African leaders gathered in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi on Sunday, for the fifth mid-year African Union (AU) coordination summit, where the 55 members' delegations discussed harmonizing national and regional policies in order to advance socioeconomic development across the continent.
Kenyan President William Ruto used the summit to push for a new financing system for the AU that would benefit the union's combined 1.39 billion population, as the organization works to integrate the continent into the global economy.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also emphasized Africa’s unity and resilience, arguing for the importance of leaving the history of past exploitation behind and ensuring it is never repeated.
Speaking to RT, activist and Pan-Africanism scholar Mcebo Freedom Dlamini said the posture of current African leaders demonstrates their awareness of problems besetting the continent, specifically the failure of the so-called global north to listen properly to the continent's needs.
“This crop of leaders will begin to demand a seat on the dinner table,” Dlamini predicted, adding that “it is very dangerous” when matters of Africa are being deliberated but the continent’s leaders are absent from the “dinner table when the world is sitting.”