COMAI VI: How Africans can better own their Integration?

Port Louis, Mauritius - 18 April 2013 – “Integration is crucial if Africa is to effectively compete in a highly competitive and crowded global economy and sustain its current growth performance,” said Mr. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DCP/AUC) wile addressing the 6th Conference of African Ministers in charge of Integration (COMAI VI) that officially opened today Thursday, April 18, 2013, in the so green and so beautiful Mauritius’ Capital, Port Louis, by Dr Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun, GCSK, FRCP, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr. Ahmed Rashid Beebeejaun.

“With the continental population of 1 billion, distributed across 54 countries, resulting in several small, fragmented and balkanized economies, a significant youth population and an inequitable distribution of growth (averaging 4 per cent since the financial and economic crisis), deeper regional integration is an imperative for the continent’s transformation and survival, AUC`s DCP Mwencha told the participants of COMAI VI, which included Dr Arvin Boolell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, a number of African Minister of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors, representatives of Regional Economic Communities, the African Development Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the AU Commission.

Mr. Mwencha indicated that effective regional integration requires regional infrastructure to boost trade amongst African countries and enhance competitiveness; functional and empowered regional and continental institutions to ensure domestication of decisions at the national level, and the free flow of Africa’s human resources adding that citizen inclusiveness is key - incorporating the voice of African people in key policy and decision making processes to ensure our integration process is citizen rather than institutionally driven.

Regarding the Progress made in regional integration thus far, DCP Mwencha aforesaid tangible progress is being made in ECOWAS, COMESA, EAC and SADC through greater promotion of trade related infrastructure such as customs single windows (one stop border posts) and utilization of computerized customs networks across Member States. Development in areas of transport infrastructure and power interconnection projects, as well tariff reductions (which have fallen from 16.7 per cent to 7.1 per cent from 2000-2009) and growing levels of intra-regional trade within some Communities, He added.

But, challenges impending regional integration in Africa remain, said AUC Deputy Chairperson Mwencha, emphasizing in this regard, the governance and the lack of clear implementation and accountability mechanism, among others. The inefficient free movement of persons across the continent; the over-reliance on donor funding for financing integration projects; the insufficient citizen ownership and the lack of an enabling environment for a people-centered approach to policy making, as well as the low implementation rate of numerous signed and ratified, with insufficiently transposed legal texts into national legislation and the intra-African trade which remains low at 10-12 per cent of the continental total; were among the major obstacles featured by DCP Mwencha

What is the way forward? “Decision-makers must step up to the mantle by hastening the pace, depth and delivery of our integration commitments, while engaging in continuous dialogue with the African citizenry who, in themselves constitute as the main drivers of the process, breathing practicality into the functionality of integration, and on whom its impact will be felt the most – whether negative or positive” assesses AUC/DCP.

“We need to identify innovative and sustainable financing options deriving from our own sources of revenue in support of regional and continental integration efforts, while also allowing the private sector more scope to finance integration projects and institutions.” added Mr. Mwencha commending those RECs that have in recent times made commendable progress in identifying innovative sources of financing their integration activities and programmes in spite of trade-related challenges such as poor/weak infrastructure and underutilized institutional and human capacities, which require sufficient, sustainable and predictable financing.

Presenting the OAU/AU 50th Anniversary Celebrations, DCP Mwencha indicated that the theme of "Pan Africanism and African Renaissance" will offer the opportunity for the reflection on the road travelled, celebrate successes and the contribution of the founders, but also take stock of the present, begin preparations for a long-term perspective, "Africa in 2063" as part of the celebrations and to guide our future development on the course for the next 50 years.

The Conference of African Ministers in charge of Integration (COMAI), which concludes tomorrow, is an annual statutory meeting, institutionalized by Assembly Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 113 (VII) of the Seventh Ordinary Session of the Union, held in Banjul, The Gambia, from the 1st to 2nd July 2006. Since its institutionalization, five (5) Conferences have been held to date. The First and Second Conferences took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from March 30-31, 2006, and Kigali, Rwanda, from July 26-27, 2007. The Third and Fourth Conferences were held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from May 19-23, 2008, and Yaoundé, Cameroon, from May 4-8, 2009, respectively. The Fifth Conference was held on 5-9 September 2012, in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of each Conference has ranged from how to successfully integrate Africa; partnerships and integration; and sovereignty and integration.

HMC/

The full AUC/ DCP statement is available on the African Union website: www.au.int

Further information on:
http://au.int/en/content/sixth-conference-african-ministers-charge-integ... and
http://foreign.gov.mu/English/COMAI%20VI/Pages/default.aspx