From IOL. Story by ANA.
African Union leaders want to be less dependent on foreign donors who still provide about 60 percent of the A.U.’s overall budget so they’ve proposed alternative funding sources including taxes on airfares, text messages, oil and other natural resources.
But however they pay, A.U. members will have to pay more, A.U. leaders decided Monday at the 25th Annual African Union Summit that ended Monday in Johannesburg.
Members’ contributions will be based roughly on the size of their economies. South Africa, for example, will be in the top tier of five countries which will each have to pay 12 percent of the A.U. budget.
That could increase South Africa’s annual dues from about $17 million (210 million rand) to $60 million.
The leaders agreed that the top-tier countries – which also include Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and Angola – would contribute equally, despite a large discrepancy in the size of their economies.
Angola’s economy, for instance is about a third the size of South Africa’s.
The reason for this discrepancy is to prevent the larger economies – especially South Africa and Nigeria – from dominating the A.U.
But Angola had objected strongly to having to pay so much more than it is now paying.
This issue was not resolved at the summit and will be discussed later.
Read more at IOL.