One of the most common challenges facing the African continent is low and declining political trust in the African Union. Feeling discouraged, millions of Africans are now turning their back on the institution built to defend their interests in global political, economic, and financial powers. When leaders at the African become champions of the application of double standards, political trust declines and ordinary citizens find it complicated to have faith in its actions, approve of its legitimacy, and associate with its plans to truly represent Africa as a trusted voice globally. The pan-continental body, which has 55 member countries, must fight for political trust in 2025 and 2026.
The Political Drivers of Low Trust in the African Union
Trust in political institutions in Africa is argued to be at the heart of economic and social cooperation. Yet, trust in the African Union is in decline, reflecting dissatisfaction with economic decision-making performance and, more worryingly, how it positions itself as a credible actor in the 21st-century global economy.
What is meant by political trust? What does it signify, and how is it relevant for political life? Political trust, generally defined as citizens’ confidence in political institutions, is an important indicator of political legitimacy—the belief in the righteousness of these political institutions and the regime of which they are part. Political trust is the glue that holds strong political institutions together.
Drawing on agendas and facts from several AU nations, the reality paints a picture of unfulfilled promises, agreements, missed targets, and failure to invest in the development of the continent. Most of the landmark projects made in the agenda 2063 are far from being executed.
- Missed Economic Development opportunities
First, Loss of political trust and lack of economic development opportunities constitute two of the African Union’s weakest points today. For instance, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and its five core principles, while some progress has been made, face big challenges to realize its aims to the fullest. The Partnership has done little to solve the poor governance issue in Africa. Most of its funding received from the African Union originates from international development partners, including the European Union and the United States of America.
Kenyan and Pan-Africa Director of Oxfam, Irungu Houghton, said: “African politics is characterized by broken promises. There is a vast gap between the words of our leaders and the reality of our citizens, and we hope holding governments accountable can be the tipping point to bring real change. Huge sums of money are being spent on the AU Summits, but it may as well be thrown into the Nile if the only outcome is more empty rhetoric that is never turned into action.”
Director of Mozambique’s Civil Society Learning and Capacity-building Centre, Paula Monjane, said: “Africa’s potential is enormous. Several of the world’s fastest-growing economies will be African. What matters is how this increasing wealth is invested – will AU leaders spend it on making the rich elite even richer, or on delivering real development for all of their citizens.”
- AU being disconnected from realities in Africa
The lack of adaption to the realities facing young people on the African continent is one example of broken trust promises. Africa is the world’s youngest continent, with 70 percent of its people under the age of 30, yet African Union leaders are failing to realize this potential. The African Union bears some responsibility for the failure to meet youth economic development and employment opportunity targets.
According to many leaders, young people want the African Union to chart a new course for their governments to create opportunities for them. They want the African Union to be a development force rather than become an instrument for control and domination.
AU dependency on external donors
The African Union does not have any economic sovereignty when nearly 65 percent of its operating budget comes from external contributions. Despite the very effective presidency of Paul Kagame, which improved the Union’s financial autonomy in 2016, the AU still needs the means for its economic sovereignty as it is still too dependent on foreign subsidies: In 2021, 65 percent of the AU’s 650-million-dollar budget was funded by international contributors.
One consequence of the African Union receiving much of its budget abroad is the hyper-globalization of its decisions and agendas. The African Union can be pressured by international funders to neoliberal market policies, even if they do not align with the desires of its member states. These pressures can destabilize policies in African countries, which can lead to problem cycles that destabilize long-term national economic development agendas.
The future
It is, above all, for the good of all Africans that the African Union must respond to its current political trust challenges. The AU has a historical responsibility to foster a community of African nations coming together in a shared voice, as dreamed by Nkrumah and fellow Pan-African leaders.
First, the African Union needs to finance its operations. There is an urgent need to achieve budgetary sovereignty for the AU so that it can make its own choices freely. Otherwise, it will never be able to independently demand the seats Africans covet in the G20 or the UN Security Council . From a regional governance standpoint, it will be far worse if the African Union continues to free-ride on external donation policies and does not do much to address this critical issue. Creating such financial autonomy would require a concerted effort from all 55 member states and real development partners. Addressing this major challenge also depends on a continental rupture with certain economic interests with foreign powers.
Second, the African Union needs to move nations with a sense of urgency in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area to boost economic value on the continent. While there is commendable progress so far in the implementation of the AfCFTA, with a significant number of countries signing and ratifying the AfCFTA, most African countries do not trade under the AfCFTA because they fear losing their sovereignty.
Conclusion
The pace of change that the African Union faces today has moved into overdrive. Its current leaders must be prepared to adapt to continuous regional and global political disruptions and to lead the African people in new and innovative ways. By overcoming existing challenges and embracing the opportunities presented by the 21st century, the African Union can work towards a more prosperous and inclusive future for all Africans.
While inroads have been made in identifying the sources of political trust in the African Union, evidence about how it will solve the problems remains unclear and uncertain for millions of young African leaders.
Again, the pan-continental body, which has 55 member countries, must fight for political trust in 2025 and 2026.
About The Author
Jean Narcisse Djaha, Ph.D., is the Founding President and Chairman of the African Council on Foreign Relations. He is guided by Romans 8:30” And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified”.
