Seventh Pan-African Congress opens in Kampala

Mandela is released after 27 years in prison. His release followed decades of struggle by the ANC and other organizations, international anti-apartheid campaigns and negotiations; it did not itself...

Namibia gains independence after a long liberation struggle against South African rule and occupation. The outcome demonstrated the importance of armed resistance, international solidarity and...

Member states signed the Abuja Treaty, setting out a staged route toward an African Economic Community. It expressed economic integration as a condition for collective agency, while the timeline and...

The Pan Africanist Congress convened its third congress in Umtata during South Africa’s transition struggle. The meeting reflected the PAC’s attempt to renew its role amid negotiations, factional...

At Windhoek, leaders signed the declaration and treaty that transformed SADCC into the Southern African Development Community. The shift moved from coordination among majority-ruled states toward a...

Millions vote in South Africa’s first national election open to all races, ending formal apartheid rule. The achievement reflected mass resistance and international solidarity, while persistent...

OAU member states adopted a protocol to create a regional court for human-rights cases. It extended the institutional architecture built around the African Charter, while access to the court and...

OAU leaders adopted the Sirte Declaration, calling for an accelerated move toward a union and stronger continental institutions. The declaration revived integration ambitions, but debate continued...

African leaders sign the Constitutive Act in Lomé, creating the legal basis for the African Union. The Act renewed a Pan-African institutional project and expanded cooperation, while the tension...

The Constitutive Act entered into force after the required ratifications. This legal transition from OAU to AU strengthened continental ambitions around integration, peace and common institutions; the...