Pan-Africanism Slides.pptx

Pan- Africanism  What is Pan-Africanism? Pan-Africanism, the idea that peoples of African descent have common interests and should be unified. Historically, Pan- Africanism has often taken the shape of a political or cultural movement. There are many varieties of Pan-Africanism.  Kwame Nkrum...

Pan- Africanism  What is Pan-Africanism? Pan-Africanism, the idea that peoples of African descent have common interests and should be unified. Historically, Pan- Africanism has often taken the shape of a political or cultural movement. There are many varieties of Pan-Africanism.  Kwame Nkrumah “We must unite in order to achieve the full liberation of our continent” Introduction Pan-Africanism was a vital force in the decolonisation and liberation struggles of the African continent. It is a movement, an ideology and a geopolitical project for liberating and uniting African people and the African diaspora around the world. At its heart lies the notion that through unity can be forged an independent and strengthened economic, social and political African destiny. Pan-Africanism comprises many different strands: A project for African A force for global part A movement for An expression of nerships and multilate regional integration ralism emancipation, African agency decolonisation African solutions to and peace African problems Interesting facts The history of Pan-Africanism dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Endeavours to institutionalise Pan- Africanism gained momentum in the early twentieth century, and the first Pan-African Congress took place in 1919, in Paris. The fifth Pan-African Congress was held in Manchester, England, in 1945, and prominent African nationalists, such as Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, played a crucial role in it. This was the congress that heralded the transfer of leadership of Pan- History Cont’d Pan-Africanism’s value as a liberation ideology was apparent as countries gained independence from colonial rule. Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was a prominent Pan- Africanist. On the eve and in the wake of decolonisation, he believed that colonialism would be ended once Africans were united. With such leaders, the centre of gravity for Pan- Africanism shifted from the diaspora to Africa itself. The grounding of Pan-Africanism in Africa led to the organisation of the All-African Peoples’ Conference (AAPC), which was held in Accra, Ghana, after independence in 1958. This and the following AAPC conferences in the 1960s were driven by a strong conviction that African unity was critical in the struggle against colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism. OAU The OAU was the 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 in which the founding fathers recognised that freedom, equality, justice and dignity were essential objectives for the achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples and that there was a need to promote understanding among Africa’s peoples and foster cooperation among African states in response to the aspirations of Africans for brother-hood and solidarity, in a larger unity transcending ethnic and national Differences. The guiding philosophy was that of Pan-Africanism which centred on African socialism and promoted African unity, the communal characteristic and practices of African communities, and a drive to ORIGIN OF PAN- AFRICANISM The Waves of Pan-Africanism First Wave of Pan Africanism (1900-1945) The conferences were organized by Du Bois. The focus was the cultural identity of Africans. Second Wave of Pan Africanism (1945 – 1980) Better described as political Pan-Africanism: – Independence of many African countries. – The post WW II era. – Promoted in 1945 at the fifth Pan-African Conference in England. ORIGIN OF PAN- AFRICANISM Second Wave cont’d Emergence of young African political leaders, such as: – Julius K. Nyerere of Tanganyika, – Tom Mboy aof Kenya, – Kwame Nkrumah of the Gold Coast, – and Milton Obote of Uganda Primary focus of PA then were to: – promote the struggle for independence for African countries. – Support the global struggle against racism and colonialism, Third Wave (1980 – 2000) Pan Africanism was state-driven There was focus on regional economic integration. It heralded by the Lagos Plan of Action 1980-2000. Spearheaded by Pan-African economic organizations such as: – African Development Bank (ADB), – UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), – African Union (AU). The current Wave of PA (Since 2000) Driven by the renaissance of African culture: – African films, music and arts – Supported by the ICT revolution. – The rise of African multinational organizations. – Growing networks of non-governmental organizations. Growing influence of sub-regional economic group. The Pan African Conferences and Meetings First Pan African Conference was in London in July1900. – They discussed the struggle against racism, rights of the black Diaspora and freedom for the African colonies. First pan African meeting was held in February1919 in Paris at the instance of DuBois. – It discussed slavery, dignity for the black working class, and Africans' rights to participate in government. Second Pan African Conference was held simultaneously in London, Paris and Brussels. – It adopted the "London Manifesto" which focused on the rights of the Black people. The Pan African Conferences and Meetings Third Pan African Congress was in London (November and December 1923). – Emphasized land rights, control over produce, and the right to political