ACCRA, Nov. 14 – Ghana is considering moving up to Tier One in its assessed contributions to the African Union (AU), a step that would place the country among the continent’s top financial contributors to the Union, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said.
Mr Ablakwa disclosed this in Accra on Friday at the 27th Extraordinary Session of the AU Executive Council on Financing the African Union, the Daily Graphic reported.
He said President John Dramani Mahama had tasked the Foreign Affairs Ministry to begin analysing the move and advise him on it, ahead of Ghana taking over the AU Chairmanship in January next year.
“As AU Chairman, President John Dramani Mahama will be committed to leading by example, not just engaging in mere rhetoric,” Mr Ablakwa said.
What Tier One means
Under the AU’s Scale of Assessment for 2020–2022, Ghana was in Tier Two, assessed at 2.811 per cent, alongside countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania and Zambia. Tier Two members had a highest ceiling of $10 million in assessed contributions.
Tier One was made up of the continent’s six largest economies – Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa – which together were assessed at 45.151 per cent of the Union’s assessed budget, with ceilings of between $15 million and $35 million. Ethiopia and Kenya have stepped up to Tier One for the 2027–2029 cycle.
Moving up would give Ghana’s voice more weight in AU decision-making and negotiations on peace, finance and reforms.
Push for AU financial institutions
Mr Ablakwa said Ghana intends to deposit its instruments of ratification of the AU financial institutions by 2027, and would convene an extraordinary summit in Accra during its chairmanship to drive support for the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.
“A financially autonomous AU is essential to achieving the Africa we want — an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent capable of asserting its rightful place in the international community,” he said.
The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, urged African leaders to back their rhetoric on sovereignty with money and concrete action. “Our sovereignty is not only voiced loud and clear, but it must be built, organised and financed by our member countries,” he said.
Source: Daily Graphic.
Featured image: African Union Conference Centre, Addis Ababa. Photo: Andrew Moore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
