and tempo of the implementation of this program. The major objective of the program adopted in 1963 by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was to ensure the decolonisation of the continent and getting rid of the apartheid system. 

The leaders intimated that the objective requires maximum unity of purpose and solidarity of all African states. This implied that any matter with the potential to cause friction among the newly independent states was supposed to be avoided at all costs. 

The task of getting rid of the apartheid system and therefore conclusion of the decolonasation process was achieved in the early 90s through the attainment of freedom of Namibia and South Africa, respectively. This led to the remodeling of the OAU into African Union (AU) in 2002 along the lines of the European Union. 

The new focus of the AU became the resolution of the political and economic challenges of the continent. The AU was envisioned to promote African unity, political cooperation, good governance, and economic development of the continent. These principles were advocated and promoted through the development of a new program referred to as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

The development of the NEPAD program included a consultation with various stakeholders and interest groups. The consultation process included our erstwhile colonizers in the global north in order to achieve meaningful partnerships. Our former colonizers promised and committed to making funds available for the program, the same way they are promising about climate change, low emissions, and resilience pathways. Not much of these promises and commitments came to fruition. 

A decade later, after the launch of the AU, the AU adopted a more elaborate and better articulated long-term program in 2015 called Agenda 2063. This new program builds on the vision of NEPAD, which envisioned a continent free of conflicts, poverty, and underdevelopment.  This program is set to put the continent on a path of economic development and prosperity. 

The most outstanding achievement of the Agenda 2063 in the past decade is the launch of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Besides this remarkable achievement of the launch of the AfCFTA, there isn’t much to write home about on many other objectives stated in the Agenda 2063. There are still pockets of conflicts in some parts of the continent, and the guns are refusing to be silenced, particularly in the Great Lakes region. 

Many experts are pointing to the reversal of the democratic gains with the reemergence of the change of governments through undemocratic means, particularly in the Western African region. The post election protests, disputes, and violence are also becoming a common occurrence. 

This is a sign that people have become impatient with their governments and are gradually losing trust and confidence in the promises of the democratic system. At the pace at which things are moving, the African thinkers and experts may be forced to find creative ways of repeating the same Agenda 2063 with better phrases in order to conceal the failures to avoid disappointments. 

Over a period of time now, we have been witnessing an emerging trend of naked assault on democracy and its promises. There is a groundswell of anti establishment movements throughout the world. Some of these anti-establishment movements have become so popular to the point of taking over governments. 

This anti-establishment bug is beginning to have an  impact on global governance and multilateralism. The rule-based international relations is gradually being influenced by unilateral transactional ambush diplomacy. This transactional diplomacy is characterized by narrow single issue approaches with quick short-term gains. Traditional diplomacy, as we know it, is multifaceted and all embracing. It encompasses long-term political, economic, and cultural cooperation. 

The much vaunted demographic dividends and the abundance of our natural resources will amount to nothing for as long as the continent is not united and continues to act as 54 disjointed entities. Our population strength and natural resources are wrongly or incorrectly counted as an aggregated one whole. 

Our collective strength is not in the eloquent speeches which are made in endless summits, quoting the founding fathers of the OAU, but in concrete actions aimed at the realization of the commitments and declarations made in such meetings. 

Our natural resources, precious and important as they are, remain of less value unless they are mined and processed in the continent. The talk of value addition to our minerals is long overdue. The potential of the Grand Inga project, with the potential to provide clean hydropower energy to the whole continent, will remain a pipe-dream for as long as we continue to act as small political enclaves, bragging about our empty pride of sovereignty, carrying the begging bowels in the capitals of our former colonizers for handouts. 

The present-day descendants of our former colonizers, unlike their forebears, don’t think that they have any obligation to help the continent in order to make mends about the sins of their ancestors. Their ancestors over the years have shown pretenses of guilty feelings and continued to promise our ancestors that they will do something about the plight of the continent. 

Their descendants are constantly telling us to move on and forget about the horrors of colonialism and apartheid. They argue that they can’t be held responsible for the sins of their ancestors. 

It is about time that the African leaders smell the coffee, swallow their pride and do the right thing. The right thing is to integrate the continent more than it is happening now, in order to exploit the potential of the demographic dividends and the abundant natural resources. The continent’s economic security (trade), as well as the foreign and defense security policies should be integrated.

If this is not done, the continent will again be overwhelmed and over-powered by the new scramble for its resources. The new scramble for the rare earth or critical minerals has heightened to a point where force may end up being used to access them. Africa should be ready for this new  battle. 

It is time that Africa should assert its position in the community of nations. The immediate task will be to do away with the these embarrassing summits where African leaders are summoned to a specific country. The  Africa – India, China, Russia, France, Germany or USA should be halted as soon as possible. The continent should be represented in such forums by the AU commission chair.

If the office of the commission chair is going to be given such important authority and power, the candidates for such an office should be elected or appointed on merit, no longer on a regional rotational basis. The process should be handled with the seriousness it deserves.

Sello Moloto is a South African politician, diplomat and the country’s former ambassador to Switzerland. He writes in his personal capacity.