How Kenya is strategically leveraging African Union in its pursuit of international influence

Gurjit Singh

The African Union plays a crucial role in shaping Africa’s global influence and diplomatic efforts

The 37th summit of the African Union was held in Addis Ababa on 17 and 18 February 2024, with the theme ‘ Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century ’. This was truly a relevant theme because Africa, with a growing population of about 1.3 billion and a median age of 19 years, is most in need of education and skilling so that its youth can be gainfully employed and utilised in the development of the continent and its member states.Advertisement

Thirty-four leaders out of the 55 member countries participated. Six countries are suspended from the AU due to coups. Guinea and Sudan were suspended in 2021, Burkina Faso in January 2022, and Mali’s suspension since 2021 continues. Niger and Gabon were both suspended in August 2023 .

The development and economic empowerment agenda remained the major focus of the summit. Their decisions touched on education, employment, entrepreneurship and meaningful participation in governance. Awareness of the crucial role of education in building resilience, mitigating and preventing recurring and new violent conflict dynamics is important. Opportunities to strengthen the preventive impact of the right to education employing a human rights-based approach are under consideration .You May LikeDreaming of a perfect kitchen? HomeLane makes it a reality in just 45 daysHomeLaneGet Quote  by TaboolaSponsored Links

But it is peace and security that continue to challenge Africa. Conflicts are ongoing in the DRC, Rwanda, Ethiopia, as well as in the Central African Republic and the AU’s response to coups has been inconsistent and often ineffective. How to deal with conflicts and coups divides regional organisations and the AU membership, leading to a lack of consensus on many such issues. Strengthening human rights, security mechanisms and fostering peace remains an ideal for the AU, for which its peace and security architecture is proving inadequate.

African countries are disproportionately affected by climate change. The summit sought to explore ways to tackle the crisis of climate change and sustainability, which leaves them more vulnerable despite the creation of a loss and damage fund at the last COP. Adaptation strategies, renewable energy development and mobilising international support remain important African goals.Advertisement

How to address African challenges and find a way forward remains a continuing focus for Africa’s complex issues, demanding collective action and unity. At the Meeting of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the AUC chairperson lamented that the African Group of Negotiators often don’t work for their governments, don’t represent all of Africa and sometimes speak on behalf of the donors funding them. He wanted them anchored to the AU Commission.

One of the interesting decisions at the summit was to suspend trading in donkey skins . Africa has one of the largest populations of donkeys, and apparently, they are being slaughtered for their skins, from which an extract called Eijao is used in the cosmetic and medicinal industry, mainly in China. The continent’s donkeys are now better protected through an AU decision.Advertisement

The impact of the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis has accentuated the climate and sustainability crisis in Africa. Africa needs easier access to finance for its climate and development goals. This requires alterations in the global financial system, which the G20 presidency of India effectively brought to light. The linkages between various players, such as international financial institutions, leaders of economic governance and financial regulators, need to all come together to focus on what developing countries require for financing.

To this end, an alliance of African multilateral financial institutions , which are African-owned and run, was launched at the AU summit. This ‘Africa Club’ seeks to enhance African influence in the global financial system and aims to bring it in line with SDGs and the UN Agenda 2063. It seeks innovation in financial management so that debt management can be collaboratively handled and African countries can be relieved from the misery of debt stress.Advertisement

The Africa Club includes the Afri ExIm Bank, the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), the lead bank for COMESA, the Africa Finance Corporation, the African Reinsurance Corporation, African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), Shelter Afrique and PTA Reinsurance Company. However, West African and Southern African banks are missing from this mix. Africa is justifiably proud that the Africa Continental FTA is now working, at least with a limited set of countries, on a fast track.

African leaders also decided that an African Monetary Union should be created. This will be alongside an African Central Bank and an African Investment Bank and possibly a Pan-African Stock Exchange. These institutions were pursued by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya about two decades ago and then fell into a rut. Now, the AU seems to be reconnecting to bring them to the fore again.Advertisement

The AU summit also emphasised that their priorities for the changes required in the international financial system should be recognised. Their access to global finances and the quality of this access as outlined in the Nairobi Declaration and the Vulnerable 20 group of countries are all essential. These include creative solutions to the debt crisis, enhancement of grant and concessional financing to Africa, reordering the SDRs issued by the IMF so that African financial institutions could utilize them, providing Africa with a greater voice and role in decision-making in financial institutions, and a greater international commitment to the green growth agenda for Africa.

A Presidential Dialogue on the Africa Agenda for Global Financial Architecture Reform took place at the summit. Recommendations included a greater capitalisation of the multilateral development banks, an emphasis on climate vulnerability criteria, and altered eligibility criteria depending on income level from MDBs, especially for middle-income countries facing climate challenges.

Middle-income countries in Africa often suffer from debt stress as well and a call was made to include them in the debt restructuring advocated by the G20 Common Framework. The poor credit ratings of African countries reduce their ability to raise private capital and increase the cost of providing risk insurance, perpetuating the cycle of high finance costs. Empowering African financial institutions and their regional development banks was emphasized.

The President of Ghana suggested that 30 per cent of African reserves held in non-African banks should be brought into African multilateral financial institutions to provide them with the leverage required for a stronger financial role. He also suggested that these African institutions should be commonly accepted by the AU membership and designated as agencies of the African Union to give them higher stature.

Some African countries are certainly playing a bigger role. Kenya is now the co-chair of the task force on international taxation. Kenya also hosted a Leaders Summit on Climate action. The AU reform effort, led by Rwandan President Paul Kagame since 2016 , led to the revitalisation of the Peace Fund. A total of $400 million was mobilised leading to the United Nations Security Council moving to co-finance 75 per cent of African Union peace operations for the first time. It still needs to address the respective roles of the AU Commission Chairperson, elected for four years, and the annual member state leader as AU Chair. With the AU now in the G20, this acquires salience. The AU Summit agenda also tends to become larger and lose focus. Everything does not need to be done by Heads of State. With increasing insecurity, the principle of ‘subsidiarity’ is often misinterpreted within coherence in decisions taken at the AU and regional levels. He is replaced by Kenyan President Ruto , a newcomer to the leadership of Africa, but who is playing a much bigger role and has become more vocal on issues of climate and sustainability.

This was the last summit of the present AU Commission, particularly its chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who has held an unprecedented two terms. He is from Chad in Central Africa. Earlier, West Africa, through Alpha Oumar Konaré of Mali, Central Africa, through Jean Ping of Gabon, and Southern Africa, through Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa, held office. Now North and East Africa are left. The North is divided. It was their turn to Chair the AU for 2024, and the standoff between Morocco and Algeria led to a compromise candidate through the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. Now it is expected that East Africa would have its turn as the chair of the AU Commission.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has thrown his hat in the ring and announced that he would seek that position. Kenyan President Ruto seems to be backing him. They both flew to Uganda to meet President Museveni, where they discussed this candidacy. During a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to Nairobi in February, this was further discussed. Kenya, in its diplomatic activism, seems to be finding a role for Raila and also getting him honourably out of Kenyan politics. This will also fulfill Kenya’s current enthusiasm for a larger regional and international relevance.

The writer is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.TagsAFRICAN UNION