THINK AGAIN: Will the AU impact Morocco more than Morocco will impact the AU?
24 February 2017
For the first time, a red flag with a green five-pointed star hangs outside the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa. After 33 years in the continental wilderness, Morocco is finally back in the club.
The decision to admit Morocco as a member state of the AU – it withdrew from the Organization of African Unity in 1984 following the recognition of Western Sahara’s independence – was controversial and contested. Now that the decision has been taken, however, attention shifts to what Morocco’s presence in Addis Ababa means for continental dynamics. And, perhaps more importantly, what those continental dynamics mean for Morocco.
The kingdom’s most obvious and immediate contribution is money. The AU struggles for funding, and is still reliant, to a large degree, on foreign donors to meet both its operating and security budgets. This is a sore point for the organisation’s leaders, and one that they are desperate to rectify – as evidenced by the proposal, adopted last year, to impose a 0.2% levy on African imports.
There’s no doubt that Morocco will help to replenish the organisation’s depleted coffers. Member states’ dues are calculated based on their GDPs, with the five biggest economies expected to cough up for 60%. Morocco, with the sixth-largest economy in Africa, will be expected to contribute on a scale similar to the other economic heavyweights – Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Angola.