Some Reflections of Muammar Kaddafi on the Necessity of Unifying Africa

“…he becomes more of a Yankee than the Yankees themselves.” Muammar Kaddafi

“…We should have a link between the African motherland and the states of your Diaspora. There must be a united foreign policy, a united economy and a united defense, which would lead in the final analysis to a united negotiating position. President Abdullah Wade [Senegal] told you the other day that when foreign companies came to attempt oil exploration in the Senegal, they said: “we will explore for oil provided the company gets 85% and Senegal gets 10 or 15%.” So he told them: “No, if this is the case, let the oil remain underground for posterity which will be in a better position to negotiate the reverse, so that Senegal would get 80% and the company would get 15 or 20%.”

This is a sound correct position. This had been the situation in Libya before the revolution and was reversed afterwards. But the problem is that each African state separately does not have a strong negotiating position.

What is the power of Libya, Senegal, Gambia, Malawi or Burundi, for example , before the American colossus , the European colossus, Japan, China, Spain, the Commonwealth of Independent States that were part of the former Soviet Union or the states of the Pacific Rim. What is our negotiating power before those giants? We will have no prospects except through a strong negotiating position, which can only come about if Africa has one foreign minister, and one minister of foreign trade. This would even unite the customs so that the same tariff is levied on a commodity whether it enters South Africa or Libya…

When there is one foreign ministry, you can be contacted abroad through one tool. Also, a single African defense is a necessity. All of these are interconnected; the economy, the foreign trade, foreign policy and defense. I hope that your conference will adopt measures in support of these ideas, and that you will bring continuous pressure to bear on the governments of the states members of the African Union until they establish a single African foreign ministry, a single African foreign trade ministry and a single African defense.

Naturally, when the African Union was established I proposed the establishment of an African Congress. This was in fact an extension of the African National Congress. This was the name of the organization created in most African countries during the liberation stage, and, under this rubric many African countries achieved liberation…

From these historical designations, I took the name of the African Congress, so that it would be like the American Congress. It would have the power to promulgate laws, so that the power would revert to the African Nation, the African People, to the ordinary African citizen member of congress. Unfortunately, they established an advisory African Parliament without any powers. I hope it will develop into a real African Congress. Why should we be afraid of the authority of the African Congress?

You in the Diaspora may have good prospects. One or several of you may occupy important positions in the USA, Latin America, Central America or Europe. However, I notice that when a black person attains an important post, he fails to meet our expectations, and exaggerates his embrace of European culture or American culture to the point that he becomes more of a Yankee than the Yankees themselves. In other words, he becomes more royalist than the king. …”