NEW YORK-(http://www.finalcall.com)�The call for a united Africa, made by Ghana�s first President Kwame Nkrumah 50-years-ago, and now championed by the Organization of African Unity is a "goal that all leaders on the continent should be working to promote. That is our saviour, that is our future," said Dr. Theo Ben Gurirab, the outgoing General Assembly president of the United Nations and foreign minister of the Republic of Namibia, in a recent interview.

Dr. Gurirab warned that in the face of global economics, regional trading blocs, and western domination, Pan African unity is the only way for Africa to survive. He shared his thoughts during the interview and in remarks at a Jan. 2 Harlem reception in his honor, hosted by the Patrice Lumumba Coalition and the December 12th International Secretariat.

"We must move towards a United States of Africa, that is our very positive future," said Dr. Gurirab, noting that Blacks on the continent and in America have endured hardships.

"We have survived elements of nature. We have survived slavery. We have survived colonialism, racism and racial discrimination ... we have survived genocide," he said. "It continues today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It continues in so many ways�HIV/AIDS, crime, but we survive."

The question is will Africa move smoothly into the next century or roll backwards into a neo-colonial existence, the diplomat noted. Africa needs to unite and obtain help from the United States to develop her resources, not subsist on handouts, he argued.

"We are not asking for charity, we are asking for business partnership," Mr. Gurirab added, saying Namibian President Sam Nujoma wanted him to again extend an invitation to Black Americans to help build the south African nation.

"African Americans without any hesitation must accept their African roots," the foreign minister said. "We need your skills, capital and technical know how. Come and do business that is mutually beneficial."

Mr. Gurirab called for stronger African advocacy from the Congressional Black Caucus. He pointed to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) as examples of powerful pro-African voices, but urged Black lawmakers to do more to challenge how the United States and United Nations deal with problems faced by African and smaller nations.

"The United States must, in the first place, pay its legally binding contributions (dues) in full, on time, without conditions. Secondly, the United States must not be a force for dividing the membership of the United Nations�but must use the power that it has to strengthen the United Nations," he said.

The Patrice LumumbaCoalition and the December 12th International Secretariat hosted the reception to give Black New Yorkers a chance to show appreciation to Dr. Gurirab for his years of Pan Africanist work, said Elombe Brath, of the Patrice Lumumba Coalition, who served as master of ceremonies.

Dr. Gurirab has been devoted to Pan African unity since the 1960s, working with African governments and Black nationalists, such as the late Kwame Ture, to try to create a united front.

Since September 1999 when he assumed the presidency of the 54 General Assembly of the United Nations, Dr. Gurirab has been in New York. The presidency rotates on a geographical basis and the African group selected Mr. Gurirab, said Roger Wareham, of the December 12th Movement. The president chairs General Assembly sessions�which are usually held from September to December�and greets heads of state, he added. The General Assembly ratifies treaties, and debates and ratifies resolutions, Mr. Wareham said.

Dr. Gurirab is not a stranger to the United Nations, from 1972-1986 he served as chief UN representative of the South West African Peoples Organization (SWAPO), the national liberation movement that fought a 24-year armed struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

"I became foreign minister because SWAPO won the struggle for liberation. Struggle means character, struggle means discipline. Struggle means having a vision and it is all underlined by unity of purpose and action. We must celebrate our lives as an African people with pride and dignity, in unity of purpose and action," he said.