Morocco calls for securing financial independence of AU

Morocco insisted, Wednesday in Addis Ababa, before the first meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee of the African Union (PRC) under Comorian chairmanship, on the need to secure the financial independence of the pan-African organization, whose budget currently dependents on foreign partners.

Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA, Mohamed Arrouchi, who was speaking at this session highlighted “the strong financial dependence on international partners”, which amounts to 90 pc of the program budget against 10 pc covered by member states.

Arrouchi invited in this regard the new Comorian presidency and the new chairman of the sub-committee on administrative and budgetary matters to think of ways and means to progress towards the independence of the pan-African institution.

The Moroccan diplomat also emphasized the need for good administrative and financial governance within the Union, as an imperative for the effective and efficient management of joint African action.

Arrouchi stressed the importance of rationalizing the expenditures of the PRC and its bodies, prioritizing the activities and programs of Agenda 2063 and avoiding duplication of budgetary allocations.

In addition, the Moroccan diplomat recalled the rule of submitting documents for consideration within the ten-day time limit, in order to allow the relevant departments to be involved in the decision-making process within the Union, especially for the adoption of the annual budget of the Union for the year 2024, scheduled for next July during the 43rd ordinary session of the Executive Council.