Kwame Nkrumah, First President of Ghana
The ideology of the unification of Africa or Africa unity was conceived by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president; before the country attained its independence but its achievement became a dream of illusion after Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966.
The question is can the African Union get a solid platform to be like the European Union which came into existence on November 1, 1993, with only one currency in circulation?
If the unification of Africa becomes possible despite the barriers ahead, how would that impact the entire world, since we have all witnessed how powerful Europe has been both politically and economically?
Africa is not only the cradle of humanity, but also one of the richest continents, with 90% of the world's platinum deposits, 50% of gold and diamonds, and 33% of uranium.
There are also large reserves of oil, gas, manganese ores, chromites, and bauxites but the majority of its population lives in poverty, benefiting the developed world on a large scale.
As a matter of fact, the resources of Africa have been its curse, therefore, the people don’t enjoy what they have as foreign aggression has decimated the continent by slavery, colonialism, Apartheid, and unexpected strange diseases that ‘miraculously’ appeared from heaven.
The African Union is an intergovernmental organization that dates back to 1963, with 55 countries, it is still fighting for the unification of Africa today.
The Union regulates disputes between States, protects human rights, represents common interests on the world stage, fights radical terrorist groups, and tries to promote the economic and cultural development of all members of the association.
The organization's problems include funding, the weak political will of its participants, and internal conflicts. The poor African States do not pay the necessary membership fees.
After the death of Emperor Haile Selassie, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, and other key figures working hard on this unification, the closest moments appeared for this to be achieved under the leadership of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the 2000s.
It was Gaddafi who financed the activities of the African Union and was the main supporter of the unification of the continent.
Much of Africa's modern roads and industrial facilities were built with Libyan money, with jealousy from the Western and the US, governments that don't want to see any development in Africa.
After the NATO invasion of Libya, Gaddafi was overthrown and killed, and the African Union lost some of its funding.
Since then, the organization has slowed down the integration process, with another question that needs an answer, is there a chance for a united Africa?
The problem with African leaders is that they are never inspired to achieve major developments on the continent of Africa, firstly, due to corruption and secondly, due to foreign aggression and resistance, many are scared of.
For decades, Europe and the US government keep targeting powerful African leaders to render them impotent politically and economically through diverse political strategies.
The fact that they need Africa’s resources for the survival of their economies, they have applied many ruthless methods, including slavery, colonialism, Apartheid, and the deliberate spread of diseases on the continent of Africa to get closer to Africa’s rich resources.
Today, the new political strategy is forced on rich resources African countries to legalize same-sex marriage or homosexuality.
The development on the continent is very slow but if Africans will overcome internal and external aggression, rebuild their infrastructure, and start developing agriculture and processing natural resources at an active pace, the continent has the chance of becoming a powerful African Union.
