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The outlook for international organizations in Africa is not good. While ECOWAS is dealing with the direct and collateral consequences of the withdrawal of three of its member states, the African Union is admitting to being in disrepair, not to mention collapsing. This was a striking passage in a speech delivered by Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, during the sixth mid-year coordination meeting in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
The biannual coordination meeting in Accra, themed “Education Fit for the 21st Century in Africa”, brought together the African Union, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and individual members of the organization to discuss the challenges of African integration and coordinate common positions ahead of the next meetings with the G20 and the United Nations. At the start of the meeting, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat did not hold back on his remarks about the ills that undermine the life of the organization on the continent.
“While I lament a certain weakening of Pan-Africanism, holding our conference in this beautiful country where Pan-Africanism flourishes, the eternal and resounding voice of Kwame Nkrumah, the apostle and icon of this doctrine, has never faded away,” revived Moussa Faki Muhammad from the very beginning.
“We gather for the 6th Coordination Summit, coordination between the AU, RECs and regional mechanisms, to review and amend the agreements based on greater clarity of roles, finer specialization and stronger interdependence. What would the AU be without RECs? A locomotive without carriages. What would the REC be without the Union? Differences between regional entities with no cement, no anchor, no reference or shared global vision”, the Commission Chairperson went on to give the specifics of the African Union.
“I have not stopped recently stating loud and clear what is now just an open secret. Our RECs are not performing well. Unfortunately, their effectiveness, credibility and influence in the overall cause of solidarity have been greatly diminished”, he then noted: “The AU itself is experiencing discontent which was exposed during our summits. Who among us has not been offended that the summits went on without any President other than the one who presided over them? Often there were no Ministers and, in the end, few Ambassadors. Let us not hide our eyes. This repetitive spectacle is devastating for our credibility. Recovery at the level of the Regional Economic Communities and Continental Organizations is imperative”.
The current Chairperson of the African Union, Mauritanian head of state, Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, also insisted on the urgent need to ensure that national development plans are better integrated into the continental plan in order to safeguard national interests and regional ownership and cooperation. “We must intensify economic integration and ensure that it is achieved under the best conditions to support the continent and meet the aspirations of our citizens. (…). This is particularly important given the numerous challenges facing our continent, economic, social and security, and the multifaceted crises that the world around us is experiencing, which have a negative impact on the development of our continent,” called the current Chairperson of the organization.
The meeting also reviewed the financing mechanisms of African Union projects, stressing that the organization is heavily dependent on funds from non-African partners.
Also read: African Union: Alpha Conde era or moment of rupture?
Olo
Lefaso.com
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