Mid-year meeting seeks integration inspiration amid challenges
Missed milestones hamper Africa’s ability to honour the integration ideals of the Abuja Treaty and AU Constitutive Act.
The African Union (AU) sixth mid-year coordination meeting took place in Accra, Ghana, on 21 July 2024 under the theme ‘Educate and skill Africa for the 21st century’. In line with paragraphs 3 and 4 of the rules of procedure for these meetings, it brought together members of the bureau of the AU, chairpersons of the eight regional economic communities (RECs) and regional mechanisms (RMs) and AU Commission officials. The session was chaired by Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
As the principal forum for reviewing African integration, its deliberations focus predominantly on the state of the process, progress in the implementation of major projects and collaboration among stakeholders. Apart from outlining advancements in integration, reports and deliberations highlighted delays in achieving milestones as a major obstacle to the agenda. These concerns led to calls at the meeting for member states to intensify their efforts to realise continental integration. AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, noted that Africa’s RECs ‘are not doing well’ and that ‘their effectiveness, credibility and weight in the overall unity project have, unfortunately, been greatly eroded’.
Progress in
While integration on the continent is difficult to assess comprehensively, three discussion points provided insights. First was the adoption of the African Synthesised Regional Integration Index (ASRI). Until now, assessments of continental integration have relied on the African Regional Integration Index and the African Multidimensional Regional Integration Index, which are known to lack the comprehensiveness needed to track Africa’s multisectoral integration efforts. The new model combines the strengths of both and incorporates lessons from other parts of the world, guaranteeing comprehensive multisectoral tracking to achieve an integrated analysis.
REC effectiveness, credibility and weight in the unity project have been greatly eroded
It assesses the four pillars of political, economic, infrastructure, and human and social integration. The four pillars are further divided into 10 dimensions, which, in turn, are made up of 37 sub-dimensions. Thus, it brings scientific rigour to policy understanding of progress in continental integration rather than relying on anecdotal evidence often based on qualitative narratives too generalised and broad to aid decision-making.
Particularly important is the meeting’s decision mandating the AU Commission, RECs/RMs, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and African Development Bank Group to produce a biennial report on Africa’s integration beginning in 2025.
The second notable outcome was the increase in member state attention on the urgency to establish AU financial institutions. Creating an African central bank and a single African currency is central to the goals of the 1991 Abuja Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community. Further commitment to the goal was expressed through the AU Constitutive Act, which provides for the establishment of the bank, an African monetary fund and an African investment bank. Subsequent efforts culminated in the adoption of the 2009 Protocol on the African Investment Bank and the 2014 Protocol on the Establishment of the African Monetary Fund. These institutions are yet to materialise.
Against the backdrop of contemporary challenges facing Africa from fragmented financial instruments, Ghana President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo underscored the need to ‘create a more cohesive and effective financial framework’. This, he said, would improve the continent’s ‘capacity to mobilise domestic and external resources’. While this was done in his role as the champion for AU financial institutions, his engagement reflects an emerging renewal of focus on the establishment of those institutions.
In this context, the government of national unity of Libya’s efforts to establish a joint steering committee to oversee and promote the implementation of the African investment bank were lauded by the meeting. The emerging readiness of some member states to drive progress in selected areas of integration, if properly harnessed, may gradually snowball into tangible achievements in fulfilling the goals of the Abuja Treaty.
Africa needs a more cohesive and effective financial framework to secure local and global resources
The meeting noted more granular successes of the African Continental Free Trade Area’s guided trade initiative. From seven participating states, 39 member states are now involved. This has broadened integration efforts and directly demonstrates an increase in commitment to implementing the trade area. Furthermore, four trade-aggregating companies have been established in four regions to facilitate access for micro, small and medium enterprises.
Cost of delays
An analysis of reports discussed at the meeting cites considerable delay in enacting agreed milestones as a major challenge to integration. The implementation of multilateral decisions and treaties is often subject to long statutory processes that hinder the realisation of quick outcomes. In Africa’s case, however, the integration agenda currently suffers from perennial delays even in the sectors identified as progressing. At the mid-year summit, two instances were highlighted.
First, despite the renewal of interest in the establishment of AU financial institutions, progress over time has been hampered by delays in meeting milestones and the inability of member states to satisfy the economic convergence criteria for integration. In establishing the central bank, for instance, the Accra meeting reported that, as of 2022, only three of 52 countries met all the primary convergence requirements, 4.2% lower than in the previous year. While this is a direct result of states’ poor economic performance, West Africa’s struggle to implement the economic community single currency proves that without conscious, sustained efforts to meet agreed goals, economic integration cannot advance.
The establishment of the monetary fund and central and investment banks faces similar challenges. While the central bank process grapples with the lack of consensus on the draft Statute of the African Monetary Institute, its oversight body, the other two entities have ratification issues. Currently, the protocol establishing the monetary fund has been signed by only 12 of 55 countries and ratified by only two — Chad and Cameroon. Similarly, the protocol on the investment bank has 22 signatories and only six ratifications (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Libya and Togo).
No major African power has signed nor ratified the central bank and monetary fund protocols
Given that 15 ratifications are needed for the enactment of these major instruments, establishment is far from fruition despite the Abuja Treaty and professed commitment to the realisation of Africa’s integration goals. Also noteworthy is that these delays and non-commitment mirror low commitment by Africa’s regional powers to protocols central to integration, such as the Free Movement Protocol. No major African economic or regional power has signed or ratified the central bank and monetary fund protocols.
The finalisation of mechanisms for stakeholder cooperation in each sector of Africa’s integration goals, as per the 2017 AU Assembly decision on the division of labour, has also suffered lengthy delays. Between 2017 and 2021, progress was made in the trade, political affairs and peace and security sectors.
This informed the 2022 decision by the 35th ordinary session of the AU Assembly that work on the remaining sectors should be conducted. However, since then, efforts have been thwarted largely by the quality of delivery of third parties contracted for that role. Although such hurdles are treated as standalone situations, their cumulative impact on integration is wide-reaching. While the AU Commission may not be blamed for weaknesses originating from the contribution of third parties, it raises questions as to whether the continental body is deriving value for money from such engagements.
Areas needing attention
Meeting discussions make it evident that Africa has much to do to fulfil the goals envisaged in the Abuja Treaty and AU Constitutive Act. This is particularly urgent as the AU’s membership of the G20 must be anchored on a robust continental framework as the matrix for strong AU representation. To achieve this requires member states to address existing and emerging challenges to the integration agenda, key among them being missed milestones that often hold further progress to ransom. The Peace and Security Council and AU Commission must spearhead this urgently.
The meeting’s issues reiterate the importance of the AU mid-year coordination meeting as a major oversight mechanism for African integration. While the forum identifies challenges, its role could be strengthened by enhancing how declarations are definitively assigned to specific actors. This would ensure accountability, provide leadership over milestones and facilitate progress tracking in subsequent coordination meetings.
