20th century – 20th century
West Africa
The Union of African States was a short-lived West African political union involving Ghana and Guinea, joined by Mali in 1960 after its break with Senegal. It originated in the Ghana–Guinea union declared after Ghana provided Guinea with a substantial loan following the withdrawal of French aid. The union remained institutionally weak and dissolved itself with the creation of the OAU in 1963.
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The Story
The Ghana–Guinea union arose in October 1958 after France cut off aid to Guinea. Ghana responded with practical assistance in the form of a £10,000,000 loan, and within a month the two states declared that a union existed. This arrangement was presented as the beginning of a wider Union of West African States.
In 1960, Mali joined the union after severing its ties with Senegal. The organization then took the title Union of African States, or UAS. Its development reflected Kwame Nkrumah’s effort to approach all-African supranationalism through intermediate regional unions, even though Ghana’s constitutional provisions for merger did not produce a strong institutional structure.
The UAS never acquired much substance in practice. With the creation of the OAU in 1963, it liquidated itself in the name of wider African unity. Its short existence nevertheless illustrates the tension between regional integration and the broader continental organization that eventually took precedence.
20th century – 20th century
West Africa
The Union of African States was a short-lived West African political union involving Ghana and Guinea, joined by Mali in 1960 after its break with Senegal. It originated in the Ghana–Guinea union declared after Ghana provided Guinea with a substantial loan following the withdrawal of French aid. The union remained institutionally weak and dissolved itself with the creation of the OAU in 1963.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Ghana–Guinea union arose in October 1958 after France cut off aid to Guinea. Ghana responded with practical assistance in the form of a £10,000,000 loan, and within a month the two states declared that a union existed. This arrangement was presented as the beginning of a wider Union of West African States.
In 1960, Mali joined the union after severing its ties with Senegal. The organization then took the title Union of African States, or UAS. Its development reflected Kwame Nkrumah’s effort to approach all-African supranationalism through intermediate regional unions, even though Ghana’s constitutional provisions for merger did not produce a strong institutional structure.
The UAS never acquired much substance in practice. With the creation of the OAU in 1963, it liquidated itself in the name of wider African unity. Its short existence nevertheless illustrates the tension between regional integration and the broader continental organization that eventually took precedence.
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