Kenyan activist Wahu Kaara (center) from the Kenyan Debt Relief Network and other anti-globalisation protesters demostrate at the African Union launch held in the International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa on July 8, 2002.
Dr. Reneva Fourie
On May 25, Africa Day returns as a reminder of the historic struggle against colonial domination and economic subordination.
Sixty-three years have passed since the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded in Addis Ababa. The founding generation of African liberation movements understood that political independence would carry meaning only if it produced economic sovereignty, social dignity and continental unity.
At the preceding All-African People's Conference in 1958, Kwame Nkrumah warned that “… unity must be the keynote of our actions.” He added, “Our enemies are many, and they stand ready to pounce upon and exploit our every weakness. They play up our vanities and flatter us in every kind of way.” Those words continue to speak directly to the condition of the continent in 2026.
