Libyan Leader Urges Africans to Compete With Developed Countries

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Wednesday called on Africans to unite under the flag of the proposed African Union to compete with developed countries.

Addressing the closing session of the 36th summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Gaddafi said that only by unity with determination can Africans prevent a repeat of the miserable slavery during the past hundreds of years.

"Today is a glorious day when African people decide their own destiny," he told the jubilant audience in the Parliament Palace of Togo.

He stressed that the time has come for African states to unite as a nation to meet the challenges in the economic globalization. "Comparing with the developed countries, African states are too small to survive," he said. "We should unite into the Union to compete with the Europeans."

Gaddafi pointed out that many conflicts in the African continent rooted in the colonial rule by the Europeans over the past hundreds of years, but the bloodshed will come to an end when the African states unite into a union.

"The Europeans also fought each other for hundreds of years, but now they are all united in the European Union and their economies are developed," Gaddafi said.

He claimed that by forgiving the European enslavement, Africans can develop cooperative relations with the Europeans, because Europeans also need Africa which is a large market.

Gaddafi hailed the establishment of the African Union as a big historic event as it will be the second continental union after the European Union.

"Union is the tide as it can guarantee the free movement of people, goods and capitals," he said. "It is especially important in the time of space and digital technology. Latin America and Asia will also follow suit."

After three-day deliberations, African leaders at the summit signed the Draft Constitutive Act of the African Union.

The Act says that the African Union will be officially established until the OAU member states ratify the document which covers the establishment of a series of organs including the Assembly, the Executive Council and the Pan-African Parliament. The African Union will also establish a series of financial institutions including the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.

Founded on May 25, 1963, the OAU is designated to promote the unity and solidarity of the African states, defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of members, coordinate and intensify the cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa.

Following eradicating all forms of colonialism from Africa, the organization has been focused on peace and development and reversion of the growing marginalization of Africa in economic globalization.

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