African Union Facing the Political Reality of Building Regional Entente Versus Real Geo-Political Supranational Interference
Neutrality and Integrity are considered non-existent given the foreign aid received by the African Union making it dependent on external financing can become the lobbyist for foreign interests in African Affairs and Decision-making by the African Unifying Organization
Bits and Bites on the Impact of Foreign Aid on the African Organization:
According to a 2023 Kenyan Wall Street article, the African Union’s (AU) over-reliance on foreign aid to fund 60% of its programs is slowing progress in developing the capacity to deliver Pan-African transformation.
The United States is the world’s largest donor of humanitarian aid to Africa. In 2021, the U.S. Department of State and USAID provided $8.5 billion in aid to 47 countries and 8 regional programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
The U.S. government provides a large share of its aid for Africa through multi-country initiatives. These include:
- The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
- The President’s Malaria Initiative
- Feed the Future
- Prosper Africa
- Power Africa
- Ethiopia: In 2022, received the highest amount of net official development assistance (ODA) from official donors in Sub-Saharan Africa, at roughly five billion U.S. dollars
- Nigeria: In 2022, was the second largest recipient of ODA in Sub-Saharan Africa
The European Union (EU) also provides a significant amount of aid to Africa, giving around EUR 20 billion a year.
China has provided $160 billion in loans to Africa over the past 20 years, or about $7 billion per year. China has also invested $155 billion in infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades. China continues to be one of the major financiers of infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa, with a total investment of $155 billion over the past two decades. As a result, Beijing has gained enormous influence and contacts with several African nations. China’s aid supports many projects, including: Transportation infrastructure, Energy and minerals, Medicine, Agriculture, Telecommunications. In 2021, China pledged $40 billion during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China also promised additional support to combat COVID-19 and announced a goal to increase its imports from Africa to a total of $300 billion in the next three years. Mar 25, 2023
Top 5 ratios belong to Djibouti (54.3%), Republic of Congo (19.6%), Angola (18%), Mozambique (14%), Zambia (11%). On average, African Borrowing from China constitutes a ratio of 5.3% to GDP of Borrowing Countries. China’s FDI correlates with China’s resource interest in Africa. Twelve resource-rich African countries – South Africa, DR Congo, Zambia, Ethiopia, Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Ghana, Tanzania, and Mozambique – housed nearly three-quarters of China’s FDI by stock in 2020, as seen in figure 1. Nov 4, 2022
Now the articles of the proclaimed charter state:
According to Legal Tools, the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) states that member states affirm the principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every state. However, the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) is more in line with the notion of responsible sovereignty than with the conventional accentuation of state rights. The AU’s Constitutive Act has several goals, including:
- Achieving greater unity and solidarity between African countries
- Defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of its member states
- Accelerating the political and socio-economic integration of the continent
- Promoting and defending African common positions
- Some say that foreign funds can only help African countries that undertake political, economic, and institutional reform. Others say that foreign aid has not been effective in Africa because:
- Aid has been looted
- Aid has been poorly monitored
- Donor agencies knew that aid was being stolen
- Corrupt African leaders have embezzled aid
- Widespread government corruption has caused donors to withhold money
- Aid has increased the risk of civil conflict and unrest
More Bits and Bites on the Negative Effects of Foreign Aid in Africa:
- Corruption: Foreign aid can encourage the corruption of governments.
- Inefficient governments: Foreign aid can lead to the creation of ineffective, corrupt governments.
- Economic policies: Foreign aid can lead to unstable economic policies.
- Systemic bias: Aid can do nothing to address the global political economy’s systemic bias toward poor African countries.
- Unnecessary Aid can be ineffective in places with good governance, and unnecessary in places with bad governance.
- Unproductive continent: The West has used foreign aid to make Africa unproductive and dependent, keeping its grip on the continent.
- Foreign aid can be used to finance a variety of activities in Africa, including: Investment projects, Technical assistance, Budget support, and Debt relief.
Said Cherkaoui 24 