By Shana Lim and Wang Yuxuan
“We must actively unite as one Africa.”
The second committee session of the African Union (AU) began on a frustrating note, similar to how it ended its first one. Most delegates, excessively passionate about their stance against corruption, persisted in continuous rambling about their state beliefs. It was only after the delegates representing Tanzania and South Sudan pleaded for a more meaningful discussion that the remaining delegates halted the repetition of their unnecessary rhetoric of an anti-corruption stance, and finally began charting out the union’s plan in combating this issue, along with the violation of human rights within the region.
Justice, Rule of Law and Anti-corruption
The delegate of Tanzania, along with her allies (inclusive of the delegate representing South Africa), spearheaded the AU Anti-corruption Framework. This solution aims to detect and prevent corruption across the union through various security measures. This includes the empowerment of courts and authorities to order the seizure of relevant financial documents, cross-border investigations to track money laundering, as well as the transmission of data from these efforts to the Court of justice for a thorough evaluation. Additionally, this bloc also ordered heavier Inter-African Union cooperation in the freezing of foreign accounts and repatriation of illegally acquired assets to their countries of origin.
However, in a similar response to this issue, the delegate of Gabon, along with his allies, recommended the implementation of CRISES (Cooperation Resolution to Illicit Enrichment Resources). This encouraged the establishment of an investigative operation towards government officials, public funds, taxations, and other government related fundings to detect any practices of Illicit enrichment. Though this article is said to increase the transparency of the government, it does not clearly indicate its commitment to ensure the wellbeing of other countries affected by the mismanagement of financial resources. The bloc that the delegate of South Africa supports did explicitly state that their policies return illegally retrieved assets to their country of origin. Therefore, we doubt that their solutions will be ultimately beneficial for the external relations of the AU in situations of corruption that involve countries outside of the AU.
Conflict over Economic Measures
The delegates of Tanzania, Rwanda and Seychelles criticised the delegate of Gabon, along with his bloc regarding the underdevelopment of Article 3 which reflected the bloc’s steps to enhancing economic growth for the union. The delegate of Gabon and his bloc recommended the implementation of PRUDENCE (Productive Diversification of Nation’s Economy) - a set of guidelines for member states to diversify its economy through improving underutilized sectors within the country, such as tourism, healthcare and natural resources. To carry out this project, they requested funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the employment of the local workforce to construct infrastructure. Evidently, this bloc has ignored the huge debt to the IMF that Africa currently suffers from, and presumes the willingness and availability of the local workforce to work for the government, which might not be the case. Therefore, this framework proposed was filled with insecurities and would not be feasible for the union.
On the other hand, the delegate of South Africa supports the African Economy Renew Program (AERA), an economic framework for Africa suggested by the members of his bloc. This program aims to nurture sustainable and innovative local-based economy systems to empower the economic capacity of the union, so as to make the citizens capable of cooperating with the African economy for long-term success. The program leverages local African brands domestically and internationally through adding values and innovation that benefits Africa’s economy as a whole. Additionally, it expands the coverage and increasing funding of reskilling programs in digital and innovative working models in partnership with domestic and international NGOs in relevant fields. Lastly, it establishes a cohesive national strategy for attracting foreign capital into Africa in partnership with provinces, while maintaining high standards for corporate governance and transparency. This detailed framework highlights concrete guidelines to economic success to the union, and it is plausible for implementation in South Africa as it does not contain substantial loopholes, as compared to the proposals of the opposing bloc.
“Like a donut, well-rounded but with a big hole smacked right in the middle.”
The above-mentioned quote was said by the delegate of South Sudan in response to the shaky solutions by the bloc opposing the Republic of South Africa, as it covered a wide range of aspects on the surface but lacked substance on the inside. Therefore, as voting resumes tomorrow, we anticipate the success of the resolution supported by the South African Government in the belief that it is the most viable path to good governance in the region.