representation of the black people. Fourth Pan African Congress held in New York in August 1927 – Emphasized the need for African countries to build stronger ties with the then USSR. Fifth Pan African Congress was held in Manchester in October 1945. – It took far-reaching decisions on how to confront colonialism. – Clamor for the rights and freedom of African countries. The Pan African Conferences and Meetings First Pan African Meeting held on the African soil took place in 1958 in Accra. – Focused on the fight for the independence of Africa from colonialism Sixth Pan African Congress held in June 1974 in Dar-es-Salaam with 52 delegates mainly from Africa Diaspora. – Focused on class struggle, neocolonialism, imperialism and underdevelopment. – However, the machinery to confront all those problems was not put in place. Seventh Pan African Congress held in Uganda in 1993. – Discussed the strategies for post independence pan Africanism. ACHIEVEMENTS OF PAN AFRICANISM  The ideas of the Pan African movement were used by nationalists in Africa to attain self determination. Africans formed political parties like UPC, in Uganda NCNC in Nigeria and Liberation movements like FLN, MPLA in their struggle for independence something the Pan African movement had emphasized.  The Pan African Movement achieved its objectives of decolonizing Africa by the 1990 almost all African countries had been granted independence including Namibia 1990.  The movement succeeded in fostering unity between Africans in African and the black people in Diaspora.  The Pan African Movement has managed to uplift the dignity and social pride of the black people all ACHIEVEMENTS OF PAN AFRICANISM  Marcus Garvey formed the “Back to African Movement” which made blacks in America, Asia, Jamaica to become aware of their African origin from then on they started giving practical help to the Black movements in Africa and America for example they supported the WASU (West African Students Union).  The PAM helped to sensitize the Black people about their rights and helped them to present their human rights abuses before the UN. A number of Pan Africanists for example Nyerere, Nkrumah, Kamzu Banda and Kenyatta started sensitizing fellow Africans about their rights including the rights for self government.  PAM helped in reducing the rate of racial segregation in South Africa. The Pan African congress in South Africa widely publicized the white ACHIEVEMENTS OF PAN AFRICANISM  PAM played a great role in training high quality leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Emperor Haille Sellasie of Ethiopia. These were trained to have deep feelings and concern for the African continent. They became the earliest Apostles of Pan Africanism in Africa After the 1958 Accra conference.  The PAM has consistently called the Non-Alignment of African countries as a means of disassociating Africa from the ideological dogmas of the superpowers. Non-Alignment won Africans a great level of international respect. Challenges 1. Skepticism A number of Africans exist who cannot find anything good in any African initiative. Such people or groups of people go around disseminating false and unconfirmed information on African development programmes. This is one of the major challenges that face every African initiative even before a programme takes off. Various assumptions are made that undermine any constructive effort that is made. There are possibly three approaches or ways of examining the ideology of Pan-Africanism. One may oppose it, ignore it or engage in it constructively and critically Challenges 2. Bridging the Gap between Groups of Traditional Allied Countries Co-operation needs to be fostered between the different African countries. A major challenge to the realisation of the Pan-Africanist ideology has been how to bridge the gap between the Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone and Afro-Arabic countries, who are known to veer towards their traditional allies in the form of their mother countries (e.g. Britain, France, Portugal). Africa can no longer afford to rely on public officials who still view themselves as black European as these artificial ties compromise efforts towards Pan-African unity. Challenges 3. Maladministration and Corruption Another major challenge for the Pan-Africanism is the need to deal with corruption and maladministration. Any aspect of weak public service ethics, not to mention criminal corruption, represents a huge challenge to the rational management of any society, however well established and secured its norms and procedures may be. Therefore, corruption and maladministration have serious implications for the implementation of any Pan-African projects and programmes. Challenges 4. Leadership and Governance Challenges The leadership and governance challenges in Africa include among others, providing the capacity to deliver and manage Pan-African programmes; processes and the required reforms; creating a common understanding of governance and leadership issues despite the diversity of the continent; setting standards, benchmarks and indicators for the elements of good governance that are acceptable and that actually measure correctly what has to be measured; curbing corruption and money laundering activities on the continent; developing and managing partnerships at three levels – between governors and the governed , between African countries, and between Africa and the rest of the world and especially other global economic blocs, and developing participative, people-based decision-making processes Questions & answers