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ISSN : 2050-4306
ISBN : 2050-4292
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On July 7, 2019, African leaders met in Niger to launch the African Continental Free Trade Area. This is a significant step in furthering the African Union’s vision of uniting the African continent. The essays in this issue address different dimensions of the process of African unity. Mngomezulu’s paper, reiterates the goal of the African Union (AU) to enhance Africans’ abilities to take their own destiny in their own hands. Mngomezulu invites us to assess the AU’s performance in providing African solutions to African problems. He calls on us to celebrate AU’s successes and learn from the challenges the continental body faces. It is important to note that the achievement of AU’s goal presupposes a consciousness of common identity. Phakathi argues that AUs instruments such as African Common Position on Migration and Development and the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment ignore the need to create a common African identity. Using Diop’s theory of cultural identity, Phakathi argues for the alignment of AU’s values and vision with educational systems in African states. However, as Kwame Appiah warns, common identities can be imperialistic. It is in this light that Amusan, Saka and Adekeye, using Nigerian and Ugandan case studies, interrogate politicians’ use of anti-homosexual discourse to boost their electoral fortunes. The recurrent claim by some African politicians is that homosexuality, and hence homosexual identity, is un-African. The authors also interrogate the use of Western foreign aid to control the debate. The issue of identity is further addressed by Mngomezulu and Dube, and Akinola. The AU’s goal of a continental free trade area, like other Free Trade Agreements, promises huge benefits such as increased trade among African countries and the resulting benefits of increased economic growth and increased employment. One of the pre-requisites of a successful implementation of a free trade agreement is stability and peace. Heywood and Maeresera, Olaitan and Isike, Zvaita and Mbara and Fafore point to the various conflicts that still plague Africa. Fafore argues that activities of armed Islamic groups negatively impact the economy and the security of the state concerned. The paper stresses the importance of transnational cooperation to address these threats. Olaitan and Isike point to the lack of representation of women as one of the factors that undermine sustainable peace. The authors advocate for AU to mainstream women’s informal peacebuilding processes. For Zvaita and Mbara, the dominance of Western paradigms in African peacebuilding processes account for unsustainable peacebuilding. The authors argue for local ownership of peacebuilding processes in order to “provoke thinking towards integrative mechanisms that promote the legitimisation of local/community peace initiatives, inclusivity of indigenous and cultural practices in the mainstream peace frameworks and promoting the establishment of coherent peacebuilding programmes” Using the case study of Darfur, Sudan, Heywood and Maeresera’s paper explores the cooperation of the African Union and United Nations in addressing conflicts in Africa. While there are successes resulting from this hybrid relation, there are also hurdles. The challenges revolve around the lack of cooperation among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, lack of cooperation and commitment by host government and lack of funding. Magam argues that the achievement of AU goals does not only depend on regional bodies and states, but also requires the participation of subnational governments in paradiplomacy. Using the South Africa’s Western Cape Province, Magam argues that subnational governments play an important role in socio-economic development. This experience, the author argues, provides lessons for the AU’s integration efforts. Most African countries are faced with the problem of unemployment. Hlungwani and Sayeed tackle the issue of unemployment in Zimbabwe. At the centre of unemployment in most of African economies are monocultural and extroverted economies. Hlungwani and Sayeed argue for innovation and beneficiation of products as solutions. The inequalities mentioned above may not only characterize individual countries but they may also characterize regions. Thus some regions or countries may benefit more than others. Uneven regional development is one of the causes of international migration. With a particular case study of South Africa, Kanayo, Anjofui and Stiegler look at factors that influence migration. Among the factors that they discuss are political, economical and psychological factors. Existing research points to migration and competition for resources as one of the causes of xenophobia, or in some instances, Afrophobia. Mngomezulu and Dube point to the contested understanding of xenophobia and Afrophobia. The authors warn against “using xenophobia and Afrophobia/Negrophobia interchangeably.” For Mngomezulu and Dube a nuanced distinction between xenophobia and Afrophobia leads to different proposed solutions. The paper by Akinola points to the negative impact of xenophobia and Afrophobia for regional integration. These prejudices and discrimination not only impact the relationship of residents within one country but they also impact the relationship among states thus impeding the process of African unity. The author argues “for multi-level partnership to unravel the deep-seated causes of xenophobia, which is an important foundation for eradicating it.” Khondlo Mtshali University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Social Sciences, KawZulu-Natal, South Africa