Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May of the 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
This continental organisation played a pivotal role in eradicating colonialism and minority rule in Africa. It supported the various African liberation movements in the fight against colonialism and apartheid.
Since the early 1960s, member states were encouraged to combine their economies into sub-regional markets that would ultimately form one Africa-wide economic union.
By the late 1990s African leaders decided that a new continental organisation was required to integrate the OAU and the African Economic Community (AEC) into one unified institution – the African Union (AU) on 9 July 2002.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
It is also a decade since the formation of the African Union (AU), which seeks to promote “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”
Consequently, the heads of state declared 2013 the Year of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance.
Overarching message: One Africa for Prosperity and Peace
Main theme: 2013, Year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance
- Pan Africanism reflects the long history of African civilisations as the cradle of humankind, and is at the heart of the formation and existence of the OAU and now the AU. It informed African responses to slavery and colonialism, the struggles for independence and self-expression and the post-independence processes of nation-formation.
As we celebrate achievements in terms of democracy and governance, we need to prepare new generations to assume the burden of leadership and responsibility.
Towards - Africa 2063
- Unlocking Africa’s potential towards 2063
- Confidence in the future: Open-minded but deep rooted
- Unleashing Africa's potential
- Now is the time
- Africa will never be the same again
- Africa my beginning, Africa my ending
- Meaning of Pan-Africanism for the youth or a new Pan-Africanism for future generations.