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State of Africa – Parameters and Legacies of Governance 87 PART 2 Regional and Continental Reconstruction CHAPTER 6 Pan-African Governance Architecture: Prospects and Future Ufo Uzodike Introduction Since the 1960s, African countries have undertaken signiÀcant initiatives with a view to achieving industrial prosperity by integrating their economies and promoting regional political cooperation or unity. Notable among these initiatives was the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. The OAU’s objective to promote unity and solidarity among African states underpinned the creation of pan-African structures and the promotion of regional governance. Since the formation of the OAU, African countries have taken progressive steps towards regional economic and political uniÀcation through the initiation and adoption of regimes and governance protocols. This notion of continental governance assumed greater signiÀcance in both academic and policy circles in Africa during the 1980s, underscored by the conscious attempts to integrate African countries. For example, the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA)1 and the Final Act of Lagos (1980),2 as well as the treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), commonly known as the Abuja Treaty (1991),3 gave impetus to the governance of regional integration in the continent. In addition, the transformation of the OAU into the African Union (AU) in 2002 marked a watershed in the process of regional governance. And since the advent of the AU, African countries have taken signi Àcant steps towards continentalism through the rationalisation of regional economic communities (RECs), which are regarded as the building blocks of economic and, ultimately, political integration. The commitment to regional economic and political unity has been reÁected in the creation and/or modiÀcation of pan-African governance structures, as exempliÀed by the AU’s activities since 2002. Remarkably, the idea of regional governance has remained Àrmly at the top of the continental body’s priority agenda at every successive summit. Indeed, the issue of pan-African governance – or Afro-governance – has been pre-eminent, even at summits called or designated to address matters that do not fall strictly within the purview of the development of governance architecture for the continent. The AU’s preoccupation with Afro-governance is reÁected, as noted above, in the creation of pan-African institutions and the adoption of regional frameworks 88 Africa Institute of South Africa PART 2 Regional and Continental Reconstruction Pan-African Governance Architecture: Prospects and Future of action not only to ensure coherence, but also to facilitate the convergence of national instruments and practices as a prelude to eventual continental uniÀcation. Therefore, it is apposite to examine these institutions, regimes, processes and mechanisms under the auspices of the AU in light of their crucial importance to continental governance. This is the thematic concern of this chapter: it examines the governance of regional integration in Africa. As this chapter shows, Africa’s experience with regional integration re- Áects ambivalence and contentions as to the process and form of, and path to, continental unity. Besides, the political contexts in several African states have shaped the course of integration by either reinforcing optimism regarding the prospects of Afro-governance or undermining the possibility thereof. In dealing with the thematic concern of our chapter as stated above, it is acknowledged that issues of politics and governance in African countries are germane to the process and eventual form of regional integration. In what follows, this chapter examines the philosophical underpinning of continental governance in order to offer illuminating insights into the historical trajectory of Afro-governance. The chapter posits that the ongoing drive towards Afro-governance can be located in the historical context of pan-Africanism. It is acknowledged that in practical terms, pan-Africanism underpins formalised and institutionalised arrangements in the form of structures and institutions of continental governance. The following section then examines some of these structures and institutions of pan-African governance, taking cognisance of their importance in the context of the transition from the OAU to the AU. Next, the chapter turns attention to selected regional frameworks or codes of conduct that have been developed to steer national political processes. Regional frameworks that receive focused attention include the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and the Electoral Codes of Conduct. An examination of these frameworks is necessary to ascertain the extent and nature of national compliance with, or deviation from, these continental regimes. Moreover, this chapter explores the plausible role of subregional organisations in ensuring greater coherence and better rationalisation...

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