The document outlines 7 ways the African Union (AU) can improve its external strategy and better project its role and importance. It suggests that the AU should: 1) partner with Ethiopian Airlines to promote the AU on flights and at airports; 2) require hotels in Addis Ababa to fly the AU flag; 3) establish information bureaus or diplomatic missions in key AU member states; 4) better utilize social media like Facebook to engage the public; 5) work to eliminate visa requirements for travel within Africa; 6) advocate for reducing airline fuel costs to make travel more affordable; and 7) modernize its websites and those of its institutions. The overall goal is for the AU to more effectively communicate its role and activities to

1. “The Accidental Ecowas & AU Citizen”:
Here are 7 Ways the African Union can Move
Away from its Egregious External Strategy
By E.K.Bensah Jr
Back in March, I had the priviledge of visiting the African Union, while in Addis for some capacitybuilding on peace and security of the AU, and I was pretty impressed with the tall building the Chinese
are
building
for
the
organisation.
Germany's GIZ is also building the AU's Peace and Security Department, and will be completed by 2012.
It ought to remind the world, then, that the AU has "arrived" in grand style on managing peace and
security.
What irked me, though, were my impressions when I landed in Addis eight days earlier. Given that I
want this to be a positive thing, let me offer solutions for the way forward:
First, the AU should have some Memorandum of Understanding between itself and Ethiopian Airlines
that would enable it showcase the AU to regular and first-time visitors in the plane. Alright, show your
movies, but have a twenty-minute video of what the AU is, what it does and where it will be in the
future! Instead, what you have is a fairly modern airport that does not give any impression that it is the
capital
of
African
diplomacy.
Secondly, the AU should arrange for every blessed hotel in Addis to host an AU flag. A quick drive
through Addis and you will be surprised at the city’s inability to convey that “Africanness” you feel when
you arrive in Brussels. From Zaventem airport to the heart of Brussels, where the institutions are, you
are likely to see more than hundred symbols depicting that Brussels is the diplomatic capital of Europe!
While flags are not the end-all and be-all, they are certainly a step in reminding all and sundry that the
AU lives there!
Third, the AU should have information bureaus in every AU country. Failing that, it should have
diplomatic missions in “strategic” countries, such as Algeria; Nigeria; Ghana; Senegal. It would
admittedly be expensive to have an information bureau or mission in every country, so being selective
about the countries where they should be hosted would make sense. In Ghana, only the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has information about the AU, and if you can hold your head in disbelief for a second, it is
nothing more than a “desk”. Simply put, they are telling the world that ECOWAS and AU might be
important, but they are unwilling to spend resources to project the growing power of the AU. If we can
accept that the Cantonments-based “The Round House” is home to the EU in Ghana, why can we not
have a comparative mission in the AU in every AU member state? Does the AU not think this to be
important enough?
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2. Fourth, the AU is on New Media; it can be found on https://www.facebook.com/pages/AfricanUnion/454340075407 . Truth be told, the AU is now a bit more proactive on Facebook, but could still do
better. Despite the fact that it has some 2457 “likes”, it seems to have been overwhelmed by the
enormity of the “likes” to the extent that it has not yet managed to respond to one single criticism or
query on its apparent ineffectiveness. That said, I must give the AU benefit of the doubt when on 21
September last year, they run a campaign months earlier on http://www.makepeacehappen.net to raise
awareness of 21 September as AU and UN Peace Day, and to celebrate the launch of the AU’s Year of
Peace and Security. They have regrettably lost the momentum on that, and let the site atrophy without
regular updates.
Fifth, while it is not solely the work of the AU, it should be the frontline actor pushing to ensure that
citizens of AU member states travel to the home of the African Union visa-free! In Ghana, cost of a visa
is certainly not as prohibitive as that of an EU member state, but it is one cost too many. If we are to
accelerate continental unity – whether through the regional economic communities or otherwise – free
movement must be an imperative of the solution. If Europeans can travel freely to Brussels, why must
Africans have such difficulty traveling throughout the continent?
Which leads me to the sixth point: cost of airline tickets. The AU is a member of the Association of
African Airlines(AFRAA), which has for many years been campaigning for airline fuel costs to come down.
As recently as July this year, AFRAA initiated measures to tackle the high cost of Aviation Fuel(Jet
A1),which
is
a
major
operational
cost
item
in
the
industry.
The AFRAA secretariat has resolved to assist airlines meet with fuel marketers to reduce fuel costs in
conformity with stipulations in the AFRAA 2011 – 2013 Business Plan. The irony of it all is that the
Ethiopian Airlines I have mentioned above is one of those airlines, alongside Kenya Airways, that do not
want to be members of AFRAA.
Finally, the AU must get serious on re-vamping the websites of all its institutions, including those of any
AU delegations around the world. These should all be found on the main AU site. Up-and-coming
institutions like the African Monetary Fund; African Central Bank; and African Investment Bank ought by
now to have had websites—at least in beta form—to showcase their history and where they are going.
Without these, how are African citizens ever going to know about what the AU does, and how people
can help achieve their vision?
In 2009, in his capacity as a “Do More Talk Less Ambassador” of the 42 nd Generation—an NGO that promotes and discusses PanAfricanism--Emmanuel gave a series of lectures on the role of ECOWAS and the AU in facilitating a Pan-African identity. Emmanuel
owns "Critiquing Regionalism" (http://www.critiquing-regionalism.org). Established in 2004 as an initiative to respond to the dearth of
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3. knowledge on global regional integration initiatives worldwide, this non-profit blog features regional integration initiatives on
MERCOSUR/EU/Africa/Asia and many others. You can reach him on ekbensah@ekbensah.net / Mobile: 0268.687.653.
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