DOCSLIB.ORG

African Union Maitreya Marathe

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

African Union Maitreya Marathe MinuteMUN XIX March 13 - 15, 2020 UMass Amherst International Relations Club & Model United Nations Team University of Massachusetts Amherst AU 1 Introduction We will be simulating the African Union (AU) a body of 55 African countries centered in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Formed in 2001, the AU works to make sure that all of the countries in Africa are properly regulated, and make sure that each country is economically stable. The AU also aims to make sure that the standard of living for all peoples of Africa is continuously raised, and provides oversight for the development of each nation. This background guide is meant to introduce you to the problem and give you some ideas about the direction of this committee. This is a broad topic and I encourage delegates to seek further information. I look forward to meeting all of you. Good Luck! - Maitreya Statement of the Problem Africa is a rapidly developing region that has seen enormous gains in recent decades. On top of this Africa is a resource rich continent with a population that is quickly joining the world middle class. As this development has occurred several states in the AU have called for the creation of a pan-African monetary union that would bring the entire continent under a single currency. This would create one currency zone for the continent with the proposed name of the Afro or Afriq under an African Central Bank. This could be both an institution which promotes trade across Africa as well as creates a more stable and independent currency​.​ However,​ as seen in with the Eurozone, there can be downsides to a unified currency. Businesses can flock to high productivity countries from low productivity ones, and unified fiscal policy can create credit instability. Your task is to come to an agreement about what this monetary union should look like. There are many AU 2 things to consider in this topic: How will trade flow under this union? Should there be an accompanying trade union with the currency? Some have proposed that the currency be modeled after the mobile banking cryptocurrency that was used to solve the inflation in Zimbabwe. There is also proposed online banking currencies from companies like Facebook. Africa has a rapidly growing number of Facebook users and the company is in the process of launching an online currency called the libra that could be used as a common currency. On top of this there are already two currency unions in Africa including the west African CFA Franc and central African CFA Franc which use a currency backed by the French national treasury. There are also several ongoing projects to create regional monetary trade unions in Africa. Including for members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The members of the East African Community have been working towards a monetary union, with the goal of adopting by 2024. To join the AU monetary union, they would have to abandon this project. The economy of Africa is not uniform and great consideration must be given to regional and national economic differences if the dream of an African monetary union is to be realized. This can be a complex topic and I suggest researching the economic state of your country and its position on the topic before the committee season. AU 3 History ➢ Founded on May 26th 2001, the African Union was founded to replace the Organization of African Unity. AU 4 ➢ From an original membership of 36 states when the OAU was established on 25 May 1963, there have been nineteen successive enlargements—the largest occurring on 18 July 1975 when four states joined. Morocco is the newest member state, having joined in January 2017. Morocco was a founding member of the OAU but withdrew in 1984 following the organization's acceptance of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state. Morocco rules over most of the territory, but sovereignty is disputed. ➢ The work of the AU is implemented through several principal decision-making organs: - The Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the executive council, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), Specialized Technical Committees (STCs), the Peace and Security Council and The African Union Commission. The AU structure promotes participation of African citizens and civil society through the Pan-African Parliament and the Economic, Social & Cultural Council (ECOSOC). ➢ The purpose of the committee is to formulate recommendations, resolutions and conventions for the African Union. Topics that fall under the African Union: ● African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) ● African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) ● AU Commission on International Law (AUCIL) ● African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child ● Continental Financial Institutions (The African Central Bank, The African Investment Bank and the African Monetary Fund) AU 5 Venn Diagram of the Different governing regions and membership of the AU Timeline ➢ 1945: The CFA Franc was introduced to the French colonies. ➢ 1975: The ECOWAS is founded, The Economic Community of West African States with the treaty of Lagos. ➢ 1986: CMA, Common Monetary Area, is founded creating a monetary Union of South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland around the South African Rand ➢ 1992: The CMA becomes the MMA, Multilateral Monetary Area, and Namibia joins the Union. ➢ 2000: At a conference in Lome in the West African state of Togo, the OAU heads of state sign the founding charter of the African Union (AU). AU 6 According to Section 30, governments that came to power in an unconstitutional way should be excluded from the organization. ➢ 2001: The OAU is now officially called the African Union and has 53 members. Morocco does not join the AU because of the ongoing conflict in Western Sahara. The OAU and the AU co-exist for a two-year transition period. The main organs of the African Union are the summit of the heads of state and the yearly rotating chair. The "African Economic Community" becomes part of the AU. ➢ 2003: The Eco is proposed as a single currency for the ECOWAS states ➢ 2010: A common market was declared for the EAC, the East African Community, in Kampala Uganda ➢ 2013: The AU has 54 members - that is, all African countries except Morocco. Western Sahara is a full member of the AU but not a member of the UN nor an officially recognized state. Most of the AU members do not recognize Western Sahara as a state. The membership of the Central African Republic has been put on hold since a military coup took place in March 2013. Guinea Bissau and Madagascar are also suspended. ➢ 2013: The EMAU, East African Monetary Union, protocol is adopted which laid the groundwork for achieving a single currency by 2023. ➢ 2015: The African Central Bank begins as an institution under the African Finance Regulatory Authority ➢ 2020: The ECOWAS single currency the Eco is expected to go into effect. ➢ 2020: The African Central Bank is expected to be completed. ➢ 2020: Facebook Libra is expected to be launched AU 7 Topics To Address ● Sustainable Development Economic development that is conducted without the depletion of natural resources. As well as ensuring that all development of infrastructure is economically and financially sound. ● Funding Practices Making sure that all funds are distributed appropriately and equally. Assuring that all agreed upon funds are being used for the respective purposes. Also covers the area of making sure there are indeed enough funds to finance any resolutions passed by the committee. ● Governance Structures Ensuring that there is a proper chain of command when it comes to implementation in any nation. An independent party that will oversee the implementation of any policy, and will be able to resolve any issues that may arise. Should something go wrong, the governance structures will be in charge of damage control. ● Stability Creating an equitable and stable monetary union which provides economic benefits to all countries ● Trade Promoting trade between countries and find a way to facilitate this without leaving some countries behind ● Unity Providing a union which can be encompassing for all nations beyond what they can form as regional blocks AU 8 Citations 1. https://cryptocurrencyfacts.com/ 2. https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/wallets/ 3. https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-cryptocurrency/ 4. https://www.finder.com/what-is-cryptocurrency 5. https://securityintelligence.com/tag/cryptocurrency/ 6. https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/guides/5-things-you-need-to-know -about-bitcoin-volatility/ 7. https://countingoncurrency.com/news-item/east-african-community-singl e-currency/ 8. https://www.uneca.org/publications/towards-common-currency-east-afric an-communityeac 9. https://www.dw.com/en/west-african-states-mired-in-controversy-over-ec o-currency/a-52045052 10. https://www.uneca.org/es-blog/regional-integration-and-monetary-unions- africa 11. https://www.eac.int/monetary-union 12. https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/images/eamu_report.pdf 13. https://databank.worldbank.org/reports.aspx?source=1228 .
Recommended publications
  • Annual Report 2017

    Annual Report 2017

    BANK OF CENTRAL AFRICAN STATES ANNUAL REPORT 2017 SUMMARY LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................5 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................7 LIST OF INSETS ...................................................................................................8 LIST OF ACCRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................9 MAP OF MEMBER STATES OF THE ECONOMIC AND MONETARY COMMUNITY OF CENTRAL AFRICA (CEMAC) ................................................11 THE GOVERNOR’S ADDRESS ..........................................................................13 OVERVIEW OF THE YEAR 2017 ........................................................................15 I. ECONOMIC AND MONETARY GROWTH .......................................................17 1. INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT ......................................................................19 1.1. Economic conditions of major partners to CEMAC Member States ... 19 1.2. Financial, Foreign Exchange and Gold Markets ..................................23 1.3. Markets for basic commodities .................................................................. 27 2. 2.ECONOMIC AND MONETARY SITUATION IN CEMAC .........................29 2.1. Economic growth .................................................................................29 2.2. Prices and competitiveness .................................................................34
  • Financing the African Union – on Mindsets and Money

    Financing the African Union – on Mindsets and Money

    ecdpm’s Making policies work DISCUSSION PAPER No. 240 Financing the African Union on mindsets and money Political Economy Dynamics of Regional Organisations in africa PEDRO By Kesa Pharatlhatlhe and Jan Vanheukelom February 2019 Summary With 55 member countries, an elaborate institutional architecture, a broad policy agenda, and a high dependency rate on its former colonisers and main donors, the African Union (AU) is probably the world’s largest and most complex regional partnership configuration. Until 2017, repeated efforts at reducing dependency on foreign funding and increasing the yearly contributions from the member states of the AU had largely failed. Unpredictability and unreliability of funding by both African member states and by external funders led to wider management and staffing challenges. Due to a financial crisis of the AU around 2016, a renewed and joint push at different levels of the AU resulted in hands-on institutional reforms, piloted by Rwanda’s charismatic President Paul Kagame. This paper analyses the margins of manoeuvre for reformers and their external supporters to resolve money and governance matters within the wider context of institutional reforms of the AU. It has introduced a levy on eligible imported goods into the continent and has established systems to instill more discipline in planning, monitoring and implementing of budgets. A handful of donors are doing some soul searching as past promises to harmonise aid and align it with priorities and management systems of the AU have not effectively reduced the unintended burden of their fragmented, earmarked and overly ambitious support. Clearly, this paper is about money, and about the difficulties of financing the African Union.
  • A Safety Net for Africa: Towards an African Monetary Fund?

    A Safety Net for Africa: Towards an African Monetary Fund?

    Robert Triffin International A watch on the international financial and monetary system A SAFETY NET FOR AFRICA: TOWARDS AN AFRICAN MONETARY FUND? Dominique De Rambures, Alfonso Iozzo, Annamaria Viterbo After the Second World War, the establishment of the United Nations was completed, in the financial area, with those of the IMF for financing the balances of payments, and the World Bank for financing infrastructure and investment projects. The European Union has created the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) for financing the member States who are dealing with payment problems, which can be compared to the IMF, and the EIB for financing the investment project which can be compared to the World Bank. China numerous entities for financing investments, such as the China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank, and many funds and development banks dedicated to a specific purpose such as the ABII (Asia Bank for Infrastructures and Investments) to support the OBOR policy (One Belt One Road, i.e. the New Silk Roads). Beyond their aim of financing investments, China uses these financial organizations and others such as the sovereign fund, China Investment Corp., and the state banks, for buying government bonds to countries such as Greece and Portugal during the 2008 crisis, that are dealing with payment problems. The African Development Bank grants loans to finance infrastructure and investment projects, but Africa has no financial institution such as the IMF or the ESM. Why should Africa build up a financial institution of this kind while the Africain countries have so far called upon the IMF for their financial needs? - the IMF does initiate a financial package but does not provide the whole amount of funds needed.
  • Chad – Towards Democratisation Or Petro-Dictatorship?

    Chad – Towards Democratisation Or Petro-Dictatorship?

    DISCUSSION PAPER 29 Hans Eriksson and Björn Hagströmer CHAD – TOWARDS DEMOCRATISATION OR PETRO-DICTATORSHIP? Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala 2005 Indexing terms Democratisation Petroleum extraction Governance Political development Economic and social development Chad The opinions expressed in this volume are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nordiska Afrikainstitutet Language checking: Elaine Almén ISSN 1104-8417 ISBN printed version 91-7106-549-0 ISBN electronic version 91-7106-550-4 © the authors and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet Printed in Sweden by Intellecta Docusys AB, Västra Frölunda 2005 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................5 2. Conceptual framework ...................................................................................7 2.1 Rebuilding state authorities, respect for state institutions and rule of law in collapsed states..................................................................7 2.2 Managing oil wealth for development and poverty reduction................11 2.3 External influence in natural resource rich states...................................19 3. State and politics in Africa: Chad’s democratisation process ..........................25 3.1 Historical background ..........................................................................25 3.2 Political development and democratisation...........................................26 3.3 Struggle for a real and lasting peace ......................................................37
  • Is SACU Ready for a Monetary Union?

