When is african union 50th anniversary

African leaders on Saturday opened extravagant celebrations for the 50th jubilee of the continental bloc, with Africa's myriad problems set aside for a day to mark the progress that has been made. African Union Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn told leaders as he opened the celebrations they should seek to "create a continent free from poverty and conflict, and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status.

Today's member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity OAU , established amid the heady days as independence from colonial rule swept the continent in But while speaking optimistically about "the bright future of Africa", she also noted that "the self-reliance and economic independence that our founders spoke of remains a bit elusive and social inequalities remain.

But Hailemariam singled out Beijing, expressing his "deepest appreciation to China for investing billions Saturday's celebrations will be followed by a two-day AU summit meeting, to tackle the range of crises the continent faces. Mass dancing troupes are set to perform musical dramas later Saturday to some 10, guests in a giant hall in the Ethiopian capital, choreographed by the same team who organised the lavish opening and closing ceremonies of the World Cup and this year's Africa Cup of Nations.

Here is a timeline of of the development of the African Union and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity. AU Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn opened the ceremony with a speech, saying the event marked the bloc's commitment to creating "a continent free from poverty and conflict and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status.

The Organization of African Unity was established in with 30 members. It became the AU in , and now consists of 54 members - every African nation with the exception of Morocco, which opted out to due the Western Sahara conflict. Western Sahara - fighting for independence from Morocco - is a member of the AU, however.

Around 10, guests are expected at an event in a massive hall in Addis Ababa later on Saturday, which is to include several large dance troupes. While the AU is keenly aware of the problems that continue to face nations in Africa — including civil conflicts, extreme poverty, human rights violations, and infrastructure challenges — the 50th anniversary celebrations are designed to showcase the progress that has been achieved and what is in store for the future.

The OAU: Fifty years on. Profile: African Union. Image source, Reuters. Peace and prosperity. Distant dream. View comments.

The rise of the South, from Asia, the Gulf, and Latin America now makes for a multipolar economic world. And, since , Africa has joined that momentum. Second, there is unfortunately a very large flux in the global governance organs and institutions with global mandates — supposed to provide multilateral solutions, say, on trade or climate — are constrained by global politics. That means for the solutions Africa needs to trade her way out of poverty or deal with climate change, have to be largely internal.

I will come to this in a minute. Africa entered the new Millennium in with confidence. With the exception of countries at war, or emerging from war, economic performance has remained very strong.

Today it is 2. The world is slowly abandoning that sometimes patronising view of Africa. Our continent now offers the highest risk-adjusted return on investment. And our economic managers are doing a reasonably good job navigating the difficult global economic slowdown.

Even on human development indicators, such as infant mortality, the outcomes continue to be encouraging. At this moment the global economy still shows no signs of recovery. Some regions are in recession. For now, the emerging markets are underpinning the world economy. But, as their markets for exports to Europe mainly shrink, they are looking at stimulating domestic demand. China, in particular, is pulling out the stops to stimulate the internal consumption.

Africa, too, cannot do otherwise, unlocking domestic demand; this market of a billion people must be a primary objective. As we look to the next half a century, I cannot imagine a more important agenda for Africa than that of unlocking its internal market. That is what will enable the economies of scale for some of the large infrastructure projects Africa needs. Lest I am asked whether I am painting too rosy a picture, let me say clearly that from whatever angle you look at it, Africa still faces myriads of problems — the journey is long.

In some countries, absolute poverty is not declining fast enough. Millions of our youth are entering the labour market each year, 14 million to be exact, and cannot find decent jobs.