Prime Cabinet Secretary Mudavadi Backs AU Funding Framework

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi backed a new financing framework for the African Union at an extraordinary session of the AU Executive Council and Ministers of Finance in Accra, Ghana, urging member states to increase funding to secure the Union’s financial independence.

Mudavadi, representing President William Ruto who is the AU Champion for Institutional Reform, said Africa’s financial sovereignty is essential for implementing collective decisions, protecting independence and achieving Agenda 2063, and warned that reliance on external donors undermines the AU’s mandate.

The two cabinet secretaries endorsed Option C, a proposal built on four pillars: a high-value programme anchored in Agenda 2063, a consolidated medium-term expenditure framework, a 0.2 percent levy on eligible imports together with a US$1 billion African Union Peace Fund endowment, and reforms to make the Union leaner and more accountable.

Mudavadi said, “Kenya maintains that the African Union must concentrate its resources on programmes that deliver measurable benefits to African citizens,” and added, “Africa must have the means to finance the Africa it envisions.”

He noted that while the Johannesburg Decision 578 and Kigali Decision 605 have increased member-state responsibility, financing targets remain largely unmet, leaving the AU dependent on external development partners.

Kenya also supports a structured partnership between the African Union and the African Association of Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) to mobilise African capital and strengthen home-grown financial institutions.

The 27th Extraordinary Session, hosted at the Labadi Beach Hotel under the patronage of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, brought together finance and foreign affairs ministers, the AU Commission, the AU High Representative for Financing the Union and representatives of African multilateral financial institutions to discuss practical financing mechanisms.

Delegates are expected to develop recommendations for the AU Assembly’s 40th Ordinary Session in January 2027.