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Tag: AU

  • Finance Ministers meet to discuss African Union financing progress

    Committee of ten (10) African Ministers of Finance convene in Kigali to discuss the implementation of 0.2% import levy by member states towards Financing of the African Union.

    The African Union Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Rwanda is organizing a meeting of the Committee of Ten Ministers of Finance (F10) responsible for the Financing of the African Union. The Meeting is scheduled to take place in Kigali on the 13th January 2018 to review the progress made in the implementation of the Decision of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union to implement a 0.2% import levy towards financing of the African Union.

    This is a follow-up to the meeting that was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on August, 9th 2017 during which, Ministers made recommendations on, among others, a need to develop a set of rules for establishing clear financial management and accountability principles, a need to review the sanctions regime on the payment of assessed contributions and a need to review the current scale of assessment for more equitable sharing of the burden of the Union’s budget. Ministers also called for the expansion of the Committee from ten to fifteen in order to accommodate countries that contribute more to the budget of the Union. The Ministers further expressed a need for the F10 to play oversight role in the budgetary processes of the Union.

    This meeting will consider and adopt the technical documents that have been developed pursuant to these recommendations. It will also review the draft decisions to be presented to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government later this month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    As of December 2017, the African Union Commission had on record twenty-one (21) Member States that were at various stages of implementing the Kigali Decision. Out of these, fourteen (14) Member States had already started collecting from the levy and had deposited the funds at an account dedicated for AU opened with the Central Banks. These Countries include Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Chad, Djibouti, Guinea, Sudan, Morocco, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, Gabon, Cameroun, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire.

    On the other hand, Ghana, Benin, Malawi and Senegal have initiated internal legal and administrative processes to allow implementation of the Decision while despite their national economic and legal constraints, Mauritius and Seychelles have also indicated full commitment to the principles of financing the Union.

    In many ways, the choice of Kigali as the venue for this meeting has symbolic significance in that the Decision to implement the 0.2% was taken here in Kigali at the special Retreat of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union on the 16th July 2016. In addition, the President of the Republic of Rwanda, HE President Paul Kagame has been entrusted to lead the reforms process currently being undertaken in the African Union. Lastly, HE President Paul Kagame is expected to assume the Chairmanship of the African Union for the year 2018 during the Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia later this month.

    The F10 is currently comprised of ten countries representing the five regions of the African Union as follows:

    (i) Central Africa: Chad and Congo

    (ii) East Africa: Ethiopia and Kenya

    (iii) North Africa: Algeria and Egypt

    (iv) West Africa: Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana

    (v) Southern Africa: South Africa and Botswana

    Cameroon, Nigeria and Morocco will also attend the meeting based of the interest they expressed to be included in the Committee.

    The meeting will be preceded by the technical meeting of Senior Experts slated for the 11th to the 12th January 2018 and will be held at the Kigali Convention Centre.

  • Lack of funding is threatening peacekeeping mission in Somalia – AU

    Lack of funding is threatening the operations of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), an African Union (AU) official said Thursday.

    Francisco Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia and Head of AMISOM, said the inadequate funding threatened the operations of peacekeepers and the Somali security forces.

    “Without funding, little can happen to move forward with certain undertakings already made on the security front,” he said during a media briefing in Nairobi.

    Madeira said AMISOM needs support to conduct the last leg of military operations to recover territory that remains under the control of Al-Shabaab militants.

    “We are planning elaborate offensive operations next year mainly in the Jubba valley, Gedo region and Middle Juba regions, areas that still harbor pockets of Al-Shabaab militants,” said Madeira.

    He revealed that AMISOM has been unable to undertake military operations in the recent past due to limitations in personnel, logistics and others.

    “We need urgent support to recover the territories that are currently under Al-Shabaab,” the envoy noted.

    The Envoy observed that the Somali security forces need to be well trained to take over the security responsibilities since the draw-down of AMISOM troops from Somalia entails the handover of some of the Forward Operating Bases in the sectors to the Somali National Army.

    “A stable Somalia is critical for stability across the East African region and beyond.