    Is SACU Ready for a Monetary Union?

    OCCASIONAL PAPER NO 1 4 3 Economic Diplomacy Programme A p r i l 2 0 1 3 Is SACU Ready for a Monetary Union? Hilary Patroba & Morisho Nene s ir a f f A l a n o ti a rn e nt f I o te tu sti n In rica . th Af hts Sou sig al in Glob African perspectives. About SAIIA The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) has a long and proud record as South Africa’s premier research institute on international issues. It is an independent, non-government think-tank whose key strategic objectives are to make effective input into public policy, and to encourage wider and more informed debate on international affairs with particular emphasis on African issues and concerns. It is both a centre for research excellence and a home for stimulating public engagement. SAIIA’s occasional papers present topical, incisive analyses, offering a variety of perspectives on key policy issues in Africa and beyond. Core public policy research themes covered by SAIIA include good governance and democracy; economic policymaking; international security and peace; and new global challenges such as food security, global governance reform and the environment. Please consult our website www.saiia.org.za for further information about SAIIA’s work. A b o u t t h e e C o N o M I C D I P L o M A C Y P r o g r amm e SAIIA’s Economic Diplomacy (EDIP) Programme focuses on the position of Africa in the global economy, primarily at regional, but also at continental and multilateral levels.
  • Africa Payments: Insights Into African Transaction Flows

    Africa Payments: Insights Into African Transaction Flows

    SWIFT Africa Payments: Insights white into African transaction fl ows paper FOREWORD By Moono Mupotola, Manager Regional Integration & Trade Division African Development Bank SWIFT: ‘Africa is rising’ is a powerful Africa’s economic integration agenda Today, Africa’s fi nancial markets remain phrase these days. Indeed, Africa is on-going and the majority of the weak and rudimentary, focusing only Thierry Chilosi has a youthful population and continent’s 54 countries belong to on retail; building a strong intermediary one or more of the Regional Regional sector is crucial for stronger fi nancial Damien Dugauquier growing middle class which the AfDB projects will spend more Economic Communities (RECs) that markets. Given the presence of at least Geraldine Lambe than $1 trillion by 2020 – up from is pursuing either a free trade area or 800 commercial fi nancial institutions $680 million in 2008. The rising customs union. At the 2012 African in Africa, the next step will be to assist Michimaru Onizuka middle class will undoubtedly help Union Summit, African heads of state banks, particularly domestic banks, to drive up demand for consumer endorsed the Continental Free Trade to develop the capacity to become Area (CFTA) – expected to be in place confi rming and corresponding banks so goods, creating the business case by 2017 – with the goal of increasing that we can lower costs. The authors would like to thank the following for their support in producing this paper: for African fi rms to upgrade their intra-African trade to 25% of total trade production processes and expand The AfDB, through its trade fi nance Rob Green, Head, Payments Market Infrastructure, FirstRand Bank in the next decade.
  • Currency Union As a Panacea for Ills in Africa: a New Institutional Framework and Theoretical Consideration

    Currency Union As a Panacea for Ills in Africa: a New Institutional Framework and Theoretical Consideration

