Pan-Africanism, African Union and the challenge of transformative development in Africa

Pan-Africanism has remained a powerful force for African development, spanning over the past centuries. More still, before the rise of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), a number of Pan-Africanists agitated for a continental organisation that championed the political emancipation of the African continent from the yoke of colonialism, apartheid and racism. However, the birth of OAU in 1963 and its transformation into African Union (AU) in 2002, led to need for the management of many multi-dimensional contemporary problems facing the continent, which include poverty, external debt, diseases, security and environmental problems as well as clash of national interests. This paper traces the African origin of Pan-Africanism and African Union. It shows how the AU has being bedevilled with challenges, thereby crippling the rise of sustainable development in Africa and for Africans. The work therefore presents a number of Pan-Africanist ideas that are relevant for transformative development of African states and the enhancement of sustainable integration in Africa.