WHEN AU QUESTIONS ITSELF

With the country expected to host an African Union Summit in less than 36 months from now, it goes without saying that the recent SADC Summit we hosted provided valuable experience that should ensure the gains far outweigh the challenges of playing host.

One of the most important lessons, of course, is to never leave things too late, particularly with raising the necessary resources. Last minute decisions are costly because often they are not budgeted for, leading to a rob Peter to pay Paul scenario.
Logic dictates that when such meetings demand a lot from a country’s resource, the greater the need for open plans or strategies that create an appreciation of the Summit objectives which garner support rather than scepticism. We can all agree that there are serious shortcomings in this department.

Positions

For instance we know more about the need for a hotel than we do about the need for an AU and its activities to help our country. Currently, Swaziland holds key positions in the AU. His Majesty sits as Vice Chair of the AU Bureau, the top structure of the organisation. How are we tapping into this advantage? We also have a Swazi, Treasure Maphanga, who is Director of Trade and Industry at the AU and she is about to pull off a major Continental Free Trade Area. How is our country, which is struggling with economic growth, positioning itself around this and how close is the private sector working with her? There is a detach here that needs to be addressed urgently.

Ironically, the AU has initiated reforms of itself that seek to address this disconnect with the people for countries given that its current form does not seem to provide the returns that are commensurate with the financial commitments expected from member states.
More than half of AU members are reportedly struggling to keep up with subscriptions to finance the operations of the continental body and a recommendation has been put forward to suspend those owing beyond 18 months after due dates.

The most interesting aspect of these developments is that they are coming from the leaders, more than the citizens of countries. Rwanda President Paul Kagame is leading the AU institutional reform team and the president is no stranger to transformation given what he has done in his home country.

Subscriptions

His team also wants total commitment from member countries from subscriptions to implementation of decisions, the lack of which could render the organisation just another expensive talk shop. This commitment includes active participation where representation of a Head of State should not go below the level of prime minister or vice president.

The recruitment of officials to serve in the AU structures has also been put to question as the reforms team has found a lack of managerial capacity, lack of accountability for performance at all levels and inefficient working methods in both the Commission and the Assembly.

“The Assembly has adopted more than 1 500 resolutions yet there is no easy way to determine how many of those have been implemented,” reads the institutional reform report. This is a strong statement coming from some of the AU leaders. Not every leader is in agreement with the report, particularly on the ‘how’ these reforms should be carried out which is something that will be up for debate in subsequent engagements.

Another section of the AU believes much progress has been made. At a press briefing preceding the General Assembly, the AU Commissioner of Economic Affairs Ambassador Dr Anthony Maruping has come out to say there is progress on each of the 13 flagship projects which he says is proving sceptics wrong.

Structures

He listed progress on the launch of the African Economic Platform (AEP) in March 2017, having the  Continental Free Trade Area structures in place, development of the Pan African Investment Code which is ready for adoption, having the joint AUC - AACB strategy towards monetary cooperation for the eventual establishment of the African Central Bank being adopted, ratification of statutes for the establishment of the African Monetary Fund (AMF) by member states being sought; the personnel for the establishment of the Great Museum of Africa in Algeria, now in place and ready for action.

Can anybody resonate with any of the above? Certainly not the layman. So why is government not leading the charge to unpack all of this and how it is of any help to you and me?
Time to begin the serious discussion of post AU 2020 is long overdue, not to mention the fund-raising drive.

Ethiopia has just pulled off a successful 29th African Union Summit which ended this week in Addis Ababa, but the slight benefit for this country is that it hosts the AU headquarters which plays host to various meetings and conferences all year round. This brings much needed foreign currency into the country. More hotels are being built to tap into this demand.
So with the AU questioning itself, we also ought to as what is the strategy for Swaziland beyond 2020?

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