    Munich Personal RePEc Archive Currency Union as a Panacea for ills in Africa: A New Institutional Framework and Theoretical Consideration Abban, Stanley Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology 11 December 2020 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/105459/ MPRA Paper No. 105459, posted 25 Jan 2021 20:11 UTC 1.0 INTRODUCTION A currency union is a union to which two or more countries agree to surrender their monetary sovereignty to adopt an official currency issued by a Central Bank tasked with formulating and implementing monetary policy. Currency union came to light when there was a need for choosing a suitable exchange rate regime as an improvement on the fixed exchange rate. Comparatively, currency union is superlative to fixed exchange rate due to equalization of price through the laid down nominal convergence criteria and the introduction of a common currency to ensure greater transparency in undertaking transactions (Rose, 2000; Abban, 2020a). Currency union is touted to emanate several gains and has the potential to be disastrous based on the conditionality among member-states. Empirical studies emphasize the main advantages of currency union membership lies with the elimination of exchange rate volatility to increase savings, relaxation of policies that hinder the free movement of persons and capital to improve trade and tourism, price transparency to intensify trade, and the ability to induce greater Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to stimulate intra-trade flows (Rose, 2000; Micco et al., 2003; Aristotelous & Fountas, 2009; Rodriguez et al, 2012). The key areas that benefit from currency union membership include production, the financial market, the labour market, tourism, the private sector, the political environment among others (Karlinger, 2002; Martinez et al, 2018; Formaro, 2020).
  • Legal Instruments – Adopted in Malabo – July 2014

    Legal Instruments – Adopted in Malabo – July 2014

    AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: 517 700 Fax: 5130 36 website: www. www.au.int EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Twenty-Fifth Ordinary Session 20 - 24 June 2014 Malabo, EQUATORIAL GUINEA EX.CL/846(XXV) Original: English THE REPORT, THE DRAFT LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS EX.CL/846(XXV) Page 1 THE REPORT, THE DRAFT LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS 1. The First Meeting of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs (former Conference of Ministers of Justice/Attorneys or Keepers of the Seal from Member States but now including Ministers responsible for issues such as human rights, constitutionalism and rule of law) was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6 to 14 May 2014 (Experts) and 15-16 May 2014 (Ministers). 2. The First Ministerial Session of the STC was attended by thirty eight (38) Member States, two (2) AU Organs and one (1) Regional Economic Community (REC). 3. The purpose of the meeting was to finalize seven (7) Draft Legal Instruments prior to their submission to and adoption by the Policy Organs. 4. Consequently, the STC considered the following Draft Legal Instruments: a) Draft African Union Convention on Cross-border Cooperation (Niamey Convention); b) Draft African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development; c) Draft Protocol and Statute on the Establishment of the African Monetary Fund; d) Draft African Union Convention on Cyber-Security and Protection of Personal Data; e) Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights; f) Draft Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union on the Pan- African Parliament; and g) Draft Rules of Procedure of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Justice and Legal Affairs.
  • The African Union (AU): Key Issues and U.S.-AU Relations

    The African Union (AU): Key Issues and U.S.-AU Relations

    The African Union (AU): Key Issues and U.S.-AU Relations Nicolas Cook Specialist in African Affairs Tomas F. Husted Research Assistant December 16, 2016 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R44713 The African Union (AU): Key Issues and U.S.-AU Relations Summary U.S. relations with the African Union (AU), an intergovernmental organization to which all African countries except Morocco belong, have strengthened over the past decade. U.S.-AU cooperation has traditionally focused on peace operations and conflict prevention and mitigation. U.S. aid for AU democracy-strengthening initiatives is another key focus of engagement. Other areas of cooperation include economic development, health, governance, peace and security capacity building, and criminal justice. Direct U.S. aid to the AU Commission (AUC, the organization’s secretariat), which oversees AU program activity, is moderate; most U.S. aid in support of AU goals is provided on a bilateral basis or sub-regional basis. Consequently, such aid may not always be accounted for in analyses of U.S. support for the AU. President George W. Bush formally recognized the AU as an international organization in 2005, and a U.S. mission to the AU was established in 2006, making the United States the first non- African country to have an accredited diplomatic mission to the AU. In 2007, the first AU ambassador to the United States was accredited. In 2010, an agreement on U.S. aid for the AU was signed and in 2013, the AU and the United States established annual partnership dialogues and extended the 2010 aid agreement.
  • Ecowas Common Currency: How Prepared Are Its Members?

    Ecowas Common Currency: How Prepared Are Its Members?

