South Africa offered to host the 25th African Union summit now underway in Sandton when Chad could not because of the Boko Haram threat.
The xenophobic violence that later took place in this country has put a question mark over whether all the continent’s leaders will attend this week’s summit.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has dismissed concerns of a boycott and we sincerely hope she is correct. Not only is the summit a chance for South Africa to begin to recover its reputation, but there are shared issues to urgently address.
Terrorism is key. While conflict, violence and organised crime have long undermined Africa’s potential for growth, there is a growing view that Africa is the new frontier in the global war on terror.
This is not only because the number of people killed by Boko Haram and al-Shabaab escalated to around 8000 last year. That number is small compared to the millions who die due to famine, disease and the other consequences of poor governance and unequal development.
Rather the concern relates to the alignment of both these groups within less than a year to the Islamic State, their subsequent military acceleration, their rapid advances into countries such as Chad, Kenya and Libya and their conquest of territory.
The threat they pose is not only to human life and state sovereignty, but there has already been a calculable cost in terms of tourism and investment. Analysts are warning that unless checked, the threat could further destabilise those promising developments that have given weight to the notion of “Africa rising”.
Clearly a continent-wide, sustainable strategy is urgently needed. Do we dare to hope for a solution?
In the short term President Jacob Zuma’s continental rapid response force which will theoretically be able to be deployed anywhere in Africa at 14 days’ notice, could be of assistance.
But its future is tenuous. Some countries, Nigeria for example, are reportedly suspicious of South Africa driving the project and say they prefer to invest in existing AU structures.
Hopefully a solution will come out of the summit.
A longer term deterrent to the kind of opportunistic terrorism gaining momentum in Africa – and one that will allow for the kind of open continental trade that is currently envisaged – is, of course, the fostering of viable democracies in which citizens are sufficiently educated and skilled to build strong economies.
That will require a change in Africa’s pattern of leadership. A proposal to set a two term limit for sitting presidents is on the summit agenda. Acceptance would signal serious intent by African leaders to pursue democracy.
It would also require that the new AU chair, Robert Mugabe, step down as leader of Zimbabwe along with his counterpart from Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza.
We can only hope Africa’s leaders recognise the urgency of the hour and do not waste time with a talk shop.
No time for talk shops
The xenophobic violence that later took place in this country has put a question mark over whether all the continent’s leaders will attend this week’s summit.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane has dismissed concerns of a boycott and we sincerely hope she is correct. Not only is the summit a chance for South Africa to begin to recover its reputation, but there are shared issues to urgently address.
Terrorism is key. While conflict, violence and organised crime have long undermined Africa’s potential for growth, there is a growing view that Africa is the new frontier in the global war on terror.
This is not only because the number of people killed by Boko Haram and al-Shabaab escalated to around 8000 last year. That number is small compared to the millions who die due to famine, disease and the other consequences of poor governance and unequal development.
Rather the concern relates to the alignment of both these groups within less than a year to the Islamic State, their subsequent military acceleration, their rapid advances into countries such as Chad, Kenya and Libya and their conquest of territory.
The threat they pose is not only to human life and state sovereignty, but there has already been a calculable cost in terms of tourism and investment. Analysts are warning that unless checked, the threat could further destabilise those promising developments that have given weight to the notion of “Africa rising”.
Clearly a continent-wide, sustainable strategy is urgently needed. Do we dare to hope for a solution?
In the short term President Jacob Zuma’s continental rapid response force which will theoretically be able to be deployed anywhere in Africa at 14 days’ notice, could be of assistance.
But its future is tenuous. Some countries, Nigeria for example, are reportedly suspicious of South Africa driving the project and say they prefer to invest in existing AU structures.
Hopefully a solution will come out of the summit.
A longer term deterrent to the kind of opportunistic terrorism gaining momentum in Africa – and one that will allow for the kind of open continental trade that is currently envisaged – is, of course, the fostering of viable democracies in which citizens are sufficiently educated and skilled to build strong economies.
That will require a change in Africa’s pattern of leadership. A proposal to set a two term limit for sitting presidents is on the summit agenda. Acceptance would signal serious intent by African leaders to pursue democracy.
It would also require that the new AU chair, Robert Mugabe, step down as leader of Zimbabwe along with his counterpart from Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza.
We can only hope Africa’s leaders recognise the urgency of the hour and do not waste time with a talk shop.
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