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The past week has been a busy one for the streets of
Addis Abeba. It saw the coming to pass of the 14th
edition of the African Union Summit. Security
personnel were orchestrating the fleet of guests
alongside the blockade of the roads for the ordinary
Addis Abeban who had to seek alternative means and
routes of passage around town.
The far removed nature of the comings and goings of
these diplomats on the streets of Addis is also
evident in the conferences they held as most were
closed sessions of deliberations.
These discussions and deliberations began ahead of
the summit of the leaders on Monday, January 25,
2010.
During that time, support for the earthquake victims
of Haiti was an agenda raised. Jean Ping, chairman
of the African Union Commission, the executive wing
of the Union, pleaded with member states to make
contributions for the victims through a fund raising
account established at the African Development Bank.
The second day saw the highlighting of the proposed
budget which stood at a staggering 250 million
dollars, a large chunk of which (217 million
dollars) would go to the African Union Commission (AUC)
operations and projects.
A tele-medicine centre was also inaugurated on the
premises of AU headquarters on Thursday, January 28,
the fourth day of the summit. The facility was an
over 116 million dollar project funded by the Indian
government.
The opening date of the leaders’ summit on January
31, 2010 saw a number of incidents, among which the
election of a new chairperson of the Union was the
most spellbinding. The election process features the
rotation of the chairmanship annually among Africa’s
five regions – North, South, East, West and Central.
This year was the southern region’s turn.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC)
unanimously selected Bingu Wa Mutharika, Malawi’s
President, as its candidate for the post; despite
the displeasure of the Libyan President, Muammar
Gaddafi, and his wishes of a second term at the
post.
The ever flamboyant Gaddafi was reluctant to give up
the post as he “was already in the process of
transforming the AU bureaucracy into a powerful
African Authority” – the next stage in the
integration of the states.
The Tunisian government had also submitted a letter
endorsing the re-election of the Libyan leader as
the chairperson of the Union on the starting dates
of the summit.
Gaddafi was running his famed agenda of the rapid
formation of the United States of Africa – unlike
the usual take-it-slow paradigm of doing things at
the AU, according to observers.
“He was seeking a reelection for a second term
contrary to the procedures prescribed by the
establishing documents of the Union,” Kongit
Sinegiorgis (Ambassador), permanent representative
of Ethiopia to the AU, said at a press conference
she gave.
The opening date saw the unveiling of the new flag
of the AU. The old flag of the Union that has been
serving as the symbol of the goals and values of
African concord since the formation of the
Organization of the African Union in 1963 was also
replaced with a new one at the summit. The change
was needed to reflect the values of the new Union.
In accordance with this decision reached in the 2007
heads of state summit held in Addis Abeba, a
competition was launched for the new design.
The day of the announcement coincided with the
opening ceremony of this year’s summit. The flag
exhibited a green background as prescribed by the
heads of state to signify Africa’s hope, and the
stars were to embody each member state.
The winning design and the 10,000 dollar prize went
to a Seattle based Ethiopian graphic designer,
Yedetta Bojia, who works at the University of
Washington.
“The University is proud of my winning design,” he
said, “that’s why I get such long days off [in Addis
Abeba].”
The flag was hoisted by the outgoing chairperson,
Gaddafi himself.
Other highlights from the opening of the summit were
the addresses to the assembly by Ban Ki Moon, the
secretary general of the UN; the President of the
European Union and Spanish President Jose Luis
Rodrigues Zapattero.
With regard to economic integration, steps have been
taken in this summit in the areas of the so called
Pan African financial institutions. The
establishment of the African Investment Bank was the
first of these institutions whose establishment was
realised at the summit. The others that are yet to
materialise are the African Monetary Fund and the
African Central Bank.
“The purpose of the investment bank is to foster
macroeconomic integration,” Maxwell Mkwezalamba,
commissioner of economic affairs with the union,
said. “It is expected to bring about development
through investment in projects in line with the
objectives of the Union.”
The bank headquarters will be based in Tripoli,
Libya.
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
secretariat, the executive arm of the NEPAD, was
also integrated into the AU, based in South Africa.
This organ of the partnership was renamed NEPAD
Planning and Coordinating Agency, and is now
accountable to the AUC chairperson.
“This only makes the role and nature of our work
clearer,” Andrew Kanyegirire, communications manager
for NEPAD said. “[The institution] is now going to
focus on the knowledge management and sourcing of
financing for key projects that are expected to
foster trade in member states,” Andrew further
explained.
Having passed 56 decisions in total by the
participation of 50 countries, and having hosted
invited guests from the UN, the EU and the African
Development Bank, among others, the summit came to a
close on February 2, 2010.
The closing was filled with energy as the PM of St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, a representative of the
Caribbean delegation, first addressed the ceremony.
He appreciated the solidarity the African people
showed in assisting the earthquake stricken people
of Haiti, and associated this point with the large
population of people of African descent in the
Caribbean region. Some West African states including
Liberia had offered land to Haitians who may wish to
resettle in Africa on top of monetary contributions
pledged.
The 14th African Union Summit concluded with
enthusiasm to spare for the implementation of its
adoptions. |
