The African Union is the successor organization to the Organization of African Unity. Founded in July 2002, its first chairman was South African president Thabo Mbeki. Modeled after the European Union, its goals are to help promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa, especially increasing foreign investment through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) program.
Goals for the African Union include an African parliament and a central development bank. As with its predecessor the OAU, the African Union is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Member countries (listed by their official names):
- People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
- Republic of Angola
- Republic of Benin
- Republic of Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Republic of Burundi
- Republic of Cameroon
- Republic of Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Republic of Chad
- Union of Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Republic of Djibouti
- Arab Republic of Egypt
- State of Eritrea
- Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- Republic of Equatorial Guinea
- Gabonese Republic
- The Republic of The Gambia
- Republic of Ghana
- Republic of Guinea
- Republic of Guinea Bissau
- Republic of Kenya
- Lesotho
- Republic of Liberia
- Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
- Republic of Madagascar
- Republic of Malawi
- Republic of Mali
- Islamic Republic of Mauritania
- Republic of Mauritius
- Republic of Mozambique
- Republic of Namibia
- Republic of Niger
- Federal Republic of Nigeria
- Republic of Rwanda
- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Republic of Senegal
- Republic of Seychelles
- Republic of Sierra Leone
- Republic of Somalia
- Republic of South Africa
- Republic of Sudan
- Swaziland
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Togolese Republic
- Republic of Tunisia
- Republic of Uganda
- Republic of Zambia
- Republic of Zimbabwe
Bibliography
- The New African Initiative and the African Union: A Preliminary Assessment and Documentation by Henning Melber, Publisher: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Sweden; ISBN 91-7106-486-9; (October 2002)
External Links
- http://www.africa-union.org/
- Constitutive Act of the African Union from a South African government website