African leaders are to meet in Ghana for an African Union summit at the end of next month to discuss ways of working towards a ”United States of Africa”, the bloc said in a statement on Friday.
The summit, from June 25 to July 3, will be devoted to a ”grand debate on the union government”, the statement said.
”The ultimate goal of the African Union is full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa,” it said.
The goal of political and economic integration of African countries has existed since the AU began in 2002, but the issue divides the body’s 53 members.
The meeting will also see the appointment of new AU commissioners and a new commission president to replace Alpha Oumar Konare, who has announced he will step down.
It will also discuss regional conflicts, notably in Darfur and Somalia, where the pan-African body has deployed a vanguard force of about 1 500 Ugandan peacekeepers.
Ghana currently holds the bloc’s rotating leadership. President John Kufuor was elected its chairperson during a summit in January after member states rejected Sudan’s bid for the chair.
The AU, which replaced the Organisation of African Unity in 2002, comprises 53 African territories and aims to promote political, social and economic development as well as security on the continent. — AFP