    “If we do not decisively address the threat of Al-Shabaab, they will continue to pose a danger to the whole world,” he warned.

    A review of the AU Mission in Somalia that was carried out by the African Union and the UN, during the course of the year, recommended a gradual and phased reduction and re-organization of the AU Mission.

    The UN Security Council Resolution 2372 (2017) extended AMISOM’s mandate to May 31, 2018 and authorises troop reduction, starting this December, as the Somali government progressively takes over AMISOM’s tasks.

    1,000 peace keepers have already left Somalia while a similar number will leave by May 2018.

  • Slave Trade, Human Trafficking: AU, EU must collaborate to tackle menace in Libya – Onyeama

    Slave Trade, Human Trafficking: AU, EU must collaborate to tackle menace in Libya – Onyeama

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama has called for a joint declaration by the African Union and European Union on the issue of slave trade and other crimes against humanity in Libya.

    Onyeama who made the call at the Ministerial meeting of the just concluded 5th African Union- European Union Summit in Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire, said, “this should be a red line for us and indeed for mankind.”

    According to a statement by Sarah Sanda, Special Assistant to Onyeama on Media, the Minister also called for increased Foreign Direct Investment in Africa by European countries as a way of creating millions of new jobs for youths in Africa.

    “The AU-EU collaboration should focus more on addressing issues of youth unemployment and the associated skills gap, by promoting quality education and skills development, entrepreneurship, industrialisation as well as access to finance, safe and orderly regular migration and better alignment of skills with labour market needs between the two continents”, she quoted the Minister as saying.

    “We are also encouraged by EU support of 7.5m Euros for the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) negotiations, which have been very useful in providing technical support and expertise towards realising the target for the conclusion of the negotiations by the end of 2017, as well as the 20bn Euros spent by the European Union in Africa every two years as stated by Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative and Vice President of the EU Commission.”

    He commended the on-going civilian and EU-led operations in Africa, particularly in the area of anti-terrorism and harped on the need to build capacities of security personnel through increased financial support to the Multi -National Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) operations.

    While acknowledging that the EU has been very supportive in promoting Article 4 of the Africa Agenda 2063 for a peaceful and prosperous Africa, Onyeama emphasised, “our partnership should continue to ensure the full functioning of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), especially the operationalisation of the African standby Force (ASF), as well as promote conflict preventive diplomacy”.

     

  • Buhari formally agrees to lead AU anti-corruption crusade – Presidency

    President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted his nomination to lead the African Union, AU, on its anti-corruption crusade.

    His acceptance to spearhead the crusade with the theme, ‘2018 AU Theme on the Fight against Corruption’ was contained in a letter of appreciation addressed to President of Guinea, Alpha Conde.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Buhari was nominated by African leaders at the 29th Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments of the AU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on July 4.

    A statement by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina quoted the President as saying, “While thanking you for the kind words and for the nomination, I wish to express my readiness to accept this new important role and to reiterate my commitment to contribute toward our collective efforts to strengthen good governance and development on the continent.

    “I, therefore, look forward to working closely with you in the realisation of this objective.’’

  • AU endorses Buhari to champion fight against corruption

    AU endorses Buhari to champion fight against corruption

    African Leaders on Tuesday unanimously endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari to champion the fight against corruption in the African Union.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the endorsement came at the end of the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU in Addis Ababa.

    President Buhari is expected to lead the AU summit scheduled for 2018 entitled: “Winning the Fight Against Corruption: Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation,’’

    Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who gave a synopsis of the summit told newsmen that the endorsement was in recognition of the President Buhari administration’s commitment and glowing success in the fight against corruption in Nigeria and globally.

    “The endorsement is very significant because it is the recognition of the negative role corruption and bad governance had played.

    “I think it is also significant that President Buhari was also asked to champion this because he has been a major inspiration to Africa in frontally combating corruption and bringing positive change towards building a sustainable and prosperous continent.

    He said the president will therefore be expected to provide exemplary and resourceful leadership by working closely with the other African Leaders.

