Ghana is considering moving to Tier One in its assessed contributions to the African Union (AU), a move that will place the country among the continent’s top financial contributors to the Union.
As a top contributor, Ghana’s voice will carry more weight in AU decision-making, agenda-setting and negotiations on peace, finance and reforms.
It will also reinforce the country’s commitment to self-funding of the AU as it takes over the Chairmanship of the Union in January next year.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, disclosed this in Accra yesterday at the 27th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council on Financing the AU.
He said President John Dramani Mahama had tasked his outfit to begin the analysis and advise him on the possibility of moving to Tier One.
“As AU Chairman, President John Dramani Mahama will be committed to leading by example, not just engaging in mere rhetoric,” Mr Ablakwa said.
Background
Under the AU's Scale of Assessment 2020-2022, Ghana was listed in Tier Two at 2.811 per cent, alongside Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Libya, DR Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Uganda and Zambia.
The Tier Two countries had their highest ceiling at $10 million as assessed contribution.
Tier One, by contrast, were the six largest economies - Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, collectively assessed at 45.151 per cent of the Union's assessed budget.
They contribute between $15 and $35 million as its highest ceiling.
Ethiopia and Kenya had just stepped up from Tier Two to Tier One for the 2027-2029 cycle.
Ratification
Mr Ablakwa said hosting the session was not just about providing a venue, but reflected Ghana’s enduring commitment to Pan-Africanism and its conviction that Africa’s development must be driven, financed and sustained by Africans.
“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 minister said Ghana intends to deposit its instruments of ratification of the AU financial institutions by 2027.
During its chairmanship, he said Ghana would convene an extraordinary summit on African financial institutions in Accra to galvanise political will and financial commitment towards the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.
Mr Ablakwa said Ghana was coming to the session not only to host, but with a commitment as AU champion for the establishment of AU financial institutions.
Partnership
The minister expressed support for a proposed partnership between the AU and the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AU-AMFI), anchored on the principle of “African financing Africa”.
The framework sets three flagship targets: doubling the aggregate capital base, risk-bearing capacity and financing capacity of participating African multilateral financial institutions within three to five years; mobilising an additional US$200 billion in financing, investment, insurance, guarantees and risk mitigation support for Agenda 2063 over the next decade, and achieving continent-wide participation in African multilateral financial institutions by 2030.
Action
For his part, the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, challenged African leaders to match their rhetoric on sovereignty with money, organisation and concrete action.
Mr Youssouf said Africa's ambition for a self-reliant Union would be judged not by declarations, but by the effectiveness of its collective actions.
"It is incumbent on us to translate that ambition into a genuine paradigm shift.
Our sovereignty is not only voiced loud and clear, but it must be built, organised and financed by our member countries," he said.
