According to a statement, the AU said: “It is clear that the current financing arrangement for the African Union dependent on assessed contributions of member-states and partner funds are no longer adequate, sustainable and reliable to meet the growing financing needs of the union.”
Nigeria is among the major financiers of the AU as was the previous OAU, according senior Nigerian government officials, but the AU is now complaining about delays in payments by member-states.
Although the statement did not mention, which member-states are in default or are behind in their financial responsibility to the union, the appointment of Obasanjo to chair the team of eminent Africans to solve the problem is seen as indicative of Nigeria’s financial leadership on the continent and in the affairs of the AU.
While Obasanjo is to lead the panel, charged with finding ways of alternative funding for the AU, other members include Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary
General of the Organisation of African Unity, and Dr. Luisa Dias Diogo, former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Mozambique who is also a member of United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Global Sustainability.
There will also be on the panel, a personal representative of the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who is the current chairperson of the AU.
According to the statement, the commission has listed a number of alternative ways of funding for the AU secretariat and the Obasanjo panel is to decide and work out details on how member-states can make the new sources of funding work. The options listed in the AU statement include “import levy, tax on air tickets and tax on insurance premiums.”
The statement noted that “some of these options are already being applied and have proven successful in some member states. It is the commission’s wish that this long standing issue would be acted upon decisively once and for all for inaction is no longer an option if the AU is to succeed in addressing its numerous challenges.”
According to the AU, “delays in payment of contributions by member states, coupled with the difficulty in accessing partner funds, for example, are increasingly impacting negatively on the pace of implementation of the union’s activities, projects and programmes.
“These are major challenges that deserve urgent attention and all the technical analyses conducted so far have confirmed that options identified as alternatives to the current system of financing will not only have significant revenue impact for the union but will also be equitable and efficient.”
Source: Guardian
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