Demographics
From these origins, and as a result of the more recent colonialism, Africa has today developed into a continent of 55 independent countries, with a population of 1 billion. The proposed federation would have the largest total territory of any state, exceeding the Russian Federation. It would also be the third most populous state after China and India, and with a population speaking an estimated 2,000 languages.[11]
Future development
Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2003
At the June 2007 meeting of the African Union, discussions centred upon Gaddafi's idea of a federation of African states.
In February 2009, upon being elected chairman of the 53-nation African Union in Ethiopia, Gaddafi told the assembled African leaders: "I shall continue to insist that our sovereign countries work to achieve the United States of Africa." The BBC reported that Gaddafi had proposed "a single African military force, a single currency and a single passport for Africans to move freely around the continent". Other African leaders stated they would study the proposal's implications, and rediscuss it in May 2009.[5]
While development remains in the early stages of planning, ambitious targets have been set. The focus so far has been on building subdivisions of Africa - the proposed East African Federation can be seen as an example of this. The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has indicated that the United States of Africa may exist from as early as 2017. The African Union, by contrast, has set itself the task of building a "united and integrated" Africa by 2025.[12] Gaddafi had also indicated that the proposed federation may extend as far west as the Caribbean: Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and other islands featuring a large African diaspora, may be invited to join.[13]
Of the African nations other than Libya, support for the "United States of Africa" has come from Eritrea, Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and tentatively from Cape Verde. Others, such as South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, have shown less interest in the idea.[1] Support appears for the most part to be inversely proportional to a nation's power and influence.[14] Smaller nations, especially ones with social instability or other issues, have much to gain from a strong federal government.[citation needed] It would, with the pooled resources of the entire continent, be able to deal with the issues affecting that nation.[citation needed] Stronger nations are generally not supportive of a central government that may be less effective than their own. Also, most of the resources would be supplied by the economically powerful nations, and used to fix the issues of the weaker nations. Because of that, the stronger nations have less motivation to support the United States of Africa.
Another issue is that the Arab peoples and nations of North Africa might prefer to join their fellow Arabs in a strengthened and federalized Arab Union rather than be united with the Black Africans of Sub-Saharan Africa.[citation needed]
Doubts have been raised about whether the goal of a unified Africa can ever be achieved while ongoing problems of conflict and poverty persist throughout the continent.[15] Gaddafi also received criticism for his involvement in the movement, and lack of support for the idea from among other African leaders.[16] A week before Gaddafi's death during the 2011 Libyan civil war, South African President Jacob Zuma expressed relief at the regime's downfall, complaining that Gaddafi had been "intimidating" many African heads of state in an effort to gain influence throughout the continent and suggesting that the African Union will function better without Gaddafi and his repeated proposals for a unitary African government.[17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Africa