In the week prior to the 24th AU Summit, on January 24, 2015 at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, launched the African Union Foundation.
The AU Foundation –an institution emerging from the African Union, operating as an autonomous entity– was established by the AU Assembly in May 2013 to promote “voluntary contributions to finance the major development priority areas of the African Union in order to enhance and speed up the social, economic and political development of the African continent”, in line with AU’s 2063 agenda and its vision for sustainable development based on equity, social inclusion, good governance, justice, peace, and stability.
Though the foundation’s focus is stated mainly on critical issues as declared in AU’s agenda 2063, other programmes promoted and funded by the foundation include: human resources and skills development, women’s empowerment and gender equality, management of diversity and regional integration, youth development and entrepreneurship in Africa.
During a press conference held for the launch, Dr. Zuma was noted stating the following: “Although the foundation accepts funds from outside donors, we should begin to fund our development projects ourselves.” Further emphasizing, “that domestic and alternative sources of funding has been an intrinsic element of the continent’s commitments of the Pan African values of self-determination, solidarity and self-reliance.”
Thus, this call for Africans to take action under the umbrella of the African Union Foundation may offer opportunities for Africans to operate as goodwill ambassadors for their continent. Additionally, as stated by Dr. Zuma, there may be prospect for the continent, through this initiative, to “strengthen and deepen its cooperation and partnership with prominent African figures, business community, individuals, communities and philanthropists, to mobilize resources to help Africa’s march towards inclusive and sustainable development.”
All this leads to thoughts of the Kswahili saying: no matter how long the night, the day is sure to come. So then, could it be that “the day has come” or is close to coming? Could it be, perhaps, this will mark the culmination of initiatives that may lead to the reality of the pan-African dream –Africans for Africa?