20th century
Africa
The Organisation of African Unity was created in 1963 as an all-African supranational institution supported by independent African states. Its establishment represented the institutional culmination of the post-1950s Pan-African effort to promote continental cooperation, although earlier conferences revealed substantial disagreements over sovereignty, militancy and relations with former colonial powers.
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The Story
The creation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 was presented as the most visible institutional achievement of post-1950s Pan-Africanism. The organisation embodied the attempt to establish an all-African supranational institution with the support of independent African states. Its formation followed a sequence of conferences and political initiatives during the preceding years.
The road to the organisation was marked by disagreement. African leaders differed over the balance between national sovereignty and continental unity, over the pace and legitimacy of armed struggle, and over the political orientation of cooperation with former colonial powers. These disputes produced moderate and militant wings within the wider Pan-African movement.
The conferences at Accra, Tunis, Cairo, Addis Ababa and Léopoldville exposed both the possibilities and the limits of continental coordination. The resulting organisation therefore emerged from compromise as well as aspiration: it institutionalised African solidarity while leaving unresolved many of the political conflicts that had divided Pan-African actors during decolonisation.
20th century
Africa
The Organisation of African Unity was created in 1963 as an all-African supranational institution supported by independent African states. Its establishment represented the institutional culmination of the post-1950s Pan-African effort to promote continental cooperation, although earlier conferences revealed substantial disagreements over sovereignty, militancy and relations with former colonial powers.
Continue exploring
The Story
The creation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 was presented as the most visible institutional achievement of post-1950s Pan-Africanism. The organisation embodied the attempt to establish an all-African supranational institution with the support of independent African states. Its formation followed a sequence of conferences and political initiatives during the preceding years.
The road to the organisation was marked by disagreement. African leaders differed over the balance between national sovereignty and continental unity, over the pace and legitimacy of armed struggle, and over the political orientation of cooperation with former colonial powers. These disputes produced moderate and militant wings within the wider Pan-African movement.
The conferences at Accra, Tunis, Cairo, Addis Ababa and Léopoldville exposed both the possibilities and the limits of continental coordination. The resulting organisation therefore emerged from compromise as well as aspiration: it institutionalised African solidarity while leaving unresolved many of the political conflicts that had divided Pan-African actors during decolonisation.
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