The debate around whether the African Union be more independent and help its constituting members achieve lasting political stability and economic prosperity has grown to a level of relevant analysis. This analysis joins the discussion and points out that hopes are still sound that the African Union could grow autonomously independent and play a pivotal role. Empirical precedents (such as the EU) and growing contemporary developments (such as the ever-growing need states show for a growing role their organization should play in helping them achieve political stability and economic growth) underpin this[1].
The İmportance of Organization Formation
Scholars of intergovernmental organizations converge on the fundamentals that explain the importance of forming the entities that bring sovereign state actors to a point where opportunities for idea conversations are available. Several pieces of literature underline that states' interests are better protected and secured when they are members of intergovernmental organizations. The scholars, however, diverge on the effectiveness and efficiency of the state-formed organizations because all but have not been meeting expectations. As such, questions of reforming intergovernmental organizations have remained strong. This has, nonetheless, widely been understood as a call for better function the organizations should give rather than their extinction.
Understanding Independence
The notion of independence that any cooperation platforms sovereign states form should be understood in relative terms. This is simply because there is no sense of autonomy an intergovernmental organization could enjoy in a vacuum, for sovereign member states are not naïve to entirely hand over their powers to any other actor. The significant constraints that restrict the independence of an organization, Wilkinson in his book titled International Relations - A Very Short Introduction, points out, come from the concerted support and the economic and military resources of its key member states.
Understanding the independence of the interstate organization refers, therefore, to the idea of a spectrum of agreements the entity has been empowered to exercise through its agencies. The African Union appears relatively independent to enjoy autonomy on several matters including political and economic affairs across the continent. The Union’s weakness in translating the constitutional power to help the member states achieve better political stability and economic growth lies in the organization’s institutional incapacity and poor mobilization efforts.
European Union’s Empirical Precedent
Contemporary regional and international political-economic transactions produce firm empirical precedents that strongly support the relevance of intergovernmental organizations. The European Union, as a leading supranational regional organization, presents an exemplary model in terms of utilizing the entity formed by state actors to achieve lasting political stability and economic growth. Its ever-growing performance helps the European community believe the EU should keep expanding to embrace other European countries into the club for more regional peace and prosperity. Despite the shacking experience, the Union came across in the process of Brexit, the situation currently has less impact on the future of the organization to the extent that Great Britain regrated. According to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, compared with the 31 percent of Great Britain who thought it was right to leave the EU the May 2024 survey indicated 55 percent thought that Brexit was wrong.
The African Union which replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2002 adopted an organizational structure the European Union has been applying. The ambition behind such a move explains the hope of the new AU to transform the continent into a politically stable and fairly rich economic region. Despite the long way to go, the African Union could achieve what the European Union has been achieving given the resources available to the organization to strengthen its organizational independence.
The Growing Need for Organizations Worldwide
The outstanding scholarly debate in the discipline of International Relations (IR) on the issue of whether or not international organizations are still relevant gives a schematic insight to ponder. Scholars of the realism stream argue that state actors should engage in international politics unilaterally to maximize their national interests best. Opposing this mainstream scholarship, liberal scholars of international relations call for the strengthening of intergovernmental organizations that provide direct engagement opportunities for both great and small state actors.
On the ground, however, the debate is insignificant that the growing effort for organizational formation, the need to sustain them, and becoming a member is self-explanatory. According to the Union of International Associations (UIA) over the last several decades after the Second World War, the number of intergovernmental organizations has shown a threefold increment to reach currently 300.
This has a straightforward implication for the organizational existence of the African Union, and to the pivotal role the entity is expected to play in bringing political stability and economic advancements to its constituents.
African Union’s Achievements for More Hope
African Union is now 22. Over two decades elapsed since the OAU was replaced by the AU, and little achievements but great hopes for lasting changes for political stability and inclusive economic growth have been witnessed. The fundamental changes that lay the ground for great hope are numerous but two are worth emphasizing briefly here to underline the possibility of the AU to play a pivotal role in helping the continent achieve its political and economic ends.
The first has to do with the formation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiated in 2021 by the African Union. The economic integration project has also been planned to include a financial infrastructure that will facilitate payment methods for AfCFTA members through the creation of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPPS). This makes AfCFTA the largest free trade area both in population and geographic size. According to the World Bank, by 2035 the free trade area could help Africa generate up to 450 billion USD increasing the incomes of 60 million Africans leading to the possible rise of 30 million people out of extreme poverty.
Economic integration through trade activities allows Africans to move freely across the continent benefiting from visa liberalization that encompasses the entire continent. The more the continent of Africa is interlinked through trade the higher will be the nation’s productivity entailing fewer conflicts and lasting political stability. If successfully implemented the AfCFTA project the African Union initiated and has been executing marks a significant reason to raise hope that the entity could grow more independent and play a pivotal role in achieving lasting political stability and economic growth.
The second is related to the AU’s growing defense capacity. Unlike the European Union, the African Union enjoys a right stipulated in the organization's Charter to militarily intervene in the member states. In the event of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide the entity could directly mobilize concerted forces and intervene militarily. In recent years the organization has depicted promising efforts that indicate its growing independence in the defense field through direct involvement in peacekeeping activities across the continent. The Central African Republic, Darfur, South Sudan, Comoros, Sudan, and Burundi are some African countries where the AU force intervened despite some limitations related to the lack of experience and resource scarcity.
However, the question of the AU’s independence to mobilize its security apparatus and help member states restore peace has changed its form. Now the question is related to the effectiveness and enlargement of the Union’s military capacity to become more independent and take action without unnecessary delays. This again raises hopes that the African Union could independently play a pivotal role in helping the continent move to lasting political stability.
References
Paul Wilkinson: International Relations- A Very Short Introduction
Segun Joshua & Faith Olanrewaju- The AU’s Progress and Achievements in the Realm of Peace and Security: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/154230176.pdf
Share of people who think Brexit was the right or wrong decision 2020-2024: https://www.statista.com/statistics/987347/brexit-opinion-poll/
[1] States are always in need of maximizing their national interests in all possible ways. Despite individual moves play significcant roles organizational platforms are key to play an indespinsible role.
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