# The United States of Africa **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298 "2022-09-09T21:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/1 "2022-09-09T21:41:48Z")
To anyone’s knowledge has this ever been discussed by African nations in a serious way? I see Africa as a potential hotspot for world Peace in the not so distant future. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/2 "2022-09-09T21:55:33Z")
The [African Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union) (successor to the Organization of African Unity) is a pan-African regional organization composed of African states and dedicated to, “greater unity, cohesion and solidarity between the African countries and African nations.” It’s not anything like a federal government – African nations remain individually sovereign. But it’s not just an empty debating society, peacekeeping troops have been deployed under the authority of the AU. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/3 "2022-09-09T22:09:35Z")
It looks like Gaddafi was trying to push for it: > **[United States of Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Africa)** > > The United States of Africa is a hypothetical concept of a federation of some or all of the 54 sovereign states and two disputed states on the continent of Africa. The concept takes its origin from Marcus Garvey's 1924 poem "Hail, United States of Africa". > The idea of a multinational unifying African state has been compared to various medieval African empires, including the Ethiopian Empire, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, the Benin Empire, the Kanem Empire, the Ethiopian ... There are various multi-state organizations in Africa, any of which could help to lead the way on it: > **[African Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union)** > > The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The intention of the AU was to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signat... > **[East African Community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Community)** > > The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republics of Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. Évariste Ndayishimiye, the president of Burundi, is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7 July 2000. > In 2008, after negotiations with the Southern African... > **[East African Federation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Federation)** > > The East African Federation (Swahili: Shirikisho la Afrika Mashariki) is a proposed political union of the seven sovereign states of the East African Community in the African Great Lakes region  – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – as a single federated sovereign state. The idea of this Federation has existed since the early 1960s, but has not yet come to fruition for a variety of reasons. In September 2018, a committee was fo While... > **[Conseil de l'Entente](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conseil_de_l%27Entente)** > > The Conseil de l'Entente ("Council of Accord" or "Council of Understanding") is a West African regional co-operation forum established in May 1959 by Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and Dahomey (now Benin), and joined in 1966 by Togo. > The body grew out of the short-lived Sahel-Benin Union, which was itself created by the four original Council members as a partial successor to the dissolved French regional colonial federation of French West Africa. > Since 1966, the Council ha... > **[Organisation of African Trade Union Unity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_African_Trade_Union_Unity)** > > The Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) (French: Organisation de L'Unité Syndicale Africaine; OUSA) is an independent regional union federation aimed at unifying trade union centres in Africa. This organisation was founded in April, 1973 as a successor to two previously competing labour union organisations in Africa: the All-African Trade Union Federation (AATUF) and the African Trade Union Confederation (ATUC). The process to unify a Pan-African labour union organisation also invol... > **[Popular and Social League of the Great Sahara Tribes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_and_Social_League_of_the_Great_Sahara_Tribes)** > > The Popular and Social League of the Great Sahara Tribes is a movement comprising traditional and religious leaders from 21 African and Asian countries (such as Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Mali, Eritrea, Chad, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, and Mauritania). It was launched in 2006 in Timbuktu under the aegis of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. > In 2011, the society called for preservation of social ties with its neighboring countries. My sense would be that a full-Africa nation is pretty far off. Before that point (and based on the existing groups), you would be more likely to see a federation of the North African / Islamic countries, a Western African group, and a Central South-East group. Ethiopia and South Africa would probably sit it out as fairly well-established nations in their own right. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/4 "2022-09-09T22:28:27Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Ethiopia and South Africa would probably sit it out as fairly well-established nations in their own right. My feeling, as a South African, is that closer integration towards some kind of federation of SA, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho might be possible. Those countries have close historical connections, similar legal systems, and in many cases common languages. Already there is a common customs union/free-trade area. > **[Southern African Customs Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_African_Customs_Union)** > > The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910. > The SACU is the oldest existing customs union in the world. > The first customs union in the area was established in 1889 between the British Cape Colony and the Boer republic of the Orange Free State. In 1891 British Bechuanaland and Basutoland joined, foll... Which is not to say that there is any major movement currently towards federation, though work is being done on reducing border bureaucracy and things like that. I don’t think a broader African federation is conceivable until there are better transport links and closer economic integration between the regions of Africa. Southern and Eastern African are relatively well-connected, but links between East and West Africa, and with North Africa, are quite tenuous. Even by air, often the easiest way to travel from one region to another goes via Paris, London or Dubai. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/5 "2022-09-09T22:30:54Z")
Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/6 "2022-09-10T08:55:28Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > To anyone’s knowledge has this ever been discussed by African nations in a serious way? No. It makes exactly zero sense. Africa is huge. [“Africa is bigger than China, India, the contiguous U.S. and most of Europe—combined !”](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/africa-is-way-bigger-than-you-think/) And _very_ diverse - my own single country has 11 official languages and many more unofficial ones. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It looks like Gaddafi was trying to push for it Qaddafi wanted a united Africa for selfish reasons, but no-one really took him _seriously_. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I see Africa as a potential hotspot for world Peace in the not so distant future. What does this mean? African conflicts rarely have a global effect (kind of like South America in that way). It’s the European and Asian conflicts that do. > [@ctnguy](#): > > Southern and Eastern African are relatively well-connected South-West Africa as well, nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/7 "2022-09-10T14:24:24Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Africa is huge. [“Africa is bigger than China, India, the contiguous U.S. and most of Europe—combined !”](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/africa-is-way-bigger-than-you-think/) And _very_ diverse - my own single country has 11 official languages and many more unofficial ones. Right, it’s three times the size and four times the population of the US, and we are in the middle of wanting to break _our_ country up. Certainly alliances and federations and such can and have been formed, but a federalized government over the whole continent? I don’t think that would be wise or wieldy. Most of the problems in Africa were caused by people coming in and drawing arbitrary lines and saying, “You live together in this country now, and will now be able to impose laws on eachother, even though you are ethnically, culturally, and religiously completely seperate people.” I fail to see how imposing such a policy on a larger scale would have beneficial results. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/8 "2022-09-10T15:24:32Z")
They probably need to decide on a new language. French is common in many areas. Arabic is common in many areas. English and Dutch might be common in some areas. Though, it might be best to construct a new language, so everyone gets shafted equally, no one has the advantage, and you’re not building in a reliance on some external power. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/9 "2022-09-10T15:28:07Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > it might be best to construct a new language, so everyone gets shafted equally, no one has the advantage, and you’re not building in a reliance on some external power. > **[Standards](https://xkcd.com/927/)** > > Fortunately, the charging one has been solved now that we've all standardized on mini-USB. Or is it micro-USB? Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/10 "2022-09-10T16:06:43Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > They probably need to decide on a new language. > > French is common in many areas. Arabic is common in many areas. English and Dutch might be common in some areas. > > Though, it might be best to construct a new language, so everyone gets shafted equally, no one has the advantage, and you’re not building in a reliance on some external power. What about Swahili? And to the OP, what’s a “hotspot of world peace”? A place where peace might break out suddenly? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/11 "2022-09-10T16:29:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the OP, what’s a “hotspot of world peace”? A place where peace might break out suddenly? Just increasing tension over competition for the resources ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/12 "2022-09-10T16:47:52Z")
It seems what the OP means by “world peace”: Not that it would help bring about peace, but only that it’s situated within a wary tension of competing international interests where war isn’t currently being fought. Is that right? There’s [Afrihili](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrihili). However, it privileges the Niger-Congo family. OK, the majority of Africans speak Niger-Congo languages. Afrihili was constructed by an Akan scholar from West Africa, based on Akan and Swahili, the lingua franca of East Africa. That’s like Esperanto being a world language drawn almost entirely from Latin and English. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/13 "2022-09-10T17:21:22Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Just increasing tension over competition for the resources I thought that was Europe and Russia. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/14 "2022-09-10T19:06:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What about Swahili? Same reason why Hindi hasn’t displaced English in India; it would privilege one ethnic group above others, meanwhile everyone dislikes the colonizers so using their language is neutral. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-of-africa/971298/15 "2022-09-11T02:02:04Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Same reason why Hindi hasn’t displaced English in India; it would privilege one ethnic group above others, meanwhile everyone dislikes the colonizers so using their language is neutral. English language was systematically imposed on India (and China, and Singapore, and Thailand …) by the British. It was made the language of higher education. > **[Macaulayism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaulayism)** > > Macaulayism refers to the policy of introducing the English education system to British colonies. The term is derived from the name of British politician Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859), who served on the Governor-General's Council and was instrumental in making English the medium of instruction for higher education in India. > Thomas Babington Macaulay was born in Leicestershire, England, on 25 October 1800, the son of Reverend Zachary Macaulay, a member of the Clapham Sect, former gover... This came right after the first war of Independence that Indians fought in 1857. The teaching of English was a “civilizing mission” by the British. Thanks to my forefathers, that they were able to hold on to Indian languages and culture in face of British colonialism. India today has many languages with histories going back 1000s of years. Indian cultures have their own rich and ancient cuisines, music, clothing, jewelry, poetry, literature and languages. English is just one of the languages - and its importance in India is getting less and less every day. The use of Hindi is growing back in India 🙂[Hindi might not be the national language – but it is growing rapidly across India](https://scroll.in/article/973410/hindi-might-not-be-the-national-language-but-it-is-growing-rapidly-across-india#:~:text=Among%20the%2010%20largest%20languages,%25%20to%2044%25%20of%20India). In the long run, India will have many languages side by side. English will surely be one, but other languages will also be learnt as needed. Hindi will surely gain more acceptance as shown in the link above.