The Institute for Development Studies and ULI Africa on Thursday 20^th February 2025 held a timely seminar themed “Owning Ourselves: What if Africa Funded the AUC?”.

The Speaker was Dr. Joseph Atta-Mensah a distinguished senior fellow at the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET). He also served as a Principal Policy Adviser in the Macroeconomics and Governance Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) until August 2023.

Before joining UNECA in July 2004, Joe worked as a Senior Economist at the Bank of Canada. He holds a doctorate in Financial Economics from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

The Abstract reads: The African Union (AU) requires adequate, reliable, and predictable resources to effectively implement its programs and achieve its development and integration objectives. However, the AU’s heavy reliance on external funding poses a significant risk to its initiatives' sustainability, as partner economies' fiscal constraints could adversely affect their contributions. To address this challenge, the AU is taking steps to increase assessed contributions from its Member States, aiming to finance most of its budget from internal resources.

African leaders are committed to covering a larger share of the AU’s budget, with the long-term goal of reducing dependence on external partners as much as possible. This shift is guided by four key principles: fairness, predictability, flexibility, and compliance. By adhering to these principles, the AU seeks to create a more equitable and sustainable funding model.

The discussant was Simon Mulongo, a seasoned defense and security consultant with expertise in governance, peace, and security. He is the Managing Partner of EMANS Frontiers Ltd, Kampala. From 2017 to 2021, he served as the Deputy Special Representative of the AUC (AMISOM) in Somalia. Additionally, he chaired the AU Technical Working Group on the Joint Strategic Assessment in the Sahel from 2021 to 2022. He was the Director of the Eastern Africa Standby Force Secretariat from 2007 to 2010. A former Ugandan Member of Parliament (2011-2016), he led the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs. He contributed to the formulation of the EAC Security Strategy and the AU’s APSA.

Mulongo is a graduate of the National Defence College (K) and holds an MA in International Affairs from the University of Nairobi (IDIS), an MBA in Finance from Fairfax University, USA, and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).S

The second discussant was Dr. Oscar M. Otele, who chairs the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Nairobi. He is renowned for his extensive research on China-Africa relations, especially African agency within China-Africa relations; China’s engagement in Africa’s transport infrastructure and energy sectors; and the response of other emerging powers to China’s engagement in Africa.

Prof. Paul Kamau, the Director of Research at IDS moderated the online session that was attended by 80 + participants.

To watch the seminar recording, click HERE /sites/ids.uonbi.ac.ke/files/ULI%20seminar%20recording%201.docx.