AU and other major Pan-African bodies have failed the continent
This opinion piece criticizes major African regional bodies like the AU and ECOWAS for failing to address political instability, military coups, and economic decline across the continent. The author argues that these organizations have become ineffective, prioritizing rhetoric over meaningful intervention.
Why it matters
Reflects growing frustration with the efficacy of pan-African political institutions in managing regional crises.
African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. [File, Standard] Why have autocracy, electoral malpractice, economic decline, military rule and constitutional abuse reached a crescendo when Africa has shields like AU, SADC, ECOWAS, EAC, COMESA and IGAD? Created to address these problems, they now thrive on rhetoric or retreat into silence. They equivocate before repression, hesitate during war and normalise decline. Trust at home has eroded, Africa's voice abroad thinned. Africa continues to be bedevilled by conflicts. When war erupted in Tigray six years ago, AU baulked at confronting Ethiopia despite atrocities and displacement. A body representing over a billion people that fails to speak truth to Addis Ababa cannot speak credibly elsewhere. After Sudan's coup in October 2021, rival generals plunged the country into war. Mediation produced communiqu s without results. Statements yielding nothing are mere rituals. The Sahel then exposed its soft underbelly.
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