Mr. Chairman of the African Union, H.E. Macky Sall, President of the S.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn

Republic of Senegal

Mr. President of the Republic of Zambia, H.E. Hakainde Hichilema

Excellencies, Heads of State and Government,

President of the European Council, Mr. Charles Michel

Former President of the Republic of Niger, H.E. Mohamadou Issoufou

Excellency Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn

Madam Deputy Chairperson of the African Union

Madam Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,

Commissioners,

Executive Secretaries of the Regional Economic Communities, Organs and Institutions of the African Union

Chief Executive Officer of the African Union Development Agency AUDA-NEPAD,

Madam Director General of World Trade Organisation,

Mr. President of AFREXIMBANK,

Representative of ADB,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On this solemn occasion of the convening of the 4th Coordination Meeting between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms and the Member States, I would like first of all to thank H.E. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, his Government and the people of Zambia for hosting us and granting us their legendary and generous hosp[itality despite the difficult times we are going through.

I am saying so because Zambia is the symbol of sacrifiice and solidarity as evidenced by the recent history of the Region and the Continent when we were embattled in the liberation of the countries, under the aegis of the OAU Liberation Committee, that were suffering under the yoke of colonialism and the abominable Apartheid system. Zambia hosted the Liberation Movements like SWAPO, UNITA, MPLA, ANC, PAC, ZANU, ZAPU and FRELIMO.

The Great son and leader of this country, President Kenneth Kaunda, stated : ’’The Independence of Zambia is meaningless if the rest of the Region remains under colonial rule.’’

Zambia was the Mulungushi Club, precursor to the Frontline States and embodiment of selfless scarifices of its people for the benefit of the Continent.

I am happy that we are meeting in this Kenneth Kaunda Wing of the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

We also remember that Lusaka hosted the 37th OAU Summit in 2001 which laid the foundation for the African Union which became operational in 2002 and thereby initiated the talk of Regional Integration through Agenda 2063.

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The institutionalisation of the Coordination Meeting by the Assembly of the Union in 2017 aims at strengthening coordination between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities and the Regional Mechanisms on the one hand and the Regional Economic Communities among themselves on the other.

This consultation framework aims at improving governance and the effectiveness of development management on our Continent. On that score, it is endeavouring to determine the priorities to be implemented to accelerate the economic integration process.

This Fourth Coordination meeting is taking place within a context characterised by an unprecedented multiplication of multifaceted crises.

We are witnessing a progressive continentalisation of conflict zones. After the countries of the Sahel zone, those of the Gulf of Guinea, in West Africa, are increasingly the targets of Terrorist attacks. The north of Togo, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire are no longer safe from Terrorist incursions. Central Africa, already hit in its western part by the Boko Haram phenomenon, is seeing its Eastern part, in the Democratic Republic of The Congo, become the scene of growing Islamist terrorism, adding to the conflicts that have been raging there for several decades. Even southern Africa, long spared, has recently been confronted by the jihadist hydra in Mozambique.

Unconstitutional Changes of Government, through military coups in several Member States, are contributing to the weakening of an already highly disturbed political environment in these countries.

The difficulties observed in the process of transition from military Governments to Constitutional normalcy show the extent of the challenges and problems involved in successful democratisation, which is a guarantee of political stabilisation in the countries concerned.

The economic situation of our various States is increasingly alarming. To the harmful consequences of the health crisis, due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been added the destabilising effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The exponential increase in the food and energy bill, in addition to accentuating current account imbalances, is causing, among other things, the depreciation of African currencies, which in turn is increasing external debt.

Climate change, of considerable magnitude, is shaking up already weakened ecosystems, causing increased desertification, unusual floods and spectacular landslides with loss of life.

The combination of these different crises is having a crippling effect on the socio-economic development of the Continent. In this regard, accelerating the pace of Regional and Continental integration is becoming more than ever before a survival imperative for the African Continent. In this depressed environment, the strategic importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area is clear.

The long-awaited operationalisation of the African Standby Force becomes a categorical imperative need to strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Continent. In the same vein, the mobilisation of resources for the Peace Fund, of which Five million Dollars has just been made available to the Commission, under the Peace Facility, augurs well.

With regard to the Sahel in particular, the strengthening of the UN-African Union-ECOWAS and G5 Sahel initiative is to be welcomed. The entry into force of the revised Protocol on Relations between the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms constitutes significant progress in the rationalisation of the actions to be taken in a concerted manner, particularly in the area of peace and security, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.

It emerges from the assessments of these various crises, undertaken by the African Union Commission show that the complexity and magnitude of the challenges posed invalidate the solutions that could be envisaged individually by the Regional Economic Communities or by the Member States. They underscored the imperative need of strengthening all Regional Integration Mechanisms to enable our Continent to remain on track with Agenda 2063.

Thus, this Coordination Meeting has the dual objective of assessing the progress made since our last session, held in 2021 and of looking ahead to the future on the basis of the achievements made and the constraints to be overcome with a view to achieving ever more efficient integration.

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Report on Regional Integration, prepared by the African Union Commission for the year 2022, shows progress in integration dimensions that vary from one Regional Community to another. This difference in performance is explained by the specificities of each Region in terms of objectives and operational capacities.

Looking to the future, the Report further highlighted the range of constraints that are hampering our progress towards integration, which would serve as a basis for economic development for the well-being of our populations.

These constraints relate to insecurity, endogenous sustainable financing, mobility of people and goods and services, industrialisation, physical infrastructure and the multiple membership of States in different Regional Economic Communities. All these constraints deserve to be analysed in their interrelationships in order to determine the priorities that will help strengthen Integration mechanisms.

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Strengthening the Integration mechanisms means optimising upstream the modalities of coordination which facilitates the interlocking of our various actions, minimising overlapping and other duplications, with a view to achieving a result that reflects the objectives enshrined in the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community and included in the Constitutive Act of the African Union. 

Coordination takes shape in specific activities dictated by the ever-changing configuration of the Integration process. First, we need to clearly determine our priorities in the light of their expected impact on improving the health of our economies.

One of the key activities of Coordination will be to analyse how the functioning of the RECs contributes to the attainment of the objectives of the AfCFTA and how the AfCFTA affects the vitality of the RECs.

It is also in this quest for operational coherence that there is an urgent need to question the various Partnerships in which we are engaged on their degree of relevance to the pursuit of our integration objectives. If necessary, we should consider rethinking them to adjust them to our priorities.

This act of evaluating Partnerships will take place within a process of ongoing evaluation of the integration trajectory in order to refract the results, negative or positive, on the following sequences in terms of adjustment. By the same token, the Integration process could benefit from the assessment of the implementation of the First Ten year Plan of Agenda 2063.

Another aspect of Coordination is obviously the determination of the modalities for implementing decisions, according to a modulation that, where appropriate, would take into account specific Regional factors in order to guarantee the full effectiveness of their implementation.

In order to enhance Coordination and deepen the analysis of the constraints mentioned in the Report on Regional Integration, the Coordinating Committee planned to organise a Retreat on these issues and on the modalities for an exchange of experiences and good practices between the African Union, the RECs/RMs based on their respective comparative advantages.

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We still need to complete the Division of labour in the areas, not yet covered, for technical reasons. A firm of consultants is being selected through bids to carry out this work under the supervision of the Institutional Reform Implementation Unit.

It will work according to a tight schedule with a view to making its recommendations available for consideration by the Coordinating Committee prior to their submission to the 36th Ordinary session of the Assembly scheduled for February 2023.

While wishing you fruitful deliberations, I would like to thank you for your kind attention.