The Crazy Plan to Make an African Giant

The East African Federation is a proposed African superstate between 7 countries. Sure it has a lot going for it, but let's be honest, it also has a lot going against it. So is the EAF a good idea or just a fantasy?

#h0ser #africa #geography

[hser]

It's official! As of November 24th, 2023, Somalia has joined the East African Community.
Also I don’t know why I was shouting in this video

[legoboy]

Honestly the EAF should just start with the original countries. Join together with them, since that’s the core of the country. Then once that’s stable, expand to the DRC or South Sudan. Those countries aren’t as developed and would be a strain on the union, and while I’m not against them joining, should happen only after it gets off the ground.

[purpledurple]

I feel like in the end only the core 5 of the initial proposal will stick. South Sudan and the DRC are potentially too unstable. It would be easy to build an identity around the Swahili history an make Swahili the lingua franca

[gocool_.]

Germany's wet dream (Mittel Afrika) after WW1 is getting realised now by the Africans. Hope it goes well and bring stability to the region.

[Congowillprevail]

As a congolese. The DRC should have focused on the development of our country. 80% of our country is not at conflict, we getting better in fixing our political problems, with an enormous country. We have the majority of the population. Let’s focus on building our country first. We have come a long way since the Congo wars. Fix before joining.

[statelyelms]

I love how you use little regional animals painted with flags for your nation representers. It's unique and kinda cute

[FourEyedFrenchman]

The problem with several countries merging into one like this is the whole endeavor hinges on several leaders giving up their power to one central authority, and each leader thinks they should be that central authority. For the EAF to be viable, they need a George Washington-esque figure who everyone can agree should be the person in charge.

No President, Prime Minister, or what have you wants to voluntarily reduce themselves to a regional governor unless they stand to gain an extraordinary amount in political or economic capital.

[denpadolt]

I'm surprised you didn't address the elephant in the room that is the DRC's political status in an East African Federation. The DRC is roughly the size of the rest of the Federation and has (by my unrefined estimate) over 1/3 of its population, so if the Federation were to preserve the integrity of its member states, the DRC would exert an enormous level of gravity on its politics. Federations always hate it when one constituent ends up with more influence than anyone else, but pair that with the DRC being underdeveloped and more peripheral compared to its eastern neighbours for some potential chaos over what the DRC's place in the EAF would or should be.

[BobPantsSpongeSquare]

I remember first hearing about this a few months ago and being very intrigued. It seems like a bureaucratic nightmare to get established but if it does then it would seemly be very beneficial to each country and the people. I think of those industrialized mega cities in Africa like New Mombasa in Halo which would be a dream

[stor]

You did us dirty in East Africa with that image of a big head😂😂😂😂

[phantasythenoob]

so cool how you get this information about East Africa so spot on. Big up from Kenya

[numberkenyan]

As a Kenyan, I believe the Federation will be a great idea as most if not all nations involved have mostly similar cultures. And our economies merged will surely propel us further on the world stage, it's only a matter of if the Politicans will agree to surrender power for the greater good which I hope they do

[derhuhu]

With South Sudan joining the initiative, it already became more difficult, the DRC made it close to impossible.

[chronicallyboredenby]

I find it interesting that a solution to the problem of borders is to just create bigger borders, since the issue with a lot of these countries is that they have one country when there should be several, with different regions ethnic groups, etc. but in the end I suppose it makes sense in that a large country that was more unified with logical borders could very well become a good thing. Honestly I’m cautiously optimistic about the EAF, I feel it could do a lot for fighting poverty in Africa and democratization. Such a country would actually be able to fight off insurgents.

[christianmpassi]

The problem when we Africans talk about unity is that we often forget that our individual countries are so fragmented within. It shows clearly in electoral times that the determining factor for allegiance is the ethnic group or the tribe. The state often exist just on paper and doesn't mean much on people psychology. Let's find first ways of having our many tribes within the individual countries loving each other and accepting to live together in harmony before thinking of African or regional unity. We are too emotional and less rational on this subject.

[מ.מ-הד]

The first step is that only Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda would unite.
Only after that the others could slowly join.

[golagiswatchingyou]

To be honest this idea could have worked better if it first formed without south sudan and the Congo, both have terrible conditions and trying to fit them all together as quickly as possible might scare off the other players of the project.

Bigger is not always better and things that sound great on paper in practice sometimes fall apart.

It be great if they can get it to work but I have my doubts.

[Nathan-pwnl]

For some reason I genuinely hope this country does work out. The people in Africa had it rough for to long, and it would be great to see an African nation fixing its internal problems and prospering into a great country.

[marcelocampos]

It warms my heart seeing African countries uniting to fight their problems together, I wish all luck to this plan of unification and reforms.

[MassiveOl]

YES, FINALLY! I remember asking for this months ago on the Congo vid and i’m so glad it’s out now, thank you so much h0ser!