The African public is hereby invited to make contributions to the debate through this forum. This web consultation is: launched by the Commission of the African Union; open to everybody: individuals, organizations and institutions; to gather opinions on the future of the African Union and to provide opportunity for the broad public on the continent to contribute to the shaping of Africa's destiny; a platform where issues can be raised and ideas shared and discussed;

Send your comments to the following email address : AUgovernment@africa-union.org

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, at its 8th ordinary session in Addis Ababa from 29-30 January, 2007, decided that the next ordinary session of the Assembly to be held in Accra, Ghana in July, 2007, will be devoted to a “Grand Debate on the Union Government.” In the same vein, the Executive Council of the African Union will hold a retreat of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Durban, South Africa from 8-9 May, 2007 to brainstorm on the state of the union, which is to the same effect as the Grand Debate.

The purpose of the two exercises is to undertake in-depth discussions on the nature of the continent’s integration agenda in order to determine where we are, where we are going, when and how to get there.

The need for such an exercise at this point in time, arose from a proposal considered by the Assembly at its 4th ordinary session in Abuja in January, 2005, on the creation of certain ministerial portfolios for the African Union. The Assembly accepted that the proposal was pertinent and forward looking and also in line with the vision of the African Union. It therefore, decided to set up a Committee of seven Heads of State under President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to examine the proposal in all its ramifications.

The Committee, in its report, submitted to the Assembly at the 5th ordinary session held in Sirte, Libya in July 2005, expressed the view that the spirit of the proposal went far beyond mere creation of ministerial portfolios in certain areas of activities of the Union. It therefore recommended that there was need to work towards the formation of a Union government for the continent.

After reviewing the report, the Assembly reaffirmed that the ultimate goal of the African Union is full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa. It therefore, set up another Committee of Heads of State under the then Chairman of the Assembly of the Union, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria. The Committee was mandated to consider all the ideas expressed on the subject at the summit as well as others that may arise through consultations including steps to be taken for the realization of the objective.

At the instance of the Chairman of the Committee of Seven, a broad-based conference was held in Abuja, Nigeria, in November 2005, under the theme “Desirability of a Union Government in Africa.” It was attended by a wide spectrum of participants including members of the Committee of Seven, the academia, technical experts, representatives of the African Diaspora, Civil Society Organisations as well as executives of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and media practitioners from different parts of Africa,
The conference concluded that:

a) the “necessity for Union Government is not in doubt”;
b) it must be a “Union of the African people and not merely a Union of states and governments”;
c) its formation must be “based on a multi-layered approach” and on the principle of "gradual incrementalism”;
d) the role of the RECs should be highlighted as building blocks for the continental framework.

Based on the conclusions of the Conference, the Committee recommended the preparation of a framework document defining the purpose of the Union government, nature, scope, core values, steps and processes as well as an indicative roadmap for its achievement. As a result, the Assembly mandated AU Commission to submit a consolidated document along these lines, for consideration by the Assembly at its 7th ordinary session in Banjul, the Gambia in July, 2006.

A ''Study on An African Union Government: Towards the United States of Africa'' was prepared and presented to the Seventh Session of the Assembly in Banjul, in July 2006 by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Chairperson of the Committee of Seven. In Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.123(vii) the Assembly reaffirmed “that the ultimate goal of the African Union is full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa”, and requested the Commission to convene an Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council as soon as possible to "consider the Report and propose an appropriate framework of action".

The Study was considered by the Executive Council at its 9th Extraordinary Session held from 17 to 18 November 2006 in Addis Ababa. The main conclusions, as contained its report Ext/EX.CL/RPT(IX), are that (i) "all Member States accept the United States of Africa as a common and desirable goal (but) differences exist over the modalities and time frame for achieving this goal and the appropriate pace of integration and (ii) there is a common agreement on the need for an audit review of the state of the Union in order to know the areas in which significant improvements have to be made to accelerate the integration process."

The report of the Executive Council was submitted to the Assembly at its 8th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2007. Given the nature of the proposals contained in the Study and their implications at national, regional, continental and international levels, the Assembly took the decision on the Grand Debate. The belief is that such an exercise will remove the need for recurring initiatives and incessant debates as well as frequent demands for change which distract the ability to consolidate the Union in order to make it function optimally.

To help in this process, following issues will need to be addressed namely: