The African Union is pursuing a path of closer integration through the launch of a common passport that will grant visa-free access to all 54 member states.

We selected images — some from The New York Times’s archive and others from various collections around the world — to tell the story of the heady days around the Year of Africa.

While calls for unity dominated Africa Day celebrations across the continent, critics of the African Union claim no real action has been taken to heal its political wounds.