Organisation of African Unity

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; French: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an African intergovernmental organisation established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and economic integration among member states, and to eradicate colonialism and neo-colonialism from the African continent.

The absence of an armed force like the United Nations peacekeepers left the organization with no means to enforce its decisions. It was also unwilling to become involved in the internal affairs of member nations, prompting some critics to claim the OAU as ineffective in taking decisive action. Recognising this, in September 1999 the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration, calling for a new body to take its place. On 9 July 2002, the OAU's Chairman, South African President Thabo Mbeki, formally dissolved the OAU and replaced it with the African Union (AU), its immediate successor, which upholds many of the founding principles of the OAU.

The inception of the OAU's establishment was the Sanniquellie Pledge at the First West African Summit Conference held in Sanniquellie, Liberia on 15–19 July 1959. President Tubman of Liberia hosted President Touré of Guinea, and Prime Minister Nkrumah of Ghana, and the three pledged to work together for the formation of a "Community of Independent African States".

The OAU was founded in May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 32 African states with the main aim of bringing the African nations together and resolve the issues within the continent. Its first ever conference was held on 1 May 1963 in Addis Ababa. At that conference, the late Gambian historian – and one of the leading Gambian nationalists and Pan-Africanists at the time – Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof delivered a speech in front of the member states, in which he said:

The OAU had the following primary aims:

A Liberation Committee was established to aid independence movements and look after the interests of already-independent states. The OAU also aimed to stay neutral in terms of global politics, which would prevent them from being controlled once more by outside forces – an especial danger with the Cold War.

The OAU had other aims, too:

Soon after achieving independence, a number of African states expressed a growing desire for more unity within the continent. Not everyone was agreed on how this unity could be achieved, however, and two opinionated groups emerged in this respect: