37th African Union Summit 2024

The 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) was held between February 14, 2024 and February 18, 2024 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the Summit was “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa”. The summit further witnessed the election of Mohamed Ould Cheikh Al-Ghazouani, president of Mauritania, as the chairperson of the AU for 2024, taking over the baton of command from Azali Assoumani, President of the Comoros. It was attended by African heads of States and governments, and high-level representatives from the African continent and beyond.

Despite Africa’s minimal contribution to the current climate crisis, the continent bears a disproportionate burden of its impacts, often at the expense of other vital national priorities, including the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mandated by the United Nations.

In response to the urgent need for better quality finance for climate and development efforts in developing countries, there has been a growing recognition of the necessity to reform the global financial system. The interlinkages between various actors, such as international financial institutions, economic governance structures, and financial regulatory frameworks, need to be adapted to address the financing needs of developing countries effectively. The goal is to develop human and social capital through an education and skill revolution emphasising innovation, science and technology. In order to achieve this goal and fulfil the aspirations of Agenda 2063, Africa must make significant investments in education.

The African Union (AU) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2002. It has replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and consists of 55 nations of the African continent. Its primary objectives include fostering unity and solidarity among African states, promoting economic development, and enhancing international cooperation. The headquarters of the AU is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Building upon the foundations laid by its predecessor, the OAU, the AU aims to promote African integration, economic growth, and peace and security on the continent. Its principal organs include the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), the Peace and Security Council and The African Union Commission, Pan-African Parliament and the Economic, Social & Cultural Council (ECOSOCC).

Status of Education in Africa

Although there has been an increase in the number of children having access to basic education, a significant percentage of children in Africa still do not attend school. The fact is that it is a matter of concern.

Education for low-income households has been hampered by a number of factors. The UN Secretary General (UNSG), Antonio Guterres, had brought up this matter at a summit on transforming education in 2022. It was made clear then that there has been a severe crisis in education and that more work needs to be done for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on education. During the summit, the UNSG emphasised the need for renewing collective commitment and joint action of addressing the global education crisis.

With the rapid growing population of the continent, the AU has been fighting to increase the access to education through its Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA). In order to reinforce African core values and promote sustainable development at the national, sub-regional and continental levels, the CESA has been focusing to restructure Africa’s education and training systems. Such measures will help in meeting the required level of knowledge, competencies, skills, and innovation and creativity.

The key objectives of the CESA are

to maintain quality and relevance at all levels, revitalise the teaching profession.
to build, renovate, and maintain educational infrastructure and design policies that guarantee a long-term, safe, and conducive learning environment in all subsectors. These steps would lead to expand access to high quality education.
to utilise the potential of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to enhance the administration, quality and accessibility of education and training programmes.
to ensure that necessary knowledge and skills are acquired as well as improved completion rates at all levels and groups by harmonising processes across all levels for national and regional integration.
to accelerate the processes that would lead to gender parity and equality.
to launch comprehensive and effective literacy campaigns across the continent for the eradication of illiteracy. Appropriate measures should also be taken to strengthen the science and math curricula and disseminate scientific knowledge as well as the culture of science in the African society.
to increase secondary and tertiary technical and vocational education training (TVET) opportunities to strengthen connectivity between education and training systems and the workplace.
to enhance and broaden tertiary education, research and innovation in order to address continental issues and fostering worldwide competitiveness.
to promote peace, education, and conflict prevention and resolution at all levels of education, and for all age groups.
to build and enhance the capacity of data collection, management, analysis, and communication. This would lead to the improvement in the management of education system, as well as the statistical tool, through capacity building for data collection, management, analysis, communication, and usage.
to form a coalition with the participation of all the parties who are involved in education in order to oversee initiatives that are arising from the implementation of CESA.

African leaders realised the importance of placing education at the top of their development agendas and governments started the construction of schools and assignment of teachers in even the most remote regions of the continent. This led to more and more children attending schools leading to the rise in education. The member states of the OAU have maintained that achieving universal primary education would assist post-independence Africa in escaping extreme poverty. According to UNESCO, Africa’s primary school enrolment rate is above 80 per cent, on an average. In the last few decades, Africa has recorded significant increase in the elementary school enrolment globally.

Highlights of the Summit

The member states were apprised on AU’s achievements in the fields of peace and security, socio-economic development, youth, and women’s empowerment. Africa’s position on taking common positions on global issues, among others were also highlighted.

The assembly, which is the top decision-making authority of AU, discussed the progress and shortcomings witnessed during the first 10 years of implementation of the Agenda 2063, the organisation’s 50-year continental development plan. ‘The Africa We Want in 2063’ embodies the aspirations of the African people.

Agenda 2063 has been operationalised with a series of five 10-year implementation plans. Building on the first decade of Agenda 2063, which was mainly concerned with convergence, the second decade (2024–2033) of the agenda emphasises pace of implementation.

