Former President John Agyekum Kufuor says Africans now appreciate the need for unity and that is contributing to the realisation of the vision of the continent’s unity.

He, however, conceded that the size of the continent makes a dream of African unity unrealistic within a decade.

Ex-President Kufuor was speaking to TV3’s Kenneth Osei Ampofo in an exclusive interview ahead of the 50th anniversary celebration of the erstwhile Organization of African Unity (OAU) and 10 years of African Union (AU).

“The vision is so big. Of course Africa is also so big and the main thing is to sustain the vision and not to expect that within just a decade you realize this huge vision just like that,” Ex-President Kufuor.

“But I believe Africa is in the right direction for realization of the vision,” he told Kenneth Ampofo.

He cast insinuation on those who think Africa is not making any progress, saying they may be “theorists sitting in some comfortable library or studio or laboratory thinking Africa, the second largest continent, can be changed just like that.”

“It has 54 nations of various backgrounds and various development stages and we want to get all these people with a population of billions of people in the same direction in 10 years then you are not being realistic,” he added.

He, however, stressed that things are changing, analogizing that previously communication between Accra and Abidjan goes as far as to Paris-France but “now things are becoming easier with the ICT revolution and also with the increasing appreciation of ourselves we are getting on top of the many barriers in the path of Africa becoming united.”

Ex-President Kufuor was chairman of AU from January 30, 2007 to January 31, 2008. He succeeded Congo’s Denis Sassou-Nguesso and was succeded by Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete.