African Union wants financial independence

Representatives from members states of the African Union (AU) on Thursday vowed to seek financial independence of the organization.

They want the AU to provide its own budget by 2016, Chairperson of the AU Executive Council, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said.

The AU has pledged to finance its working budget using mainly domestic resources, Mumbengegwi told reporters in Johannesburg where the 25th AU Summit is taking place.

"Starting from 2016, Member States will be financing 100 percent of the operation budget, at least 75 percent of the Programs Budget and at least 25 percent of its peace keeping Operation Budget," he said.

Since its inception in 1963, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), predecessor of the AU, had been dogged by financial constraints, as its working budget was foreign funded.

The organization was renamed as AU in 2002.

South Africa, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria provide about 65 percent of the contributions to the AU.

The decision was not only necessary but was an important step taken by the organization to ensure that Africa control its programs and activities, said Mumbengegwi.

He also emphasized that the AU should live within its own budget to avoid what he said "overdependence on our cooperating partners."

According to the AU, the draft plan for 2014-2017 is now under discussion prioritizing eight key areas, including economic development, human capital and agricultural development. Endi