Far too often, the world views Africa through the prism of problems. When I look to Africa, I see a continent of hope, promise and vast potential.
I travelled to Africa as a partner, friend and committed advocate for changing the narrative about this diverse and vital continent. Crises represent at best a partial view. But from a higher platform of cooperation, we can see the whole picture – one that spotlights the enormous potential and remarkable success stories in every corner of the African continent.
Africa will be too important to be left out, whether things are going well or not- Pascal Lamy
Africa must have a seat! It’s the biggest unknown factor for the world 20 years from now. In 2050, Africa will have a population of 2bn out of the 8 or 9bn in the planet as a whole. Africa will be the biggest question of the 21st century.
We all know that over the last four or five decades, Africa has struggled to transform itself. It’s an issue that cannot be divorced from that of development and it will become increasingly pressing as demographic growth continues. In 20 years, it will no longer be possible to say that what happens in Africa does not matter, something that we still hear even now and was also said about China 50 years ago.
The world’s destiny – the good and the not so good things, war, peace, growth, development, employment – will be far more dependent on what happens in Africa. Africa will be too important to be left out, whether things are going well or not. From that point of view, I am more on the side of the Afro-optimists than the Afro-pessimists.
AU Member States Contributed USD 200M in 2016
In 2016, only $200-million of the AU’s overall $782-million overall budget came from member contributions.
Last year it proposed measures to self-financing of the AU with the imposition of a 0.2% levy on African imports. This aims to ensure that the AU’s peace operations are 25% self-funded once revenue starts to be collected from this year, with the balance going towards the general operations budget of the AU.
This is expected to contribute $325-million to the peace fund in 2017, rising to $400-million by 2020, and $1.2-billion in overall revenue for the AU this year.