Cape Town – As the continent celebrates the 60th anniversary of the AU on Thursday, Cosatu called for an urgent need to work on the integration of Africa’s economy and improving inter-African trade.
It was on this date in 1963, that 32 heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa Ethiopia along with leaders from African liberation movements to craft a way forward for Africa’s complete independence from imperialism, colonialism and apartheid.
The outcome of the meeting was the creation of Africa’s first post-independence continental institution, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the AU. The OAU was formed as a manifestation of the pan-African vision for an Africa that was united, free and in control of its own destiny and this was solemnised in the OAU Charter which was adopted on May 25 #AfricaDay, 1963.
In celebration of the occasion, President Cyril Ramaphosa officiated the official Africa Day commemorations at the Cradle of Humankind, a palaeoanthropological site, north-west of Joburg
Cosatu spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla said: “We support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the largest free trade area in the world connecting 1.3 billion people. The launch of the AfCFTA represents a monumental possibility for regional integration and integrated development for the continent. We must create jobs and opportunities for the African people.
“The objective of the AfCTFA should be the protection of African economies, we do not want African economies and people to trade Asian imports, we need to trade goods made in Africa to create jobs. We want to see a GDP per capita growth that will ensure that people’s livelihoods are vastly improved. Technological solutions should be used to improve people’s lives and not to destroy them.”
The AU said the celebration was an opportunity to share the information, knowledge and best practices of the past and “to encourage each other to take on the vision of the AU, as well as to drive the realisation of the ‘Africa We Want’, under Agenda 2063”.
“It is also an opportune moment for the African Union to reflect on the spirit of pan-Africanism, which connects the past to the present and to the continent’s aspirations for the future.”
Cape Times