AU Monitor: Issue 106, 2007

Wed Oct 3 15:58:35 BST 2007

Issue 106, 2007 – Weekly Roundup

In this week’s AU Monitor, Michael Deibert argues that regional trade  
and integration are key to African development, while President Abdou  
Diouf, Secretary General of la Francophonie and former President of  
Senegal, speaking at the African Development Bank (AfDB) Eminent  
Speakers bureau, stated that “Africa’s regional integration should  
not be in service of globalization but in service of the continent’s  
development”.  Further, the UN Security Council supported  
strengthening ties between the UN and the AU with the aim of  
enhancing capacities to deal with conflicts.  This, after the AU  
peacekeeping mission suffered the loss of ten personnel and the  
wounding of ten others in South Darfur.  AU Commission Chairperson  
Alpha Oumar Konare has said the assailants will bear the consequences  
of the heinous act.

In trade news, African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President,  
Donald Kaberuka, called for more effective channelling of these  
resources noting that remittances from the Diaspora amount to figures  
comparable to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of many  
States, and in some cases remittances are as high as 750% of ODA.   
Also from AfDB, macroeconomist Hyacinthe Kouassi says that limited  
relevance of structural reforms financed by aid are the missing link  
in the analysis of aid effectiveness.  While the World Bank has  
intervened on the issue of Economic Partnership Agreement  
negotiations, requesting that the European Union extend its end of  
year deadline.

In analysis on the global actors vying for influence in Africa,  
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is attempting to raise support for a  
Mediterranean Union, which would increase France’s geopolitical and  
economic influence in the region, while the United States increases  
its military presence in Africa with Africom becoming fully  
operational this week.  Further, Penny Davies of Diakonia analyses  
China’s development assistance policies in a new report.

In event news, the Pan African Parliament ordinary session will be  
held in Midrand, South Africa from 15-26 October.  The AU Monitor  
will bring you information, news and analysis from this meeting as  
soon as they become available.

Mediterranean Union

Arezki Daoud (North Africa Journal)—Led by president Nicolas Sarkozy,  
a few senior French strategists have embarked on the daunting task of  
convincing the countries of the Mediterranean basin to form yet  
another regional union.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/400/

Towards Mutual Benefit?

In 2006 China hosted the Third Ministerial Conference of the Forum on  
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) attended by 48 African heads of  
state and high level representatives. This unprecedented high level  
meeting witnessed the birth of “a new type of strategic partnership”  
between China and Africa.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/399/

Africom Begins

Scott Baldauf (Christian Science Monitor)—When the Bush  
administration announced the creation of a new Africa Command within  
its military forces last February, many African diplomats were  
horrified. Some expressed fears that the US military would follow in  
the colonial footsteps of Europe in establishing a military presence  
on the continent with an eye toward controlling Africa’s vast resources.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/398/

Regional Integration Key To Success

Michael Deibert (IPS)—While its economic landscape is brightening,  
Africa is still bedeviled by some of the same obstacles that has  
historically served to undermine economic development in the resource  
and labour-rich region. And many of those woes could be solved  
through development of further intraregional trade.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/397/

World Bank Asks for EPA Extension

David Cronin (IPS)—Senior World Bank staff have asked the European  
Union to consider extending the end-of-year deadline it has set for a  
series of free trade agreements with Africa.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/396/

Consequences for AMIS Attackers

PANA—Outraged by the rebel attack that left 10 personnel of the  
African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission dead and 10 others wounded in  
South Darfur Saturday, AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare  
has said the assailants will bear the consequences of the heinous act.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/395/

Aid Effectiveness: A Missing Link

AfDB Press Release—“The implementation of these new relevant  
principles of aid management is underway, though with uneven  
progress. However, in our opinion, there is a key missing link in the  
philosophy of enhancement of aid effectiveness,” says Hyacinthe  
Kouassi, AfDB Macroeconomist.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/394/

Efficient Channeling of Remittances

AfDB Press Release—At the end of his official visit to Mali, the  
African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Donald Kaberuka,  
made a strong call for a more efficient channeling of Diaspora  
remittances to the continent.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/393/

Diouf on Regional Integration

His Excellency Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of la Francophonie and  
former President of Senegal, presented on “Improving Africa’s  
Perspectives in a Globalized World: the Role of Regional Integration”  
at the Eminent Speakers Program of the African Development Bank on 27  
September 2007.

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/392/

PAP summit

The Eighth Ordinary Session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) will  
be held in Midrand, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa from  
15-26, October 2007.

Security Council Backs UN-AU ties

Participants at a top-level Security Council meeting today on the  
challenges to peace and security faced by Africa voiced support for  
bolstering the cooperation between the United Nations and the African  
Union (AU).

Read more: www.aumonitor.org/comments/390/

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Hakima Abbas
Policy Analyst, AU-Monitor
Fahamu - Networks for Social Justice
Email: hakima at fahamu.org
Skype: hakima_abbas
www.aumonitor.org
www.fahamu.org

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