AFRICAN CITIZENSHIP AND THE AFRICAN UNION’S VISION OF AFRICANITY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Abstract

The main objective of the African Union (hereafter referred to as the AU) in the twenty-first century is influenced by the ideology of Africanity, a sense of recognition of Africa's “Africanness”. This main objective, which includes creating an African-citizenship-based continent by the year 2063, is considered a means of achieving a prosperous and united African continent. The rationale for African citizenship is to establish a situation in which all Africans have comparable rights and privileges across all AU member states. Meanwhile, member states' rigid adherence to sovereignty prevents the continent from achieving its goal of shared citizenship. Non-citizens are denied the privileges and rights of citizenship under the various national laws that define who a citizen is. The study thus seeks to examine the AU's role in establishing a common African citizenship and the impact of such roles on achieving Africanness in the twenty-first century, considering the challenge of creating a common African citizenship. The study will use textual analysis of secondary data to achieve this goal.