Addis Ababa, May 25, 2022 (Walta) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made public the country’s commitment to continental integration of Africa in his congratulatory message for the African Day.
“On this Africa Day, we reaffirm the vision of continental unity and the commitment of our ancestors’ towards a peaceful, integrated and prosperous future,” said the Prime Minister in a Twitter post.
Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa on 25 May 1963.
The organization was transformed into the African Union on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, but the holiday continues to be celebrated on 25 May.
The First Congress of Independent African States was held in Accra, Ghana on 15 April 1958 the present leaders from Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Cameroon.
The conference showcased the progress of liberation movements across the African continent in addition to symbolizing the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from the shackles of foreign domination and exploitation.
Although the Pan-African Congress had been working towards similar goals since its foundation in 1900, this was the first time such a meeting had taken place on African soil.
The Conference called for the founding of an African Freedom Day, a day to mark each year the progress of the liberation movement and symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.
The conference was notable in that it laid the basis for subsequent meetings of African heads of state and government during the Casablanca Group and the Monrovia Group era until the formation of the OAU in 1963.
By then, more than two-thirds of the continent had achieved independence, mostly from imperial European states.
Formerly, the day was called Africa Freedom Day. Then, it was renamed Africa Liberation Day. In 2002, the OAU was replaced by the African Union. However, the renamed celebration of Africa Day continued to be celebrated on 25 May with respect to the formation of the OAU.