By Vincent DublangePosted on 19-11-2018Modified on 19-11-2018 at 20:43

The 55 members of the continental organization adopted several reforms at the 11th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union, held Saturday, November 17 and Sunday, November 18 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In particular, reforms must make the institution more efficient and autonomous. Decryption.

It was a " constructive " summit, says a member of a state delegation. " Satisfactory ", validates on his side the Chadian president of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Moussa Faki Mahamat. Yet for two days, the most cautious observers to the very actors of the institution, all were far from sharing this optimism. " The mountain has given birth to a mouse, " slices a senior source within the AU.

It is indeed difficult to understand how the measures validated Sunday afternoon, in the presence of less than half of the Heads of State and Government of Africa (22 out of 55), will revolutionize the daily life of the organization pan-African , 55 years old. " This is the first time a summit of heads of state meets to discuss the reform, " recalls Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo , who heads the unit in charge of the file with the AU Commission. Even the European Union has not launched such a broad and ambitious reform, according to another part of the organization.

The recast of the Commission, the executive of the Union.

According to the reforms and their consequences, the next team will be elected in January-February 2021. At that date, they will not be ten, but eight: a president, a vice-president and six commissioners. Parity must be respected: if a woman is president, a man will be vice-president and vice-versa. There will also be three female and three male commissioners. In addition, the balance between the five regions (North, West, East, Central, Southern) will also have to be taken into account.

But this is the method of appointment and the mandate of this Commission which, according to their designers, must change the situation. The president should thus become the true boss of his administration, because he is " the face of the African Union, he is the Director General, at the same time he is the Budget Officer of the whole Union ", recalls Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo. At the beginning and at the end of the nomination process, the states remain: each region nominates a candidate and the Assembly of 55 heads of state decides on the winner. But between the two, the volunteers for the post of president of the Commission will have to submit to a course worthy of the private sector: CV on line, profession of faith, televised debate, if possible diffused on the national televisions, and big oral final face to the leaders.

The goal : Re-establish a hierarchy and save money

The mandate of the " boss " will change: he will be master, with his vice-president, the budget and human resources of the continental institution. For example, he may now decide to terminate the duties of one of his commissioners. This is to reinstate a clear hierarchy so that the AU executive has the strength and legitimacy to implement the decisions leaders make summit after summit - of which only 10% would actually be implemented, according to a source within the organization. In return for this increased independence, he will have to set clear targets each year and report on their progress.

According to these changes, the Member States may also terminate the duties of the President, Vice-President and Commissioners. Does this bring private sector management to the AU? " That's exactly what Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo says, since it's about putting in place a results-based management system ."

→ Read (re) read: Guest Africa " This is the first time an extraordinary summit is dedicated to reform "

This reform of the African Union Commission also aims to save money. The reform unit is talking about $ 500,000 set aside a year, with the removal of two commissioner positions. It should also be remembered that the leaders agreed in July 2018 in Nouakchott to go from two to an annual summit with the leaders - there will be only an Executive Council between ministers, followed by a meeting of ministers. coordination between the AU and regional economic communities in the summer of 2019 in Niamey.

Funding reform and sanctions against bad payers

This was one of the major decisions of the Kigali regular summit in July 2016 : the adoption of a 0.2% tax on a list of imported products in order to " secure " the payment by the 55 members of the 'UA of their annual financial contribution. The idea is simply to help states find the money to pay their dues. Today, 24 of them have put it in place, according to the Commission's figures. Legally, it is a directive therefore " the pace and the modalities of its implementation depend on each Member State ," decrypts Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo. Some have specific constraints. " Sometimes they have to amend their Constitution to allow this tax and we know what it means to do that on the continent, " says a Commission employee.

In addition, the United States continues to put pressure. The US mission to the AU challenges AFP the regularity of this type of " trade measures ", under the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). But the Commission continues to be optimistic about this tax at 0.2% which would have reduced the dependence of the continental organization on donors from 60% to 30%, according to the research team. reforms.

Sanctions for members who do not pay their contribution

If this tax was not addressed during the 11th Extraordinary Summit in Addis Ababa, the states have however advanced on another point: the tightening of sanctions against members who pay late or do not pay their annual contribution. " We are one month away from the end of the budget year, the contributions are only up to 50%, the chairman of the Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat , instigated at the closing press conference. How do you want a Commission to implement its annual program ? "

The summit has therefore validated a system of gradual sanctions, depending on the delay in payment, which may lead to a State suspending the floor during AU meetings until the exclusion of any participation in the activities of the AU. organization, including summits, according to a working document consulted by RFI. On the other hand, the revision of the scale of financial contributions was postponed to the summit of 10-11 February 2019, in Addis Ababa. It must allow major contributors not to pay alone more than 40% of the note.

The creation of a development agency

The new Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) is transformed into the African Union Development Agency - Nepad. " Heads of State wanted to keep the brand Nepad which is already well known, " said Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo. In concrete terms, the summit of 17-18 November defined the mandate of this refounded institution and, above all, integrated the budget into that of the AU.

The idea is to ensure that each body draws in the same direction, and in particular in that of regional and continental integration, that is to say the rapprochement of African economies and peoples. It was the idea behind the transformation of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) into an African Union in 2002, recalled Moussa Faki Mahamat in his opening speech. In the same vein, President Faki must work on a better division of labor between his Commission, the former Nepad, the regional organizations (ECOWAS, SADC, IGAD, etc.) and the States.

From theory to practice, the failures of President Kagame

The Rwandan Head of State had been appointed by his peers in July 2016, at his home in Kigali, to propose ways to reform the AU and bring them to fruition. In January 2017, Paul Kagame presented his report with the aim of " shaking the coconut tree ", reported a source close to the file in World Africa . The leader of the country of a thousand hills thus wished, according to Le Monde Africa , that the President of the Commission elected in 2021 could appoint his commissioners directly, which would have given him greater legitimacy and power over the Member States.

This option was quickly postponed. " Kagame met with a dull hostility, especially from southern and northern Africa who carved out proposals " cingle a senior cadre of the organization. Proposals he calls " rather revolutionary ". " Hostility deaf, it seems to me that the expression is appropriate, abounds another member of the AU administration . North Africa opposes some of the fundamental elements of the reform, including the issue of the division of labor between the AU Commission, regional economic communities and States. This is mainly because there are no regional economic communities in North Africa. As for southern Africa, it wants to have more control over the Commission and highlights that it is (mainly South Africa) a major contributor. "

The fear of over-reinforcing the Commission, and thus giving up sovereignty, is at the heart of the reform process of this institution, which " no longer fits the 21st century ", as one executive puts it. " The reform is a process, the Member States are gradually giving up shares of sovereignty, " wants to believe Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo. For the former Cameroonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, it also took a long time for the European Union to elect the President of the Commission by the European Parliament. " We have done our share of the work to continue the journey and I expect the next AU [...] President to continue on the same track and with the same progress ", concluded Paul Kagame closing the summit of November 2018. It remains to be seen whether his successor, the Egyptian Abdel Fatah Al-Sissi, will have the same ambition.

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