    Others are, the AU Commission and development partners to collectively fashion out common programmes for Continent-wide application of the anti-corruption theme in all Member States.

    “The championship role by President Buhari will also involve a number of diplomatic initiatives to sensitise and raise awareness of the International Community on the dire consequences of corruption and the collective strategies to defeat it.

    On the need to set up the African Security Fund (ASF), Onyeama said the time has come for the continent to be independent and break free from foreign support.

    “Up until now, a lot of our security activities were funded by non African partners and what we have seen is that they have suddenly decided to cut back on what they were providing.

    “This is impacting seriously on some of the AU missions like the mission in Somalia, South Sudan not being able to meet up financially.

    “So, the decision was taken that when member states pay their financial contribution to the union, there should be a fund set aside to finance peace and security in the continent.’’

    The minister, who spoke also on the role of Nigeria in ECOWAS, said the time has come for the country to take its leadership role in the organisation.

    He said further that in order to have an organisation that works, it is also important that Nigeria does not act like a tyrant and that there are mechanism for consensus.

    “Nigeria can assert leadership and can also do it in a non conflicted, inclusive and positive way, and that is what we are trying to do.

    “There are currently 17 (political) positions allocated to certain countries.

    “We (Nigeria) are looking for the position of internal services considering that we are largest contributors to the body.

    “This is a portfolio that will give us the best oversight regarding our interest.

    “The other is the position of a Judge at the ECOWAS Court Justice,’’

    He said though there are challenges in filling the positions, “it is a work in progress and will not damage the EC0WAS too much.’’

    Onyeama said that there was no agreement on the issue of position sharing in the ECOWAS but just a question of buying into a process.

    He said that a technical committee has been set up to negotiate on what will be inclusive for all countries.

    He said there is also the challenge of electing the President and the Vice of the ECOWAS Commission after the two years of setting up a reform committee.

    On women and youth empowerment, the minister said the Federal Government was already addressing the issue by make it top priority.

    Onyeama said the AU’s theme this year, “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth” could not have come at a better time.

    He said Nigeria was taking advantage of the issue of demographic situation in Africa with the large youth bulge with the introduction of the Federal Government’s N-power programme.

    He said it was absolutely important that women and youth are empowered to enable them play more significant roles in the development of the nation.

    “The N-Power programme and the social intervention of government are geared towards women in addition to the programmes for the youth.

    “Especially, the vocational programmes, there is also a large part for women including entrepreneurs and helping those in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) with loans.

    “So, on the economic front the empowerment of women is very much on and government is investing very much in it.

    He, however, expressed concerns over lack of adequate representative of women in political and elective positions.

    “In terms of elective positions, we are still not there yet, maybe it is something we should consider constitutional provisions in providing quotas on gender basis.

    “Whether it will be a good thing or not, it is something that can be done; Rwanda has that and South Africa too.

    “That is probably where we are going too but some will still argue that quota systems are not always the best because it gives the impression that beneficiaries do not usually have the capacity.

    “But the reality is of course women are just as good if not better than men in many areas academically and so on.

    The minister said a level playing field was required in recruitment of women, adding that it was the trend globally and in the continent.

     

     

     

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  • Nigeria takes over from Zambia as Chair, AU Peace and Security Council

    Nigeria takes over from Zambia as Chair, AU Peace and Security Council

    Nigeria has officially assumed the one-month rotational chairmanship of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC).

    Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the AU, Bankole Adeoye, took over from Susan Sikaneta, the Permanent Representative of Zambia, who held the Presidency for the month of June.

    Adeyemo, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Addis Asaba said under Nigeria’s leadership, the council would focus on the implementation of AU’s Master Road Map of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by 2020.

    “Equally, the Council will build on the substantial progress being recorded by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in the fight against terrorism and seek to gain better understanding of the root causes of the conflict.

    “Also to be considered by the Council during this period are the political and security situations in Guinea Bissau, Somalia, South Sudan, Mali/Sahel and Libya.

