African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 is a common framework for inclusive growth and sustainable development to be realised by the year 2063. It was agreed upon by the African leaders in 2013 during the 50th Anniversary of the AU. The main elements of “Agenda 2063” emphasise the importance of rekindling the passion for pan-Africanism, a sense of unity, self-reliance, integration and solidarity.
Often referred to as the ‘dark continent,’ Africa has undergone remarkable social evolution in terms of its culture, religion and politics. Yet, its leaders are in an unending search for a way to tackle problems like disease, poverty and hunger which have come to symbolise blackness in recent times.
However, there is an African proverb that says “to go back to tradition is the first step forward.” Before the arrival of Europeans and Arabs, African tradition, culture and spirituality was pure and institutionalised. Since then, foreign religions have been preached aggressively at the expense of our own traditions, condemning our ways of life, worship and demonising everything that symbolises the African in us. These acts were so thorough that only a handful of Africans, today, understand how their ancestors interacted with the world and are able to read any documentation of their experiences in the symbols and art that have been left behind.
Although symbols serve the function of representing a concept or idea, they also have the propensity to evoke an emotional and psychological response. In fact, the emotional significance of the concept is what formulates the symbol in the first place. All across Africa, the most common symbols are either Islamic and Christian, representing the strong influences these religions possess across the board. These religious symbols, often seen on car stickers, hung on rear-view mirrors, wrapped around the wrists, and so on, constantly reinforce loyalty to these ‘alien’ religions and their agenda before anything.
If we consider the fact that in a developed Africa, self reliance and negritude aren’t promoted by these religions, then it becomes easy to conclude that those symbols are existing at the expense of the blackness and loyalty to our African traditions and heritage which we must promote in order to become organised. We should aim be as resilient as the Japanese or Chinese and adapt their tenacity in guarding their culture, instilling it into every facet of their society. These Asian giants have achieved remarkable levels of modernisation and development while ensuring that their society is as oriental as possible by going through a period of cultural revolution.
The African society, which the “Agenda 2063” dreams of, will require a cultural revolution which would allow the vast majority of Africans to truly be African in order to achieve the African Union’s vision of “…An Integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” This is so that when people talk about this Africa of our dreams, they do so with awe, because of the overwhelming uniqueness of how progressive values, culture, economic prosperity, history, and more, were finely woven together.
