The past week has been a busy one for the streets of Addis Ababa. It saw the coming to pass of the 14th edition of the African Union Summit. Security personnel were orchestrating the fleet of guests alongside the blockade of the roads for the ordinary Addis Abeban who had to seek alternative means and routes of passage around town.
The far removed nature of the comings and goings of these diplomats on the streets of Addis is also evident in the conferences they held as most were closed sessions of deliberations. These discussions and deliberations began ahead of the summit of the leaders on Monday, January 25, 2010. During that time, support for the earthquake victims of Haiti was an agenda raised. Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission, the executive wing of the Union, pleaded with member states to make contributions for the victims through a fund raising account established at the African Development Bank.
The second day saw the highlighting of the proposed budget which stood at a staggering 250 million dollars, a large chunk of which (217 million dollars) would go to the African Union Commission (AUC) operations and projects. A tele-medicine centre was also inaugurated on the premises of AU headquarters on Thursday, January 28, the fourth day of the summit. The facility was an over 116 million dollar project funded by the Indian government.
The opening date of the leaders’ summit on January 31, 2010 saw a number of incidents, among which the election of a new chairperson of the Union was the most spellbinding. The election process features the rotation of the chairmanship annually among Africa’s five regions – North, South, East, West and Central. This year was the southern region’s turn. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) unanimously selected Bingu Wa Mutharika, Malawi’s President, as its candidate for the post; despite the displeasure of the Libyan President, Muammar Gaddafi, and his wishes of a second term at the post.
The ever flamboyant Gaddafi was reluctant to give up the post as he “was already in the process of transforming the AU bureaucracy into a powerful African Authority” – the next stage in the integration of the states. The Tunisian government had also submitted a letter endorsing the re-election of the Libyan leader as the chairperson of the Union on the starting dates of the summit. Gaddafi was running his famed agenda of the rapid formation of the United States of Africa – unlike the usual take-it-slow paradigm of doing things at the AU, according to observers.
“He was seeking a reelection for a second term contrary to the procedures prescribed by the establishing documents of the Union,” Kongit Sinegiorgis (Ambassador), permanent representative of Ethiopia to the AU, said at a press conference she gave. The opening date saw the unveiling of the new flag of the AU. The old flag of the Union that has been serving as the symbol of the goals and values of African concord since the formation of the Organization of the African Union in 1963 was also replaced with a new one at the summit. The change was needed to reflect the values of the new Union. In accordance with this decision reached in the 2007 heads of state summit held in Addis Ababa, a competition was launched for the new design.
The day of the announcement coincided with the opening ceremony of this year’s summit. The flag exhibited a green background as prescribed by the heads of state to signify Africa’s hope, and the stars were to embody each member state. The winning design and the 10,000 dollar prize went to a Seattle based Ethiopian graphic designer, Yedetta Bojia, who works at the University of Washington.
“The University is proud of my winning design,” he said, “that’s why I get such long days off [in Addis Ababa].” The flag was hoisted by the outgoing chairperson, Gaddafi himself.
Other highlights from the opening of the summit were the addresses to the assembly by Ban Ki Moon, the secretary general of the UN; the President of the European Union and Spanish President Jose Luis Rodrigues Zapattero. With regard to economic integration, steps have been taken in this summit in the areas of the so called Pan African financial institutions. The establishment of the African Investment Bank was the first of these institutions whose establishment was realized at the summit. The others that are yet to materialize are the African Monetary Fund and the African Central Bank.
“The purpose of the investment bank is to foster macroeconomic integration,” Maxwell Mkwezalamba, commissioner of economic affairs with the union, said. “It is expected to bring about development through investment in projects in line with the objectives of the Union.” The bank headquarters will be based in Tripoli, Libya. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) secretariat, the executive arm of the NEPAD, was also integrated into the AU, based in South Africa. This organ of the partnership was renamed NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, and is now accountable to the AUC chairperson.
“This only makes the role and nature of our work clearer,” Andrew Kanyegirire, communications manager for NEPAD said. “[The institution] is now going to focus on the knowledge management and sourcing of financing for key projects that are expected to foster trade in member states,” Andrew further explained. Having passed 56 decisions in total by the participation of 50 countries, and having hosted invited guests from the UN, the EU and the African Development Bank, among others, the summit came to a close on February 2, 2010.
The closing was filled with energy as the PM of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a representative of the Caribbean delegation, first addressed the ceremony. He appreciated the solidarity the African people showed in assisting the earthquake stricken people of Haiti, and associated this point with the large population of people of African descent in the Caribbean region. Some West African states including Liberia had offered land to Haitians who may wish to resettle in Africa on top of monetary contributions pledged. The 14th African Union Summit concluded with enthusiasm to spare for the implementation of its adoptions.
[Fortune]