African Union Free State Council

&nbsp The African Union Free State Council is the official name of the government body which controls the African Union.

After the Collapse, the continent of Africa was forgotten by most of Earth's nations and corporations, giving Africans their first chance at true independence in more than a millenium. it was a critical mistake by those other nations and corporations.

WEALTH

At this moment, more than fifty percent of the planet's rare-earth elements are located in Africa. Combined with the continent's abundance of more common elements, whether uranium, nickel, or iron, this abundance of resource wealth has increased the average prosperity of an African by a factor of 5000% over the preceding century.

POLITICS

Managed as an oligarchy, the Free State Council has maintained an isolationist policy towards all outsiders from Day One. Overseas corporations with African holdings saw their property nationalized or purchased by the FSC 'for the good of the many'. Facing a united Africa and suspecting that at least two African nations maintained nuclear weapon stockpiles, no one brooked opposition to the policy.

Though this slowed growth, it has made it manageable, so that a middle class is forming within African society. Critics complain that the African Union is wracked by massive poverty, but the FSC's response is always "Look back fifty years and see where we have come from, then look forward fifty to where our goals will lead us." Poverty is much better than it had been previously, and most Africans attribute this to the firm hand of the FSC on the African Union's economy and resource management.

This control allowed the African Union to improve the continent's infrastructure which, in turn, boosted ecnomice output and increased prosperity. Unfortunately the laws which kept outsiders out are now proving to be a disadvantage as African corporations lack ties with the rest of the world for expanding their own sales potential. In addition, education standards remain lax since there is only limited interaction with schools and universities on the other six continents.

THE DIAMOND CURTAIN

Referring back to an ancient speech by a European politician, Winston Churchill, the phrase refers to the rules preventing African interaction with the remainder of the world, as if a curtain made of diamond has been lowered around the edges of the continent. This is true, not just economically, but socially. According to AUFSC Law 16.64a(b).+83:

"It is illegal for any non-native born Afrikaner to live within the boundaries of the African Union unless serving as a diplomat from another nation or corporation, without paying the arrival and homestead taxes as well as the flight/arrest security deposit."

No other nation or corporation maintains such strict residence rules. Off-Earth, rules are relaxed and most AU pilots ignore fraternization rules--it's good for business.