The United States of Africa is a name sometimes given to one version of the possible future unification of Africa as a national and sovereign federation of states similar in formation to the United States of America, mirroring the idea of the United States of Europe. The idea has recently been advanced by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi at a 2000 summit in Lomé, Togo (and again in June 2007), and by Alpha Oumar Konare, chairperson of the African Commission, on the occasion of the commemoration of the Africa Day, on May 25, 2006. The phrase "United States of Africa", was mentioned first by Marcus Garvey in his poem 'Hail, United States of Africa' in 1924. Garvey's ideas deeply influenced the birth of the Pan-Africanist movement which culminated in 1945 with the Fifth Pan African Congress in Manchester, England, attended by W.E.B. Du Bois, Patrice Lumumba, George Padmore, Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah. Later, Nkrumah and Haile Selassie (among many others) took the idea forward to form the Organisation of African Unity, the forerunner of today's African Union. The latest meeting of the African Union, which began on July 1, 2007, was called with a purpose of discussing Gaddafi's idea of a federation of African states.
Notes
- ^ "United States of Africa?" at BBC News
- Second BBC article, Quoting Qudaffi
- United States of Africa Still an Idea Ahead of Its Time - World Politics Review, 13 July 2007
- ^ Statement of the UA Commission Chairperson
- Ambitious plan for a new Africa: Welcome to the U.S.A (that's the United States of Africa) - The Independent, 30 June 2007 (Claire Soares)
See also
- African Union
- Pan-Africanism
- United States of Latin Africa
- United States of Africa in Star Trek - In the fictional Star Trek universe the "United States of Africa" exists as a nation of the United Earth government, within the Federation.
- Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League
External links
- United States of Africa blog
- United States of Africa
- "United States of Africa?" at BBC News
- Marcus Garvey website
- Africa Unite - A Bob Marley Foundation
