Free article preview  

Fifty years after Ghana's leader mooted plans for a United States of Africa, the Accra summit replays the arguments without conclusion

Supporters of Ghana's founding President, Kwame Nkrumah, found the African Union summit in Accra on 1-3 July both a tribute and a huge frustration. Billed as the 'Grand Debate', it was meant to agree a vision of the future of the AU and of the basis for a political union. Stalwart pan-Africanists hoped the summit would discuss and develop Nkrumah's idea of Union Government and then decide definitively on the form and structure of that government, as well as the pace at which it should be built. However, the resulting 'Accra Declaration', released at midnight on 3 July, postponed all the big decisions and delegated further research to yet another study group, which is due to report at the next summit in January 2008....

(This article contains approximately 986 words)

end of free article preview

Current subscribers: log in now to read the complete article. Misplaced your password? Then click here for a password reminder.

Not a subscriber? Then you can read this article in full either by becoming a subscriber now, for 3, 6 or 12 months, or you can buy this individual article.

  • Subscribe to Africa Confidential:
  • Buy this article:
  • 3-month subscription
    Prices from £205.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
    6-month subscription
    Prices from £376.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
    12-month subscription
    Prices from £705.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
  • UK & European Union
    £17.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
    Rest of the world
    $27.00

  • If you have a print subscription already, click here for a password that gives you full access to the website.
  • If you are logged in, but still cannot access the full text of this article, email customer services or telephone us on +44(0)1638 743633.

Keywords:

Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, Sudan, Somalia, Congo-Kinshasa, Côte d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Libyan, Moammar el Gadaffi, Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, Algeria, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, ROAD TO UNITY, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Soviet Union, John Kufuor, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Herbie Hancock, Oswald Boateng, Thabo Mbeki, Umaru Yar'Adua, Alpha Oumar Konaré