    “”Essentially, Nigeria as chairperson of the Council will prioritise the open debate by the AU Member States on Child soldiers / out of school children in armed conflict situations.”

    He said with the support of other members of the Council, Nigeria would use its month-long presidency to actively promote sub-regional and continental peace and security in line with the principles of the AU Peace and Security Council Protocol and the mandate of the Council.

    NAN reports that in view of Nigeria’s leadership role at the sub-regional and continental levels, the country has sustained its membership of this most vital mechanism since its founding in 2002.

    The Peace and Security Council is the primary organ of the African Union, which is patterned along the UN Security Council to enforce Union decisions, particularly in matters relating to maintenance of peace and security.

    Members of the Council are elected by the Assembly of the AU so as to reflect regional balance within Africa, as well as a variety of other criteria, including capacity to contribute militarily and financially to the Union.

    The Council is composed of 15 countries, of which five are elected to three-year term, and 10 to two-year term.

    The current members of the PSC are Nigeria, Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Egypt, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

     

     

    NAN

  • EU, AU reaffirm commitment to Paris Agreement

    EU, AU reaffirm commitment to Paris Agreement

    The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) have reaffirmed their strong commitment to full implementation of the Paris agreement, and call on all partners to keep up the momentum created in 2015.

    Ahead of the COP23 in November they pledge to work together to finalize the Paris Agreement work programme.

    Climate change and renewable energy will figure on the agenda of the upcoming Africa-EU Summit in Abidjan on 29/30 November.

    This will be an opportunity to confirm the strong solidarity with those most vulnerable to climate change and the determination to work together to build strong and sustainable economies and societies resilient to climate change.

    The European Union and the African Union reaffirm their commitment to continuing to address the adverse effects of climate change on human and animal health, natural ecosystems and other social and economic impacts that threaten our developmental gains as a global community.

    Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States of America from the agreement.

    In a nationwide broadcast, President Trump said the US would either seek re-negotiation or remain withdrawn from the agreement that went into effect on November 4, 2016.

    The President of the US has, however, faced much criticism on home soil and abroad for backing out of the agreement, with the United Nations calling his withdrawal a “great disappointment”.

    “Fortunately, the Paris Agreement is bigger than any one nation or any one government. We can still achieve the promise of Paris, but we have no time to lose.

    “Countries around the world must seize the opportunity to unleash this potential, invest in renewable energy that eliminates harmful carbon pollution, and build economies that are more resilient, inclusive and prosperous,” said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, World Wildlife Fund’s Global Climate & Energy Practice Leader.

     

  • Cyber security: Africa gets Internet security guidelines

    Cyber security: Africa gets Internet security guidelines

    The Internet Society and the African Union Commission on Wednesday unveiled a new Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines for Africa.

    According to a statement by Mr Michelle Anekeya, the society’s Communications Officer, the guideline was launched at the ongoing African Internet Summit, taking place in Nairobi.

    He said the 3-day summit, which started on Wednesday, May 31 will end on Friday, June 2.

    Anekeya said the guidelines would help Africa to create a more secure Internet infrastructure, saying it sets to change the way African Union States approach cyber security preparedness.

    He said the guidelines, the first of their kind in Africa, were developed by a multi-stakeholder group of African and global internet infrastructure security experts, as the first step towards building a more secure Internet in Africa.

    He said the guidelines would help AU member states strengthen the security of their local Internet infrastructure through actions at a regional, national, ISP/operator and organisational level.

    He added that Africa’s cyber security environment was facing a unique combination of challenges, including a lack of awareness of the risks involved in using technology.

    “Kenya was ranked the 69th most vulnerable country out of 127 in the 2015 Deloitte Global Threat Index.

    “Some of the main reasons are: low awareness, underinvestment, talent shortage and overload of data. Deloitte further estimates that Kenya lost $171 million to cybercrime in 2016.

    “Africa has achieved major strides in developing its Internet Infrastructure in the past decade.

    “However, the Internet won’t provide the aspired benefits unless we can trust it.

    “We have seen from recent experiences that Africa is not immune from cyber-attacks and other security threats.

