African ministers agree on roadmap to fund AU

African ministers of finance have agreed on a roadmap for implementing 0.2 percent import levy to fund the African Union (AU), said an AU statement on Monday.

The two-day conference of the ministers at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa concluded last week, with the general consensus on the need to speedily implement the Financing of the AU by 2017, according to the statement.

The consensus reflects several important outcomes of the Decision of the 27th AU summit in Kigali this year -- to impose a 0.2 percent levy on eligible imports for all members' states to finance the AU, said the statement.

The ministers adopted the guidelines on the modalities of implementing the levy to provide reliable and predictable funding for the operational budget of the AU, the Program and Peace Support Operations budgets, it said.

"It cannot be a better time to implement the 0.2 levy now that the AU is spearheading Agenda 2063 and its 10-year flagship projects. The import levy will help generate funds for reliable, sustainable and predictable financing of the Union's activities," said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission in the statement.

The ministers have also agreed on the need to reduce dependency on partner funds for implementation of continental development and integration programs. Endit