Two days from today, Africans at home and abroad will mark the sixty- second anniversary of Africa Day, which commemorates the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), once dismissed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni as a trade union for dictators. That, of course, was before the intoxication of State power turned him into what one wordsmith has dubbed a cling-leader, having been at the helm since 1986.

Granted, the OAU and its successor, the African Union (AU), have not always covered themselves in glory. The former was often criticised for failing to hold rogue leaders accountable, a shortcoming exemplified by Museveni’s early denunciation before the trappings of high office transformed him. The AU, too, has not always been forceful enough in confronting soldiers who seize power or elected leaders who morph into nasty autocrats.

But it can’t be denied that the organisations have done the continent a world of good. Let’s start with the OAU, whose secretaries- general included Tanzania’s distinguished Salim Ahmed Salim, who served from 1989 to 2001 and missed out on being President of his country because of a delicate balance of power between the Tanzanian mainland and the island of Zanzibar.

One of the OAU’s key aims was complete independence of Africa. At the organisation’s formation, only 32 of the 55 nations on the continent had gained independence. A quick clarification here: Africa is sometimes said to have 54 countries, and at other times 55. The discrepancy arises because bodies such as the AU – like the OAU before it – recognise Western Sahara as a country, while the UN does not, classifying it as a “nondecolonised territory”.

In its quest to ensure all of Africa gained independence, the OAU, through its Tanzania-based Liberation Committee, played a vital role in mobilising financial and material support for the armed struggles that led to the end of colonial rule in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The main contributors to the Liberation Committee were the then Soviet Union, China, Cuba and several countries in Eastern Europe. Assistance also came from the Scandinavian countries, multiple movements from across the world and individuals.

And no account of South Africa’s struggle for democracy is complete without mentioning the OAU’s role. Beyond providing military training and other forms of military assistance to the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress, the OAU was pivotal in persuading many countries on the continent to impose trade and diplomatic embargoes on the apartheid government to nudge it towards full democracy.

The few outliers that remained buddy-buddy with Pretoria included Malawi and CÔte d’Ivoire, which completely ignored the continental body’s call. The others – Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana – were constrained by their economic dependence on, and military vulnerability to, South Africa.

These are some of the many successes of the OAU.

As the AU, the continental body has continued to play a significant role in conflict resolution, often working with the international community. This has included deploying peacekeeping forces in several hotspots – including Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan – and helping to mediate post-election crises in countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya.

The AU has also been instrumental in combating terrorism, notably in Somalia, where it has had three missions over the past two decades. The latest, the AU Support and Stabilisation Mission, was launched in January and aims to support Somalia’s transition to full national security ownership.

On the economic front, one of the AU’s standout achievements has been the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which came into force in 2019. As of this month, 48 of the 54 signatory countries have ratified it.

By creating a single market for goods and services where trade barriers are virtually eliminated, this initiative has the potential to grow Africa’s contribution to global GDP above its current 2% to 3% and to lift millions of Africans out of extreme poverty.

Museveni may once have derided the OAU as a trade union for dictators – in a moment of frustration as he fought to overthrow a tyrannical government in his country – but its achievements, and those of the AU, cannot be dismissed.

So, happy Africa Day in advance!