By James Amoh Junior, GNA
Accra, Nov. 14, GNA – Ghana will deposit its instruments of ratification for the establishment of three key African Union (AU) financial institutions by 2027, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday.
The institutions are the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund, and the African Investment Bank, which are expected to strengthen the continent’s financial independence and capacity to mobilise resources for its development.
Mr Ablakwa made the announcement when he delivered the welcome address at the Extraordinary Session of the AU Executive Council on Financing the African Union in Accra.
He said the commitment was in line with Ghana’s determination to advance the establishment of African financial institutions and reduce the continent’s dependence on external sources of financing.
President John Dramani Mahama is the AU Champion for the Establishment of African Union Financial Institutions.
Mr Ablakwa said Ghana would also strengthen the domestic implementation of the 0.2 per cent levy on eligible imports and report its progress to the Executive Council.
He called on all AU member states to take at least one concrete step towards ratifying the instruments establishing the institutions before the next meeting.
The Minister announced that Ghana would convene an Extraordinary Summit on African Financial Institutions in Accra in 2027 when it assumed the Chairmanship of the Union.
The summit would provide an opportunity for African leaders to move beyond discussions and commit to building, capitalising and operationalising the institutions.
Mr Ablakwa said no nation or continent could be considered truly sovereign unless it controlled the institutions that financed its future.
He described the African Central Bank, African Monetary Fund and African Investment Bank as essential foundations for the continent’s financial independence.
On broader AU financing reforms, the minister said Ghana supported an integrated approach that combined financial autonomy with institutional efficiency.
He noted that member states were projected to finance nearly 99 per cent of the Union’s operational budget in 2027 but only about four per cent of its programme budget and 12 per cent of its peace and security budget.
The situation showed the urgent need for African countries to mobilise more domestic resources to finance the continent’s priorities, he noted.
Mr Ablakwa urged member states to demonstrate the political will to implement their commitments, saying Africa had the resources, institutions and ideas needed to finance its future.
The Foreign Minister also welcomed the proposed partnership between the AU Commission and the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, which seeks to mobilise African resources to support the continent’s development.
The partnership aims to double the capital and financing capacity of the institutions within three to five years and mobilise an additional US$200 billion in financing, investment, insurance, guarantees and risk mitigation over the next decade.
It also seeks to achieve continent-wide participation by 2030.
Mr Ablakwa called for accelerated implementation of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), deeper African capital markets and the establishment of an African Financial Architecture Scorecard to track progress towards financial independence.
He stressed that the proposed financing partnership should complement, rather than replace, the financial contributions of member states.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: James Amoh Junior
Email: [email protected]