Monrovia Group

TheMonrovia Group,sometimes known as theMonrovia bloc,officially theConference of Independent African States,was a short-lived, informal association of African states with a shared vision of the future of Africa and ofPan-Africanismin the early 1960s. Its members believed that Africa's independent states should co-operate and exist in harmony, but without political federation and deep integration as supported by its main rival, the so-calledCasablanca Group.In 1963, the two groups united to establish a formal, continent-wide organisation, theOrganisation for African Unity.

The alliance first met on 8–12 May 1961 inMonrovia,the capital ofLiberia,one of its leading countries.Other members includedNigeriaand most ofFrancophoneAfrica, includingSenegalandCameroon.Their approach was more moderate and less radical than that of theCasablanca Group.Its leaders stressed the importance of Africa's newly independent states retaining their autonomy and strengthening their own bureaucracies, militaries and economies. They promotednationalism,the creed that each nation of Africa should be self-governing, overPan-Africanism,the belief that the whole continent should seek ever closer union and integration of their politics, society, economy and so on.

The Monrovia Group's ideas ultimately prevailed. In 1963, states from both groups joined to create theOrganisation of African Unity(OAU). Its Charter places the principles of independent statehood, non-interference and national sovereignty at its heart. The OAU's pursuit of integration was minimal and its opposition to continental federation unequivocal.The OAU, like its successor theAfrican Union(AU), is a reflection of the more nationalist values of the Monrovia Group and a repudiation of the more supra-national ideas of theCasablanca Group.

See also

• African Union
• Casablanca Group