    ECOWAS COMMON CURRENCY: HOW PREPARED ARE ITS MEMBERS? Sagiru Mati Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of the Near East University (Cyprus) Irfan Civcir Faculty of Political Science of the Ankara University (Turkey) Corresponding author: [email protected] Hüseyin Ozdeser Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of the Near East University (Cyprus) Received October 13, 2018. Accepted February 7, 2019. ABSTRACT This study operationalizes the Optimum Currency Area (oca) to investigate the preparedness of Economic Community of West African States (ecowas) members to form a Monetary Union (mu). Inflation and output models are estimated, with the sample 1988:01 to 2017:12 for the former and 1967 to 2016 for the latter. Analyses of ecowas convergence criteria, impulse responses, variance de- compositions and correlations of shocks of these two models, reveal that the shocks across the ecowas members are asymmetric. The conclusion is that ecowas members as a whole are not well-prepared and therefore a full-fledged pan-ecowas mu is not advisable. It is also found that members of the European Monetary Union (emu) tend to be a better fit for oca than the ecowas members. The study recommends various courses of action such as fostering coordination among Central Banks of ecowas members, and providing a fund to serve as an incentive for countries that may incur cost rather than benefit if the single currency is created. Key words: Optimal Currency Area, ecowas, emu, structural var, Blanchard-Quah decomposition. jel Classification: C13, E31, E52, E58, F33, F42. http://dx.doi.org/10.22201/fe.01851667p.2019.308.69625 © 2019 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Economía.
  • Why Is the African Economic Community Important? Mr

    Why Is the African Economic Community Important? Mr

    House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Hearing on “Will there be an African Economic Community?” January 9, 2014 Amadou Sy, Senior Fellow, Africa Growth Initiative, the Brookings Institution Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass, and Members of the Subcommittee, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for convening this important hearing to discuss Africa’s progress towards establishing an economic community. I appreciate the invitation to share my views on behalf of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution. The Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution delivers high-quality research on issues of economic growth and development from an African perspective to better inform policy research. I have recently joined AGI from the International Monetary Fund’s where I led or participated in a number of missions to Africa over the past 15 years. Why is the African Economic Community Important? Mr. Chairman, before we start answering the main question, “Will there be an Africa Economic Community?” it is important to look at the reasons why a regionally integrated Africa is beneficial to African nations as well as the United States. In spite of its remarkable economic performance over the past decade, Africa needs to grow faster in order to transform its economy and create the resources needed to reduce poverty. Over the past 10 years, sub-Saharan Africa’s real GDP grew by 5.6 percent per year, a much faster rate than the world economy, which grew by 3.2 percent. At this rate of 5.6 percent, the region should double the size of its economy in about 13 years.
  • The African Union's Journey to Expo 2020 Dubai Nairobi, Kenya

    The African Union's Journey to Expo 2020 Dubai Nairobi, Kenya

    AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃOAFRICANA Addis Ababa, Ethiopia P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: +251 11 551 7700 / +251 11 518 25 58/ Ext 2558 Website: www.au.int DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION The African Union’s Journey to Expo 2020 Dubai Nairobi, Kenya: 2nd November, 2019: “Africa is undergoing a dynamic socio- economic and political transformation. There is a lot happening on the continent but the world is yet to hear all about it. It is time to take charge of Africa’s narrative and reclaim its rightful place at the global arena”. Dr. Madueke, Levi Uche, Head of the African Union (AU) Strategic Partnerships Office & Commissioner General for AU’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai, articulated in his opening remarks at the 3rd Annual Conference of the African Union Interactive Platform for Partnerships Coordination (AU-IPPC) organized to project the African Union participation at the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai. “The African Union has been designated as a key partner and stakeholder by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government, which has graciously offered a pavilion to the AU as well as committed to a strong spirit of collaboration and co-creation during every step leading to Expo 2020,” indicated Dr. Madueke. He further highlighted that “the AU Pavilion provides an opportunity for the world to understand AU’s institutional history, continental development and represents a platform for Africa to tell her story to the world.” “We will tell the world about how safe it is to do business in Africa with guaranteed return on investment. We will tell the world about the assets and opportunities that exist in Africa.