Pan Africanism Needs be Praised, Enhanced to Bring Inclusive Solutions for the Continent: Researcher
Pan Africanism needs be praised and enhanced to bring inclusive solutions for the continent, an independent Pan African researcher said.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Mahelt Ayele, an independent researcher who resides in Netherlands, said even if there are some works to do Pan Africanism has been contributing in bringing solutions to African nations when faced with challenges imposed by previous colonial masters or the West.
According to her, it is important to have one voice as Africa.
If we see it from the Pan African perspective, the unity of Africans during the recent meeting of the Human Right Council to adopt the resolution extending the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) was successful.
” It was a victory for us. It was a resolution that was really rejected by all African members, except one country which abstained. They teamed up to say ‘no’ and the majority abstained. So, we have a victory. It really matters for Pan Africanism. This is the way to bring a solution to our problems as a country and continent.”
She further explained that our ancestors, including Emperor Haile Selassie and Kwame Nkrumah as well as other Pan African leaders established the Organization of African Unity. Their ultimate goal was to have political and economic unity, even if their priority was to first free the continent from colonial powers.
The researcher also expressed her observation that East African leaders, including President William Ruto and others, have called for unity in the region. “So the idea is there, the will is there; even if the process is gradual process and not something that can be done overnight.”
Mahelt recommended that Africans bring about economic integration, mentioning Ethiopia’s electric power selling to its neighboring countries, which is part of the gradual process that leads to the ultimate goal that Africans are looking for.
Similarly, Kenya’s Safari.com has entered the Ethiopia market; and these are good examples, she noted, adding that unless we celebrate such gradual processes, gradual steps we might not see that ultimate goal.
According to the researcher, Ethiopia has been a political experiment country in the last two years, paying sacrifice to be a model for Africa in putting the precedent and the right thing as bold guidelines for African countries.
If anyone should be involved in the conflict in Ethiopia and other issues, it is the African Union, Mahelt stressed, noting that no non-African state or entity should be involved.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency