The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de l'Unité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. It was disbanded July 9, 2002 by its last chairman, South African Thabo Mbeki and replaced by the African Union.

Its intended purpose was to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States and act as a collective voice for the continent. It was also dedicated to the eradication of colonialism and established a Liberation Committee to aid independence movements.

Its headquarters were established at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the invitation of its emperor, Haile Selassie I. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states, among them members of the Casablanca Group, founded in 1961 and composed of "progressive states". At the time of its disbanding, 53 out of the 54 countries in Africa were members; Morocco left in November 12, 1984 following the admission of Western Sahara in 1982.

Though widely derided as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power, Ghanaian United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan praised the OAU for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it "The Dictators Club".

Autonomous specialised agencies working under the auspices of the OAU were:

• Pan-African Telecommunications Union (PATU)
• Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU)
• Pan-African News Agency (PANA)
• Union of African National Television and Radio Organisations (URTNA)
• Union of African Railways (UAR)
• Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU)
• Supreme Council for Sports in Africa

List of Secretaries-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and African Union (AU) Chairmen of the Commission

List of Chairmen of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) & African Union (AU)

OAU Summits

• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 22-25 May 1961.
• Cairo(Egypt) : 17-21 July 1964.
• Accra (Ghana) : 21-26 October 1965.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 5-9 November 1966.
• Kinshasa(Democratic Republic of the Congo,formerly Zaire) : 11-14 September 1967.
• Algiers(Algeria) : 13-16 September 1968.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 6-10 September 1969.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 1-3 September 1970.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 21-23 June 1971.
• Rabat(Morocco) : 12-15 June 1972.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 27-28 May 1973.
• Kampala(Uganda) : 28 July. - 1 August 1975.
• Port Louis(Mauritius) : 2-6 July 1976.
• Libreville(Gabon) : 2-5 July 1977.
• Khartoum(Sudan) : 18-22 July 1978.
• Monrovia(Liberia) : 17-20 July 1979.
• Freetown(Sierra Leone) : 1-4 July 1980.
• Nairobi(Kenya) : 24-27 June.1981.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 6-12 June 1983.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 12-15 November 1984.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 18-20 July 1985.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 28-30 July 1986.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 27-29 July.1987.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia), Extraordinary Summit : Oct. 1987 .
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 25-28 May 1988.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 24-26 July 1989.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 9-11 July 1990.
• Abuja(Nigeria) : 3-5 July 1991.
• Dakar(Senegal) : 29 June. - 1 July 1992.
• Cairo(Egypt) : 28-30 June 1993.
• Tunis(Tunisia) : 13-15 June 1994.
• Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 26-28 June 1995.
• Yaoundé(Cameroon) : 8-10 June 1996.
• Harare(Zimbabwe) : 2-4 June 1997.
• Ouagadougou(Burkina Faso) : 8-10 June 1998.
• Algiers(Algeria) : 12-14 July 1999.
• Sirt(Libya), Extraordinary Summit : 6-9 September 1999.
• Lomé(Togo) : 10-12 July 2000.
• Lusaka(Zambia) : 9-11 July 2001, It is the last summit of OAU.

OAU members by date of admission (53 states)

• 25 May 1963 :

Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Léopoldville)1966-71 and from 1997 Congo (Kinshasa); 1971-97 Zaire., DahomeyFrom 1975 Benin., Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory CoastFrom 1985 Côte d'Ivoire., Liberia, Libya, MadagascarSuspended Dec 2001 - 10 July 2003., Mali, MauritaniaSuspended 4 August 2005., MoroccoWithdrew 12 November 1984., Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Sudan, TanganyikaTanganyika and Zanzibar merged 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which was renamed Tanzania 1 November 1964., TogoSuspended from 25 February 2005., Tunisia, Uganda, Upper Volta From 1984 Burkina Faso., Zanzibar.

• 13 December 1963 :

Kenya

• 13 July 1964 :

Malawi

• 16 December 1964 :

Zambia

• Oct 1965 :

The Gambia

• 31 October 1966 :

Botswana, Lesotho

• Aug 1968 :

Mauritius

• 24 September 1968 :

Swaziland

• 12 October 1968 :

Equatorial Guinea

• 19 November 1973 :

Guinea-Bissau

• 11 February 1975 :

Angola

• 18 July 1975 :

Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe

• 29 June 1976 :

Seychelles

• 27 June 1977 :

Djibouti

• Jun 1980 :

Zimbabwe

• 22 February 1982 :

Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)

• Jun 1990 :

Namibia

• 24 May 1993 :

Eritrea

• 6 June 1994 :

South Africa

Notes

References

• "OAU After Twenty Years"; Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0030624738; (May 1984)
• "Africa's First Peacekeeping Operation: The OAU in Chad, 1981-1982" by Terry M. Mays, Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0275976068; (April 30 2002)
• "African Exodus: Refugee Crisis, Human Rights, & the 1969 OAU Convention" by Chaloka Beyani, Chris Stringer, Pub. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; ISBN 0934143730; (July 1995)
• Report on the Rwandan Genocide in 2000.

See also

• Casablanca Group
• Pan-Africanism

African politics | 1963 establishments

Organizace africké jednoty | Organisation für Afrikanische Einheit | Organización para la Unidad Africana | Organizaĵo por Afrika Unueco | Organisation de l'unité africaine | ארגון אחדות אפריקה | Organisatie van Afrikaanse Eenheid | Organisasjonen for afrikansk enhet | Organizacja Jedności Afrykańskiej | Organização da Unidade Africana | Afrikan yhtenäisyysjärjestö | OAU | Afrika Birliği Örgütü | 非洲统一组织