Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, current AU Commission Chairperson with Jean Ping who formerly held the post (LI QIHUA)

Happy Anniversary Africa! In 2013 the continent will be celebrating a Golden Jubilee, commemorating May 25, 1963. That day, 50 years ago, the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU) was born, to later reincarnate as the African Union (AU) and affording the continent sufficient clout to accelerate integration and development.

Unity, agriculture and trade

When the leaders of the AU meet in 2013, it will be a moment to take stock of where the continent is, and where it should be headed.

AU Chairperson, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has already set the pace for the continent this year. When she spoke in Uganda, in late November 2012, at a meeting with heads of state from the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, (COMESA) she said unity, agriculture and trade should be the focus going forward.

Dlamini-Zuma noted that Africa was home to two-thirds of the world's unused arable land, and one could see the potential in agriculture and by extension of agri-business as the ticket toward continental prosperity.

"United and integrated we should find the means to use our natural resources for the development of our people and countries. We must over the next 50 years ensure and guarantee food security, as a basis for development. That is what the Chinese did, they secured food security for their people and built infrastructure, then the world came to invest," the AU boss added.

Economic outlook

The Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) titled, "Maintaining Growth in an Uncertain World," released in October 2012, says that the continent is poised for economic growth.

The IMF predicts that while the global economic growth figures will be at 3.6 percent, that of the Sub-Saharan Africa projects at 5.3 percent. But Africa cannot be over the moon just yet.

Agriculture has always been dependent on rain. If the rains fail, the crops will fail and that will open the door to hunger and famine, pushing up food prices and inflation. Given the trend of drought every two years, the last one in 2011, this year, 2013, may follow suit.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) lists the so-called "fiscal cliff" in the United States, the economic turmoil in Europe and the slowing growth of China as the "main threat" facing the projected growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.