The second ten-year implementation plan embodies, amongst others, an outline of Africa’s ambitions in the second decade that would guide development efforts of African citizens, member states, AU organs and structures, and development partners; a theory of change that defines how results would be achieved and provides guidance on the Moonshot interventions and catalytic priorities, targets and indicative strategies that strongly embed resilience; and a description of the governance and management arrangements for executing Agenda 2063’s second ten-year plan. Throughout the second ten-year plan, from 2024 to 2033, the continent would pursue seven goals referred to as ‘Moonshots’, guided by the AU vision of ‘an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa’, driven by its citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

The seven Moonshots— Moonshot 1: Every AU member state attains at least middle-income status; Moonshot 2: Africa is more integrated and connected; Moonshot 3: Public institutions are more responsive; Moonshot 4: Africa resolves conflicts amicably; Moonshot 5: African culture and values are explicit and promoted; Moonshot 6: African citizens are more empowered and more productive; Moonshot 7: Africa is a strong and influential global player—are inspired by the seven aspirations of Agenda 2063, and to be achieved by 2033.

Key continental issues, such as peace and security, climate change, economic development, and Africa’s place in the larger global multilateral framework, were discussed by African leaders during the 37th AU Summit. The summit focused on issues of peace, development, and integration, taking into account the challenges of resurgent coups, global food and commodity crises, and heightened geopolitical competition across the continent.

The integration agenda has been crucial as global powers compete for African influence. It has been evident from the fact that increasing number of African Summits are being hosted by individual countries outside the continent in the recent years.

Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, commended the successful advancement of institutional reforms and the strides made in regional integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. One of the top agenda of the 37th AU Summit was continental integration, which would mitigate obstacles to labour and capital mobility throughout Africa. For achieving this, concrete steps have to be taken to accelerate the implementation of AfCFTA, which is aimed at establishing a tariff-free market for goods and services. The summit further laid the groundwork for the creation of a ‘Made in Africa’ economic corridor for enhancing the efforts of Africa towards a pan-African marketplace.

Launch of Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI), ‘Africa Club’ The Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, called the ‘Africa Club’, was launched at the summit with the aim to boost Africa’s influence in the global financial system by aligning its functions with the SDGs and the AU’s Agenda 2063. In order to meet the specific requirements of African nations, it aims to present novel financial instruments, offer a forum to address debt management and encourage teamwork. African Export Import Bank, Trade and Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, African Reinsurance Corporation, African Trade and Investment Development Insurance, Shelter Afrique Development Bank and ZEP–RE (PTA Reinsurance Co), are among its members.

Financial systems reforms initiatives implemented during the 37th African Summit 2024

The heads of the state of the participating nations emphasised the need for reforming the global financial system in order to overcome climate and development needs. Africa has been bearing a disproportionate share of the consequences of the current climate crisis, despite having contributed very little to it. African countries have been depending more and more on the use of public funds for mitigation initiatives, frequently at the expense of other urgent national priorities, like implementation of the SDG, which is mandated by the UN.

The key highlights of the financial system reforms during the 37th AU Summit include:

Establishing African Union financial institutions The necessity for creating an African Monetary Union has long been discussed among the African leaders, it was again reiterated at the 37th AU Summit. It has been proposed to be implemented through the creation of three AU financial institutions: The African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund, and the African Investment Bank. The creation of a Pan-African Stock Exchange was also discussed.

African leaders’ demands for financial system reforms To address some of the structural inequalities in the global financial architecture, leaders of the AU members set out some measures which should be addressed on priority. These include: (i) creating solutions to the debt crisis, (ii) increasing grant and concessional money to Africa, (iii) re-channelling Special Drawing Rights (SDR) issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to African financial institutions, (iv) increasing the African voice and power in global decisions and decision-making bodies, and (v) committing to an ambitious green growth agenda for Africa.

Presidential dialogue on Africa’s agenda for global financial architecture reform During a presidential dialogue held during the summit, heads of state from member nations discussed the steps required to be taken for resolving Africa’s financial requirements. They emphasised that for achieving the climate and development goals, African development banks must receive three times as much concessional funding from the World Bank and the IMF. They reiterated on the necessity of increased capitalisation of multilateral development banks (MDBs), introduction of climate-vulnerability criteria, a parallel income level for funding eligibility from MDBs, especially for those middle-income countries which are facing climate-induced shocks.

Leaders emphasised the need for change in perception to address unfair credit ratings in African economies, citing business exposure and political risks, thereby, exacerbated financial difficulties. The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, proposed empowering African financial institutions and MDBs by providing 30 per cent of non-African reserves to them and designating them as ‘AU agencies’ for signalling approvals from all AU sovereigns.

In 2023, the AU gained full member status to the Group of 20 (G20), demonstrating its global influence. The AU summit emphasised the bloc’s vision for addressing their economic needs.

Conclusion

The deliberations and outcomes of the 37th African Union Summit underscore a profound commitment to reforming the global financial architecture to better serve the interests and needs of African nations. Through initiatives like the launch of the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions and the proposals for establishing African Union Financial Institutions, there is a clear intent to amplify Africa’s voice in the global financial system.

Moreover, the demands for financial system reforms articulated by African leaders, coupled with proactive engagement in global initiatives such as the G20 and Taskforce on International Taxation, reflect the continent’s growing influence on the global stage. As Africa continues to assert itself in international fora, the proposals and discussions at the AU Summit represent a significant step towards achieving economic frameworks that are equitable, sustainable, and responsive to the continent’s evolving challenges and aspirations.