    “These guidelines, developed in collaboration with the African Union Commission, will help African countries put in place the necessary measures to increase the security of their Internet infrastructure,” Anekeya said.

    According to him, the guidelines offer actions that are tailored to the African cyber security environment and solutions for an ever changing online landscape.

    He quoted Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Bureau Director for the Internet Society, as saying that the document was launched at a time when the world felt the real and urgent need to build and reinforce structures aimed at tackling the growing cyber threat to the global digital economy.

    He added that Governments, companies, network operators, universities and organisations across African Union member states are encouraged to take action to implement the Internet

    “The Commission of the African Union will continue its partnership with the Internet Society on a second set of guidelines addressing personal data protection in Africa,” he added.

    Anekeya said according to ITU ICT Facts and Figures 2016, it was estimated that 25.1 percent of Africans were now online.

    He said despite lower Internet access rates compared to other regions in the world, there had been a sustained double-digit growth in Internet penetration over the past 10 years in the continent.

    He said this was partly due to an increase of mobile Internet and in more affordable smart phones in the market and Africa’s young, technology-savvy population.

    He said to continue to improve access and connect the unconnected, people needed to trust the Internet.

    Symantec, a global leader in cyber security, observed that 24 million malware incidents were targeted at Africa in 2016.

  • Gambia Crisis: Nigeria not appreciated by AU in peacekeeping role

    The just concluded African Union, AU summit ended without a mention of the gallantry role the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the Nigerian troops played in solving the political imbroglio of the tiny West African nation.

    Speakers at the summit took time to appreciate efforts made by Mauritania and Guinea for persuading for President Yahya Jammeh to hand over power to President-Elect Adama Barrow without acknowledging the mediatory roles Nigeria played from the beginning of the crisis to when Jammeh finally agress to handover.

    At various meetings held during the Summit, nobody mentioned the efforts Nigeria made to resolve the empasse despite Nigeria’s spending millions of Dollars in moving military personnel and warships to the Gambia, a threat that eventually made Jammeh to leave power.

    Despite efforts by Nigeria’s foreign Minister, Godfrey Onyema’s for participants to recognize Nigeria’s role in solving the crisis, AU still did not specifically recognized Nigeria as providing leadership role on the issue.

    TheNewsGuru.com can authoritatively report that Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari pulled the final chord that settled the crisis by calling on Mauritanian’s president who is known to be a close friend of Jammeh

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Nigeria footed the logistics bill of the entourage that went to The Gambia from the beginning till when the crisis was successfully resolved.

     

  • Morocco to join AU after 33years of denouncing membership

    Morocco is set to rejoin the African Union during the 28th African summit scheduled for Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 in Addis-Ababa, after leaving the pan African organisation three decades ago.

    In 1984, Morocco decided to withdraw from the Organisation of African Unity, which later became the AU, over the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a full member of the organisation.

    SADR claims sovereignty over the whole Western Sahara territory, which Morocco claims as its own.

    For over three decades, Morocco has refused to be part of the organisation, but recently the country has changed its policing, making the readmission to the AU on the top of its agenda.

    In July 2016, King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a message to the 27th AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, saying that his country “should not remain outside its African institutional family, and it should regain its natural, rightful place within the AU.”

    The king however, explained the reasons for returning to the pan African organisation.

    He mentioned the repeated call of many African friends of the kingdom as well as a thorough reflection, which concluded that “when a body is sick, it is treated more effectively from the inside than from the outside.”

    He also stressed that from within, “Morocco will contribute to making the AU a more robust organisation, one that is both proud of its credibility and relieved of the trappings of an obsolete era.”

    Two months after the king’s message to the African leaders, the North African kingdom formally submitted a request to re-join the continental body in September.

    The request was submitted after Morocco received the support of a group of 28 AU member states, representing over the majority of the 54 AU member states required for admission.

    Following this request, the Moroccan king toured numerous African countries, including some that Rabat has long regarded as hostile to its territorial unity, on the top of which the African giant, Nigeria.