Gaddafi muscles in on Mbeki's big day as African Union struggles into being

Africa's leaders descended on the Indian Ocean city of Durban yesterday to mark the end of the Organisation of African Unity and the launch today of the African Union. But even as it was born the new pan-African body was being torn apart by struggles between the repressive old and democratic new Africa, which threaten to undermine its unity and development goals.

Pitted against authors of the New Economic Partnership for African Development (Nepad) – South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal and Algeria – are an array of dictatorial rulers led by Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi, an ally of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

The flamboyant purple-robed Libyan leader, whose attempt to foist himself on Nepad's driving committee could sound its death knoll, warned that Africa would welcome foreign aid and investment only if no strings were attached.

"We are not children who need to be taught," he declared, in just a few sentences chipping away at the global goodwill painstakingly built with the rich world by Nepad's promoters. "They made us slaves, they called us inferior but we have regained our African name and culture," the Libyan leader told the summit of 44 of Africa's 53 states.

Amid tight security, armies of observers and splendidly bedecked military, African leaders heaped praise on the OAU, which is more used to being ridiculed as an ineffective old boys' club, while a constant cacophony of police sirens drowned out the cries of the birds that follow the "greatest shoal on earth" – the millions of sardines that sweep past Durban each July accompanied by big fish, dolphins and whales.

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who is to be the first chairman of the AU, said: "As with many other things African, from the very beginning of its life the OAU was dismissed by detractors as an organisation that was destined to fail. Each time it convened, its critics predicted that it would end in disarray and collapse."

But, he argued, the OAU, which was created in 1963, had effectively pursued its goals of promoting African unity and eradicating colonialism. The OAU has not collapsed, but its transmogrification today into the AU implies more than the dropping of an "O". The new body, which is styled on the European Union but is all-inclusive from the outset, covers a far bigger area with far fewer resources. Even with all-African unity it would face an uphill battle promoting democracy, peace and prosperity on this poor, conflict-ridden continent.

The concern is that it will be hijacked by old-style African leaders who are uneasy about its plans for a democratic and good governance peer review. There has been talk of watering down the review system, which is key to global acceptance of Nepad.

Colonel Gaddafi gate-crashed a meeting of Nepad's implementation committee, of which he is not yet a member. Diplomats said the committee agreed to expand its membership from 15 to 20, probably including the Libyan ruler and Kenya's Daniel Arap Moi.

Also up for grabs are a range of new AU organs that African countries are competing to host, including the Pan African Parliament, which Colonel Gaddafi wants in Tripoli, an African Court of Justice, and the AU's Peace and Security Council. Its secretariat is expected to remain at the OAU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Observers are dismayed by the curious refusal of African leaders to discuss the issue of Zimbabwe even as they barred Madagascar from membership because of the questionable legitimacy of its Dec- ember elections. But then many of Africa's "Big Men" – including Colonel Gaddafi – would have to be excluded if legitimate elections were a criterion.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general and an invited guest, expressed optimism over the AU's potential to assist development in Africa, but warned of pitfalls and complacency. He said: "The road to freedom for many of our brothers and sisters was to prove longer and harder than most of us dared imagine in 1963. The road to prosperity, alas, has proved even more elusive."

The continued image of Africa as a continent in crisis would be eradicated only if Africa resolved the conflicts that made it untenable as an investment destination, he added. But this attitude was beginning to change, as noted at last month's G8 summit, where African leaders did not get all they wanted – but did earn new respect among world leaders.