African Union Agenda 2063 as a Strategic Peacebuilding Framework for Sustainable Development and Security in Africa

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2023 in the subject African Studies - Miscellaneous, Bindura University of Science Education (Department of Peace and Governance), course: International Relations, language: English, abstract: Africa has historically been a victim of colonialism perpetrated by the Europeans for ages. Colonialism was anchored by slave trade, oppression, suppression of the African voices, expropriation of resources, ethnic cleansing of some tribes (millions were killed in DRC by the Belgian King) among others. Colonialism left an indelible mark in the African face such that whenever Africa appears the effects of colonialism are visible. It is not an understatement to note that colonialism still haunts the African continent many years after independence. The colonialist ceded political power and secretly maintained economic power that continues to influence the political dynamics of Africa. In essence, during the twentieth century African countries managed to win their independences from colonial rule. Colonial rule was orchestrated by Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium. However, the winning of independence demanded cooperation among African states towards making the enemy lose maximum structural control in the continent. Did the enemy indeed lose structural control in politics, economics and the social life of Africans? It remains seemingly true that Africa was independent in the twentieth century but remained dependent to the former colonial powers to date. From its founding in 1963 OAU to its rebranding after the dawn of the new millennium in 2002 to African Union volatile conflicts have been rampant in Africa. The rebranded AU continues to struggle with sporadic conflicts in Africa, hunger, famines, poverty and poor governance among others. On 31 January 2015 the 24th Ordinary Assembly of the Heads of State and Governments of the African Union in Addis Ababa adopted the AU Agenda 2063. This essay seeks to discuss the notion that the African Union Agenda 2063 is a strategic peace building initiative. This desk research will tackle issues within the framework of AU Agenda 2063 document so as to determine its efficacy to peace building initiative. The aspirations, goals and priority areas of AU Agenda 2063 shall be of critical importance towards giving the discourse a terrain to engage with critical peace building concerns in Africa. Furthermore, the findings of the study draws insightful lenses from the AU Agenda 2063 document. Upon discussion of findings the paper will draw a conclusion.