"Whether described as ‘African Unity’ or ‘integration’, and whether for ideological or pragmatic reasons, overcoming the fragmentation of the continent has been an enduring theme in African statecraft since the 1960s. The borders dividing Africa’s 55 states from one another, so this reasoning goes, have lessened Africa’s global presence and kept markets small and anaemic. They have also prevented its citizens from reaching out to one another and taking advantage of the vast potential that the continent has to offer." AU