Monrovia Group
The Monrovia Group, also known as the Monrovia bloc, was the Conference of Independent African States. It was a loose group of African countries in the early 1960s with a shared vision for Africa’s future and Pan-Africanism. They believed independent states should cooperate and exist in harmony, but not form a single political federation like the Casablanca Group wanted.
The alliance first met in Monrovia, Liberia, in May 1961. Members included Nigeria and many Francophone countries such as Senegal and Cameroon. Their approach was moderate and less radical than the Casablanca Group’s.
Leaders stressed that newly independent African states should keep their own autonomy and build up their own bureaucracies, militaries, and economies. They promoted nationalism—each country should govern itself—over the idea of a continent-wide union.
In 1963, the Monrovia Group joined with the Casablanca Group to create the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The OAU’s Charter centers on independent statehood, non-interference, and national sovereignty, and it pursued only limited integration. It opposed a single continental government.
The OAU, and its successor the African Union, reflect the Monrovia Group’s nationalist approach and move away from the Casablanca Group’s deeper, supranational ideas.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:00 (CET).