ONE AFRICA by Sihlangule Siwisa

Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. 

 “AGENDA 2063 is Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future. It is the continent’s strategic framework that aims to deliver on its goal for inclusive and sustainable development and is a concrete manifestation of the pan-African drive for unity, self-determination, freedom, progress and collective prosperity pursued under Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance. The genesis of Agenda 2063 was the realisation by African leaders that there was a need to refocus and reprioritise Africa’s agenda from the struggle against apartheid and the attainment of political independence for the continent which had been the focus of The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the precursor of the African Union; and instead to prioritise inclusive social and economic development, continental and regional integration, democratic governance and peace and security amongst other issues aimed at repositioning Africa to becoming a dominant player in the global arena.” www. https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview

 The African Continental Free Trade Area: AfCFTA

 AGENDA 2063 has culminated into the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area whose goal is to harmonize the trade policies, legislation, and logistics between African states in order to grow and accelerate intra-Africa trade and create #OneAfricanMarket.

 “COGNISANT of the launch of negotiations for the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area aimed at integrating Africa’s markets in line with the objectives and principles enunciated in the Abuja Treaty during the Twenty-Fifth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 14- 15 June 2015 (Assembly/AU/Dec. 569(XXV);

 DETERMINED to strengthen our economic relationship and build upon our respective rights and obligations under the Constitutive Act of the African Union of 2000, the Abuja Treaty and, where applicable, the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization of 1994;

 HAVING REGARD to the aspirations of Agenda 2063 for a continental market with the free movement of persons, capital, goods and services, which are crucial for deepening economic integration, and promoting agricultural development, food security, industrialization and structural economic transformation; CONSCIOUS of the need to create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services of State Parties through adequate infrastructure and the reduction or progressive elimination of tariffs and elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade and investment” www.au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36437-treaty-consolidated_text_on_cfta_-_en.pdf

 ASAMBE KE AFRIKA

 The establishment of AGENDA 2063 was largely driven by the political will of the Heads of State that are part of the African Union. There is a tendency for such agreements to become rather academic, which has the potential to render them impotent if they are not translated into practical programs of action that capture the minds of ordinary citizens.

In order for AGENDA 2063 to succeed we need Africa to unite. So, we saw an opportunity to use intra-Africa travel as a basis upon which to facilitate an ongoing process of cross-cultural exchange among Africans by using the celebration of the diverse history and heritage of the 55 African States - through the showcasing of art, music, film, fashion and storytelling - to bring about social cohesion in the largely fragmented societies of Africa. Hence the tag line, “USIING THE RHYTHM AND THE PULSE OF AFRIKA TO UNITE AFRIKA.’ The name ‘ASAMBE KE AFRIKA’ means ‘Let’s Go, Afrika!’

We want to expose ourselves and those who will join us in the future to the undocumented parts of our history as Africans and the parts of that history that the inhabitants of each country choose to appropriate and celebrate as part of their heritage through the way they dress, the songs they sing, the artworks they paint and the stories they tell. We long to re-trace the steps of those who walked before us.

We therefore conceived the idea of mirroring the timelines of AGENDA 2063 by setting ourselves the audacious goal of travelling the 55 African States over a period of 40 years from 2023-2063. The idea is to travel 3 African countries per year for a period of 12 days per country over a period of 12 months and then to spend the year telling the story of those three countries through the lens of the old and young people in those countries.

Partners

The first trip to North Africa, which is proposed to depart on the 24th July 2023, will be an opportunity for us to establish a ‘proof of concept’ by curating a trip that has all the elements we desire to experience. For that reason, the trip will be self-funded. We need a Travel Management Company that has the capacity to arrange logistics on the continent and a Film Crew to capture content. With regards to corporate sponsors, we thought of targeting international companies that have a footprint in Africa such as Google Africa, YouTube Africa and major domestic companies such as MTN. Afrochella has been identified as a potential partner.

*Our Primary Motivation ~*

The story of South Africa’s freedom is larger than the confines of the boundaries of our own country. South Africa received massive support from our surrounding frontline states that include Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola and Tanzania. There are families such as the Masilela family in 43 Trewlawney Park in Swaziland who opened up their homes and placed their lives in great peril to support our struggle.

So, it is therefore an indictment on our consciences that our ignorance or short-lived memory of the sacrifices made by fellow African countries in the interest of our liberation during the apartheid era caused us to visit harm upon the citizens of the very same countries through xenophobic violence in post-liberation South Africa.

The unintended message that the incidents of xenophobia in SA conveyed to the rest of the world is that the freedom we sought was premised on proving to each other as Africans that we are better slaves than the other.

The description of this psychosis is well illuminated in a work of fiction written by John Norman entitled Savages of Gor. What this implies then is that even in the absence of physical chains, we remain shackled in our thinking as Africans by a spirit of ‘otherness’ instead of a spirit of ‘one-ness’.

These boundaries which we defend so vigourously were not even set by ourselves as Africans. The national boundaries we use to divide ourselves were demarcated by Europeans in Germany when they were deciding how to apportion Africa for themselves. Yet we have accepted these artificial divisions as a valid basis to wound and kill the same brothers and sisters who sheltered us from persecution.

I repeat; the story of liberation of South Africa as the last African country to attain freedom from colonialism and oppression is a story that speaks not of the uniqueness of SA society, but to the common aspirations and geo-ethnic tapestry of the African nation as a whole.

So I invite you to join me in saying WHAT SEPARATES US IS LESS REAL THAN THE HISTORY THAT BINDS US.

In the face of THESE CHALLENGES, let us draw strength by echoing the words of Oliver Tambo who said in 1991, “we did not tear ourselves apart because of a lack of progress at times …we were always ready to defend our unity”.

ONE AFRICA