Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Monday gave a donation of $1 million to help capacitate the African Union Foundation during the opening ceremony of the 29th assembly of the AU in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa.
The donation according to the President Mugabe was raised through the auction of more than 300 head of cattle owned by, him following a pledge he made to the African Union in 2015.
Mugabe recommended the use of innovative solutions to fund Africa’s development agenda and called on all Africans to come together and build the continent “brick by brick, stone by stone”.
The AU for years has been spending money that has been financed by donors including the European Union, World Bank and governments of wealthy non-African countries. This according to Mugabe has allowed big powers to interfere in the work of the AU.
“Africa needs to finance its own programmes. Institutions like the AU cannot rely on donor funding as the model is not sustainable,” Mugabe said in comments broadcast on Zimbabwe’s state television.
“This humble gesture on Zimbabwe’s part has no universal application but it demonstrates what is possible when people apply their minds to tasks before them.”
African leaders in July 2016 agreed in principle to charge a 0.2 percent levy on some exports to help finance AU operations. Read more here
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