So what came out of the Banjul Africa Union meeting? The main stars were Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, all for different reasons.

Hugo Chavez asked Europe and United States of America to apologize to Africa for their sins committed during colonialism and for enslaving Africans. Kofi Annan warned Africans against the new exploitative 'scramble for Africa' and President Ahmadinejad's presence was viewed as a "a morale booster as well as an assurance that Africa can make it." To ordinary Kenyans, what had caught their attention about this meeting was the voluntary peer review on President Mwai Kibaki's performance since 2003.

Forcing developed nations on their knees to atone for their sins against Africa is not the most effective way to get the continent out of their economic quagmire. At the moment, it does not make strategic sense to ask Europe and North America to apologize while at the same time approach them with a begging bowl in hand. The African people must recognize that the two powerful Economic blocs are presently victors and hence dictate terms. We ought to channel our energies in keeping a clear unadulterated history of the continent while urging each individual to wake up and work towards the betterment of this continent.

We cannot effectively protect Africa from modern day 'Scramble for Africa' without evaluating the motivation behind latest move. The international community is well aware of the immense wealth in the continent, but our heads of state seem to be aware of the 'poverty' in the continent. Africa's story is that of two people beholding opportunity and misery in the same object. What African leaders ought to be doing in their meetings is to strategize how to positively utilize the second attempt to scramble for Africa's wealth.

The African Union meeting in Banjul had a theme of 'Harmonization and Rationalization of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the Government of the Union'. The African Union leadership also recognized the need to forge strong ties with the 'sixth region,' that is Africans in Diaspora. Among the key issues reviewed included African Diplomatic Passport, accelerating the free movement of people, goods and services in the continent and addressing 'selective immigration' a form of 'brain trade' that wealthy nations are currently engaged in with African populations. There was also the call to honor the Yamoussoukro Declaration which is geared towards ensuring that Africa opens up her skies to facilitate movement in the continent while cutting down intra Africa transport costs.

Africa Union just like her predecessor the Organization of African Unity is known for noble objectives and declarations but little implementation strategy. The African people are tired of declarations and conferences. Take for instance the Economic Social Cultural Council of the African Union launched last year in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, it has taken the intervention of international NGOs to kick life and spirit in it. All the Union executives did was to have it 'declared.'

One other thing the African Union is infamous for is lack of speed and efficiency; it has taken the union over a decade to finally decide to take peace enforcing troops to Somalia. The African Union is being blamed for inability to contain the Darfur crisis, instead the Union is asking for 'support' but not 'replacement'. It is a tough balancing act to get african heads of states, some of whom are responsible for the turmoil, bedeviling certain parts of the continent to discuss harmonization of regional economic communities.

Participating in the Africa Union events witnesses a clear ego driven chief executives who cannot be relied upon to be the same people to cede power and allow for a united Africa. African heads of state have chosen to hide behind 'protocol' and 'bureaucracy' in order to pass on the responsibility of having a united Africa to another generation. This is set to go on forever unless individual beneficiaries to a united Africa take steps to put pressure on this process.    

Where does this leave the ordinary African? Africans must not wait for the heads of state to decide on a slow painful path to one market. Each individual ought to ask themselves, whether it makes economic sense to fly cheaper to Europe and America and fly expensively to a neighboring city in Africa. Each one ought to put their governments to task for presiding over a system that makes it cheaper to make phone calls to Europe than a neighboring African city, why it remains difficult to move across Africa and import food within the continent to save the hungry from dying.

The African wealth creators and business people must form private initiatives to drive for a one market in the continent. Africans must not wait for the Union 'protocol'. To speed up the process of African Economic Communities integration, the African Union should consider a cheaper way by simply asking each nation to offer tax and regulatory incentives to African businesses that are ready to invest across nation states.