Ghana to ratify three key AU financial institutions by 2027

Ghana will deposit its instruments of ratification for the establishment of three key African Union (AU) financial institutions by 2027, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said.

The institutions are the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank, which are intended to strengthen Africa's financial independence and capacity to mobilise resources for its development.

Mr Ablakwa made the announcement on Friday when he delivered the welcome address at the Extraordinary Session of the AU Executive Council on Financing the African Union in Accra.

He said Ghana’s commitment was part of efforts to advance the establishment of the institutions and reduce the continent’s dependence on external financing.

“No nation or continent can be truly sovereign unless it controls the institutions that finance its future,” he said, describing the three institutions as essential foundations for Africa’s financial independence.

Mr Ablakwa, who spoke on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, the AU Champion for the Establishment of African Union Financial Institutions, urged member states to take concrete steps towards ratifying the instruments establishing the institutions before the next Executive Council meeting.

He also announced that Ghana would convene an Extraordinary Summit on African Financial Institutions in Accra in 2027, when the country assumes the AU Chairmanship.

The summit, he said, would provide an opportunity for African leaders to move beyond discussions and make concrete commitments towards building, capitalising and operationalising the institutions.

On financing reforms, Mr Ablakwa said member states were projected to fund nearly 99 per cent of the AU’s operational budget in 2027, but only about four per cent of its programme budget and 12 per cent of its peace and security budget.

He said the figures highlighted the need for African countries to mobilise more domestic resources to finance the continent’s priorities.

The minister also pledged that Ghana would strengthen domestic implementation of the 0.2 per cent levy on eligible imports and report progress to the Executive Council.

He welcomed a proposed partnership between the AU Commission and the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, which aims to double the capital and financing capacity of participating institutions within three to five years.

The partnership also seeks to mobilise an additional US$200 billion in financing, investment, insurance, guarantees and risk mitigation over the next decade, while pursuing continent-wide participation by 2030.

Mr Ablakwa called for accelerated implementation of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, deeper African capital markets and the establishment of an African Financial Architecture Scorecard to monitor progress towards financial independence.

He stressed that the proposed partnership should complement, rather than replace, financial contributions from AU member states.

Source: GNA