<p>The proliferation of conflicts of different scope and nature in the African continent has been identified as one of the factors hindering the development of the continent, leading to efforts to create due mechanisms to tackle them. This essay examines both the OAU and AU mechanisms, compares them and assesses their adequacy for the settlement of African disputes. Once these shortcomings are identified, this dissertation looks into the common characteristics of traditional dispute settlement and conflict management to discuss whether they can somehow contribute to the improvement of modern institutional mechanisms.</p><p><strong>Published online</strong>: 11 December 2017</p>