{"id":31771,"date":"2026-04-14T07:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T05:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31771"},"modified":"2026-04-14T07:40:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T05:40:59","slug":"agenda-2063-aims-to-deliver-the-africa-we-want-by-2063-former-au-strategist","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/agenda-2063-aims-to-deliver-the-africa-we-want-by-2063-former-au-strategist\/","title":{"rendered":"Agenda 2063 aims to deliver \u201cthe Africa we want\u201d by 2063: former AU Strategist"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior AU Strategy Adviser Ambassador Febe Potgieter\u2011Gqubule says the agenda was conceived to bring coherence to Africa\u2019s many policy frameworks and set a practical roadmap for the next 50 years.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, Potgieter\u2011Gqubule said Agenda 2063 was agreed during the AU\u2019s 50th anniversary celebrations in May 2013, when leaders reflected on progress since 1963. The OAU\u2019s defining mission was the completion of decolonisation, largely achieved by 1994, with Western Sahara remaining unresolved. \u201cWe had adopted a range of frameworks over time, but the question became how to bring them together in a coherent programme for the next 50 years,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In practical terms, she described the vision as an Africa that is peaceful, united, democratic and prosperous, and able to \u201ctake its rightful place in the world\u201d. Peace, she argued, is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity, with conflicts raising fuel and food prices even for countries far from the battlefield. Integration is also central, building on ideas in the Lagos Plan of Action and Abuja Treaty, which position regional cooperation as critical to development and resilience.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>However, she acknowledged persistent obstacles to delivery. One is the continued attachment to narrow national sovereignty, despite colonial-era borders and evidence that regional integration strengthens competitiveness.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Another is what she called a deficit of self-confidence, where countries benchmark mainly against other regions while failing to learn from African success stories in areas such as technology innovation and the creative industries. Leadership and political will, she said, remain decisive.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>As geopolitical tensions and global economic uncertainty increase, Potgieter\u2011Gqubule said Agenda 2063 offers a pathway to greater self-reliance through deliberate investment in infrastructure, industrialisation, agriculture, human capital and democratic governance. She emphasised that Africa\u2019s demographic advantage is strategic: by 2050, about a quarter of the world\u2019s population will be African, still predominantly young, while much of the world ages.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Above all, she said, the agenda requires consistency and urgency. \u201cWe need to be intentional about African development, strengthen our democracy, and silence the guns,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31772,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44,26],"class_list":["post-31771","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Agenda 2063 is the African Union\u2019s (AU) long-term development blueprint, adopted to guide the continent towards \u201cthe Africa we want\u201d by 2063, marking 100 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).\u00a0","published_date":"","news_description":"Agenda 2063 is the African Union\u2019s (AU) long-term development blueprint, adopted to guide the continent towards \u201cthe Africa we want\u201d by 2063, marking 100 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).\u00a0","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31773,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31771\/revisions\/31773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}