The East African Community considers a political federation

The heads of state of the East African Community (EAC) met in Arusha to discuss the reports from national consultations on the rapid formation of the East African federation in Rwanda and Burundi, the common market protocol and is expected to come up with a joint position on the proposed African Union Government. Prior to the heads of state summit, Tanzanian negotiators had differed with their peers from other EAC country members on three issues included in the draft protocol, namely: national ID documents, access to and use of land as well as permanent residence. Furthermore, airlines in the region have expressed their impatience over delays in instituting a single EAC visa, a move that would boost tourism in the community.

African foreign ministers met for an extraordinary session in Sirte, Libya to deliberate on the process of transforming the African Union Commission (AUC) into a Union Authority, focusing on the key ministries that would constitute the new authority. The ministers adopted a report on the creation of an AU Authority to replace the existing AUC and agreed on the structures, the plan of action for the Authority and on the number of Authority ministries, but decided to present to the heads of state and government issues regarding foreign affairs, security and defence. However, research from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) argues that the transformation should offer an opportunity to institute some of the recommendations called for by the Audit Report, in particular those concerning the Commission’s independence and capacity.

Elsewhere, the chairperson of the AUC Jean Ping, appealed to all member states of the pan-African organisation and its partners to ‘refrain from any action likely to endorse illegality in Madagascar’ and urged them to support the AU position as expressed by the peace and security council of suspending the country from the AU. During a seminar hosted by the African security analysis programme, lssaka K. Souaré ‘noted that to date the AU has been consistent in its application of its policy’ towards unconstitutional changes in government by way of a military coup d’état but that there appeared to be no coherent position with regards to the other forms such as those seen in Zimbabwe and Kenya. He further suggested that ‘the AU should not only be reactionary but should also begin with the condemnation of undemocratic governments or those abusing the democratic process’.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie organised ‘The Commonwealth Ministerial Debt Sustainability Forum’ at the World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. for finance ministers from some 53 African and Caribbean countries to compare notes on how to deal with the global financial turmoil in developing countries. Leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20), acknowledging that the global financial crisis has a top-heavy impact on poor countries, had earlier promised to avail hundreds of billions of United States dollars to those countries as part of a $1.1 trillion plan to rescue the world economy. African leaders who met the United Kingdom Prime Minister, the host of the G20 summit, delivered a strong message that the international community had to honour their commitments ‘to increase aid, improve trade access and agree to a fairer, more flexible system of managing international financial affairs’ to help the continent protect the development gains of recent years. The AU ministers in charge of commerce, during their fifth ordinary session on the global economic and financial crisis on trade and development in Africa, highlighted the need to place African economic development at the centre of international efforts to stabilise the ailing financial sector and to build strategies towards the recovery of the global economy. The AUC, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa organised a two-day workshop at the AUC headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to analyse trends and difficulties encountered by countries with the aim of seeking solutions and accelerating the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.

In other news, a Pan African delegation of farming leaders, national parliamentarians and civil society organisation representatives travelled to Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Paris and London to engage their European peers regarding the Economic Partnership Agreements and the European Common Agricultural Policy, instruments that risk having disastrous consequences on African small scale farmers. Also, African trade ministers have reiterated their position that all development-oriented partnerships between Africa and the European Union (EU) should be geared towards the attainment of the objectives of eradication of poverty, achievement of sustainable growth and deepening of Africa’s integration into the global trading and economic systems. The AU and the EU have jointly launched a new ten million Euro initiative called ‘Better training for safer food in Africa’ to help African states improve their food safety systems for the benefit of their populations and economies. Agriculture ministers of the G8 and G5 met for a two-day conference in Italy to discuss the global food crisis and develop concrete proposals to address food security. Finally, African journalists are invited to join the Twenty Ten project, which is inspired by the 2010 FIFA World Cup and being organised on the African continent for the first time.