Photograph — akatasia

Africa Day is here once again, celebrated on the 25th of May annually and one of the few opportunities for Africans to promote their unity. So why aren’t Africans keen on treating the commemoration of their liberation and unity as a continent with the same regard as they do other continental events like say, the African Cup of Nations final matches?

South Africa is the host for this year and President Jacob Zuma is rolling out the red carpet for the 2016 Africa Day celebrations today at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. This year’s theme is“Building a better Africa and a better world” and Africans are expected to use the day to reaffirm support for the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The AU, in collaboration with the host nation, is calling for countries to play their role within the organisation in order to ensure the successful implementation of the vision and plan to build a better Africa.

“Africa Day provides an opportunity for us to celebrate our African identity. Our country was isolated for decades from the rest of the continent due to the evil system of apartheid colonialism. We are now a full member of the African continent and, since 1994, our continent is correctly the primary focus of our foreign policy,” said President Zuma.

South Africa is one of those countries that can’t deny the contributions of the African Union towards the realisation of a truly democratic country. It stands as true evidence of what pan-African action and solidarity can achieve. Many countries in the continent provided refuge to numerous South Africans who went into exile and provided material, social, political and military support. Therefore, for South Africa, Africa Day thus provides an opportunity to celebrate that African solidarity and to continue expressing it through the ongoing support for many countries in the continent that are currently in the throes of conflict.

Unfortunately, this year, South Africa is likely to be alone in this celebration and here are the reasons why:

Pan-Africanism is at an all-time low

Today’s Africans are more nationalistic than pan-African, no longer do we hear pan-African rhetorics from presidents, some argue that from the 1980’s many Africans stopped thinking about Africa in the pan-African, political, unity sense that figures like Kwame Nkrumah, Ahmed Sekou Toure and others envisaged the continent. Pan-Africanism today has evolved from a sociopolitical to a sociocultural movement, only visible in music, dance and art festivals.

Very few countries take Africa Day seriously.

Africa Day is observed as a public holiday in only six countries (Ghana,Mali,Namibia Zambia,Lesotho and Zimbabwe) out of the 54 AU member states. This alone speaks volumes about the collective disregard of governments towards the event.

Very few presidents or heads of state (if any) will be in attendance.

According to the South African government, the Africa Day celebratory gala dinner will be attended by ambassadors and high commissioners from Africa and abroad, business leaders as well as ministers and other key stakeholders. It appears this is another event that doesn’t require the attention of the continent’s top leaders.

There is hardly a reason for Africans to be upbeat right now.

In 2011, the average person living in extreme poverty in Africa lived on 74 cents a day, whereas for the rest of the developing world, it was 98 cents. This means that Africans are even further below the universal poverty line. For the last twenty years, sub-Saharan Africa has been growing “fast,” at an average of 5.2 percent per year. Meanwhile, the number of people on the continent reportedly living under $1.25 a day has continued to creep upwards from 358 million in 1996 to 415 million in 2011—the most recent year for which official estimates exist.

Western Sahara is yet to gain independence from Morocco after all these years, this is perhaps the AU’s biggest failure till date, an African country holding another against its will with no end in sight. It is shameful for an organisation born out of the struggle for freedom and liberty to be so ineffective. This violation of Western Sahara’s right to self determination goes against the fundamental principles and functions of the African Union.

In South Africa, inequality is as high as, or in some cases higher than, it was during apartheidAfrican heads of mission in India are boycotting Africa Day celebration in India in solidarity with Masunda Kitada Oliver, a Congolese student who was killed last week in Delhi. Nigeria, the Africa’s largest economy, by all indications is in recession and Boko Haram still remains an existential threat to the peace, freedom and integrity of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Not to mention al-Shabaab terrorising Kenya, Somalia and the rest of East Africa.

Almost all the socioeconomic and sociopolitical problems that existed in 1963 when the African Union was formed are still very much present today and it appears the organisation has no idea on how to make them go away. The AU succeeded in fighting for independence for all countries, but is helpless against other systemic problems. So while Africans may have gained independence, the situation is virtually the same if we look at life satisfaction and quality of life. It is glaring that all there is to celebrate is just freedom, not even the basic characteristics (peace, security, quality and affordable health care, high literacy rate, gender equality etc.) of a truly liberated people relative to the rest of the world.

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