Morocco re-admitted to AU, new Commission chair
THE CURTAIN fell on the 28th AU Summit yesterday with the announcement of the re-admission of Morocco and fresh priorities for the continent.
Heads of state and government yesterday voted to re-admit Morocco, represented by King Mohammed VI, as the 55th member. Morocco had left the organisation in 1984.
Thirty-nine of the 54 states approved Morocco’s return to the AU, although some leading African countries, including South Africa, opposed the move which was seen as damaging the cause of the Sahrawi people and their quest for self-determination in the Western Sahara,.
The newly elected AU Commission chairperson from Chad, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who replaced South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will be expected to oversee the commission’s efforts at ensuring peace and security on the continent. Areas of concern include South Sudan and Burundi.
He will also have other priorities, such as the mooted investment in young people, ending child marriages, a renewed focus on agriculture, the free movement of goods and people as well as funding for the body.
On Monday, the new UN secretary-general António Guterres underlined the importance of a strategic partnership between the AU and the world body in order to build sustainable development and advance peace and security on the continent.
Guterres told African leaders at the summit that “I am here to listen to you, learn from you and work with you for the people of Africa and the wider world”.
He expressed gratitude to African countries for providing the majority of UN peacekeepers around the world and for being “among the world’s largest and most generous hosts of refugees.
Dlamini Zuma, a champion of women’s empowerment, warned in her farewell speech of new challenges brought about by US President Donald Trump’s executive decree to bar citizens from several countries – among them three African countries – from entering the US. She urged Africans to stand as one in seeking ways to deal with the challenge.
Ghanaian ambassador Kwesi Quarte was elected deputy chairperson of the AU Commission, which puts him in charge of finances.
He will oversee the implementation of the new funding model that requires member states to levy 0.2% on all eligible imports. Such a move would raise an estimated $1.5 billion (R20.1bn), much more than the present operational budget of around $800 million.
Another matter that was discussed during the retreat of heads of state and government was the International Criminal Court, which some African countries, including South Africa, want to pull out of. – ANA and Xinhua