Legacies left

A key and defining development for Dlamini-zuma’s legacy will be Agenda 2063, conceptualized as a paradigm shift in how Africa conducts its affairs. Launched in May 2013 under her to simultaneously commemorate the golden jubilee of the AU, it has become the rallying call for Africa’s development with the vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa and a dynamic force in the global arena” by 2063.

Apart from the ambitious economic targets that have generated great policy and academic interest in Africa and globally, Agenda 2063 has revived optimism for Pan-african patriotism and renaissance. It is not only the framework currently guiding continental Africa’s engagement within Africa, but also with other nations and international organizations. As fate would have it, Dlamini-zuma steered the initiation of the overarching long-term vision only two years before the inauguration of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, also known as Agenda 2030, with innumerable linkages.

One of the quick wins of Agenda 2063 was the series of initiatives addressing the cultural, political and economic challenges faced by African women. A testament to the first woman chairperson placing gender issues high up in the AU’S list of priorities, the initiative entailed the designation of 2015 as the Year of Women’s Empowerment, giving the issue the prominence it deserved.

Dlamini-zuma will also be remembered for managing emergent African challenges. She led the successful war against the deadly Ebola disease that affected Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Dlaminizuma oversaw the mobilization of human and financial resources toward combating the Ebola outbreak from African countries on a scale last seen during the struggle for freedom from colonialism.

Commentators have pointed out that incidents