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It has been half a century since Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah called for Africa’s political harmony. Now that imperative is economic, as ? a new powerful forum tries to show policymakers that joined-up self-determination is in the continent’s best interests

See below for a map of the overlapping agendas of Africa’s regional economic communities.

More than 50 years after Ghana’s founding president Kwame Nkrumah launched his campaign for a united Africa, a diverse group of activists, entrepreneurs, technocrats, and politicians meet in Addis Ababa from 24 to 31 January to press again for continental unity.

Their mission is to call on national leaders at the African Union (AU) meeting to propel Africa determinedly towards integration. Some have already conceded the need for urgent action. “Only about 10-12% of African trade takes place within the continent,” points out Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, “compared to the 40% of intra-North American trade, 57% intra-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) trade, and 63% of intra-Western European trade”.

Although Nkrumah called on Africans to seek the political kingdom – he was referring to those states still under colonial rule as well as apartheid in South Africa – the message from this new generation of advocates is economic. For them, the economic and political balkanization of Africa into 53 states is holding back development, and the chance to build on the continent’s stronger performance over the past decade.

The driving force behind this movement is Sudanese telecoms entrepreneur and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim, who has brought together a coalition to lobby for an accelerated strategy for integrating Africa’s economies. “Economic integration must be at the core of the African Union’s message,” Ibrahim said. “We must challenge our leaders to act boldly, to stop debating and start acting.”

To power this campaign, in late November Ibrahim organised a forum in Mauritius attended by over 300 African intellectuals, businesspeople and former presidents, alongside the heads of the AU, AfDB and Economic Commission for Africa. At times it had echoes of a revivalist meeting, with speakers renewing their faith in the Nkrumahist vision of a united continent that could harness Africa’s resources for self-sustaining development. But the commercial imperatives for economic integration were underscored by the presence of some hard-headed business leaders, such as Mali’s Cheick Modibo Diarra, chairman of Microsoft Africa; Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, who is investing some $3bn in cement factories across Africa; Monhla Hlahla, managing director of Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which won a $1.5bn contract to modernise Mumbai international airport; and Maria Ramos of South Africa’s ABSA Bank.

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