Minister of Foreign Affairs calls for Speedy Review of all AU Bodies and Organs
Malabo
H.E. Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad, stressed the need to expedite the review of all bodies and organs of the African Union in order to take decisions that increase the effectiveness and profitability of the Union and make it more harmonious and harmonious, and to complete the structural reform process that took much longer than planned.
During his participation in the 47th session of the Executive Council of the African Union held Thursday in Malabo, he valued the peace agreement signed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington, hoping that the agreement will end the conflict in eastern Congo, open a new page between the two parties, and lead to the development and prosperity of the region and the welfare of its peoples, praising the role played by the African Union in reaching this agreement.
He thanked the Committee of Permanent Representatives for their efforts in preparing the reports, especially those related to shortening the draft agenda of the Executive Council so that ministers can focus on important issues.
He expressed satisfaction that the AU’s budget proposal for 2026 includes an increase in the contribution of Member States to the programmatic budget to 12.7% compared to 9.4% in the 2025 budget, without an increase in the annual contribution of Member States, which remained at $200 million, stressing that this decision represents a positive step towards self-reliance and ownership of the Union’s financing, as well as taking into account the economic conditions of Member States that have not yet recovered from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukrainian war.
He emphasized that good governance and avoiding duplication is the most appropriate path to self-reliance and increased ownership of the Union by member states. In this context, he called for strengthening governance and accountability, implementing related decisions and audit recommendations, and ensuring that resource allocation is performance-based and results-oriented, and that the allocation of resources is performance-based and results-oriented.
He called for the expeditious establishment of a unified digital asset registry to record and preserve all the Union’s assets, calling on the Commission to give priority in recruitment to candidates from underrepresented member states so that the Union’s staff fairly reflects the presence of African countries and the Union benefits from the various competencies and schools of thought across the continent.
He congratulated Angola on its choice to host the seventh AU-EU summit and thanked Ethiopia for its offer to host the second Africa-Caribbean summit on September 7 in Addis Ababa, noting that this is a valuable opportunity to strengthen cooperation with what is described as the sixth region of the Union.