Colonial Borders, Neocolonialism, and the Legacy of Decolonization

The Organization of African Unity was founded on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 independent states signing its charter, following a debate in which Kwame Nkrumah's call for immediate, maximalist continental political unity ultimately gave way to a more gradualist approach favored by Ethiopia, Nigeria, and most Francophone states. The organization established the principle of respecting colonially inherited borders in order to avoid a spiral of territorial conflicts, adopted the eradication of remaining colonialism and the fight against South African apartheid as central objectives, and was eventually replaced in 2002 by the African Union, with an expanded institutional structure and greater capacity for intervention.