NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 – Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi have backed a new financing framework to reduce the African Union’s dependence on external donors and strengthen its financial independence.
The two Cabinet Secretaries said African countries must take greater responsibility for funding the continental body’s operations and development programmes amid declining predictability of foreign aid, rising public debt and growing global economic uncertainty.
Speaking during an Extraordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council and Ministers of Finance in Accra, Ghana, on Friday, Mudavadi endorsed Option C, a proposed financing framework intended to make the AU financially sustainable and improve accountability in the use of its resources.
Mudavadi, who was representing President William Ruto in his capacity as the AU Champion for Institutional Reform, said the continent’s ability to finance its institutions was central to its political and economic independence.
He argued that the AU’s reliance on external development partners undermined its ability to independently implement decisions and pursue the ambitions outlined in Agenda 2063.
“Africa must have the means to finance the Africa it envisions,” Mudavadi said.
Kenya’s position comes amid renewed efforts to implement previous continental commitments, including the Johannesburg Decision 578 and Kigali Decision 605, which sought to increase member states’ contributions towards financing the African Union.
