African Union lacks public support for continental integration - Afrobarometer Survey

New survey results published by Afrobarometer Wednesday show a lack of faith in the African Union (AU) and a limited public support for continental integration.

The survey released to coincide with African Union day which is being marked with holidays across the continent show that most Africans will father prefer hold on to their national sovereignties instead of yielding to the AU.

Although it shows limited public support for integration, it also sees wide variations by country and region. On average across 36 countries, a majority of Africans favour free cross-border movement of people and goods, but this is not the majority view in 15 of those countries.

Meanwhile, only one in four citizens say it’s easy to cross international borders. When asked to choose between respecting national sovereignty versus a regional role for states in protecting free elections and human rights in neighbouring countries, most Africans emphasize national sovereignty.

Also, the survey found that while a majority of Africans consider the AU and regional economic communities at least “a little bit” helpful to their countries, this is not the case in all countries, and about three in 10 citizens don’t know enough about these organisations to have an opinion.

On Ghana the survey asked if there is support for free movement across borders. Ghana was second bottom on that list.

Ghana is one of the countries on the continent where there is least support for cross-border movement with only 57 percent support.

Ghana is only better than Cape Verde which scored last with just 43 percent. The country in West Africa with the most support for free movement across borders is Burkina Faso.

Only one in four citizens (26%) say it is “easy” or “very easy” to cross international borders to work or trade in other countries. Central and West African countries are most likely to describe crossing borders as “difficult” or “very difficult.”

Only one-third (34%) of respondents agree that governments should help guarantee free elections and human rights in neighbouring countries, while 58% instead emphasize the need to respect national sovereignty.

One of the most interesting findings is the answers to how much respondents know about AU.

The survey found that many citizens still know little about what the AU and what it is exactly doing: about three in 10 citizens say they don’t know enough about the AU (30%) or their respective Regional Economic activities (28%) to assess their helpfulness.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected]