Rapport de la Conference Dynamique de prise de Decisions en Afrique

This report details a conference held in Pretoria in November 2010 focused on the dynamics of decision-making within African continental and regional organizations. It analyzes the interactions between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU), the challenges of regional economic integration through Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the complexities of establishing common African positions on global issues like climate change and security.

• The African Union (AU) operates primarily as an intergovernmental organization focused on reinforcing state sovereignty, lacking a supranational decision-making authority comparable to that of the European Union. Its key decision-making bodies include the Assembly of Heads of State and Government (UA-AHSG) and the Executive Council of Foreign Ministers, with the AU Commission serving mainly as a secretariat.
• Establishing a common African position is a complex process influenced by national interests, the personalities of leaders, linguistic sensitivities (Anglophone vs. Francophone), and geopolitical dynamics. These positions are not legally binding, meaning individual states may change their stance over time, which can undermine the collective position.
• The 2009 Copenhagen climate change negotiations illustrated the fragility of common African positions. Internal divisions were evident, such as the conflict between Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi and Sudan's Lumumba Di-Aping, which was driven by regional disputes over the Nile Basin and the independence of South Sudan rather than just climate policy.
• EU-Africa relations are characterized by a tension between the EU's desire to use the AU as a single interface and the reality of Africa's diversity. While the EU provides significant financial support—approximately 20 billion euros annually for issues addressed by the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)—the partnership is hindered by a lack of equal representation, as the AU lacks a Permanent Representative to the EU.
• Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are highly controversial and have been criticized for ignoring regional dynamics and the limited negotiating capacity of Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Some observers suggest the EU employed a 'divide and rule' strategy by negotiating with regions separately, which failed to improve regional integration and sometimes undermined it.
• Regional Economic Communities (RECs) face a conflict between supranationalism and national interests, with states hesitant to transfer sovereignty. Their secretariats often suffer from 'bureaucratic capture,' where they pursue their own agendas rather than those of the member states, and they are overly dependent on external funding for strategic issues like security.
• In the Horn of Africa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has struggled to resolve crises in Somalia and the Ethiopia-Eritrea border conflict due to inter-state rivalries. Peacekeeping missions in Somalia were criticized for having weak mandates and being driven by financial and political promises from the US and UN rather than a realistic regional strategy.
• To improve decision-making and counter external pressures, the conference proposed the creation of an 'African G'—an informal, flexible group of influential African states with similar views and capacities to build consensus, moving away from the strict geographical membership of the AU and RECs.

APA

Hoste, J.-C., & Anderson, A. (2011). Rapport de la Conference Dynamique de prise de Decisions en Afrique. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/DynamicsDecisionAfricaF.pdf

Chicago

Hoste, Jean-Christophe, and Andrew Anderson. Rapport de la Conference Dynamique de prise de Decisions en Afrique. Institute for Security Studies, 2011. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/DynamicsDecisionAfricaF.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoste |first1=Jean-Christophe |last2=Anderson |first2=Andrew |title=Rapport de la Conference Dynamique de prise de Decisions en Afrique |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2011 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/DynamicsDecisionAfricaF.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoste2011rapport, author = {Hoste, Jean-Christophe and Anderson, Andrew}, title = {{Rapport de la Conference Dynamique de prise de Decisions en Afrique}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2011}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/DynamicsDecisionAfricaF.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }