President Paul Kagame(middle) and the African Union Reform Steering Committee
A team recently appointed by President Paul Kagame to work with him on a new outlook for the African Union operations have held their first session with their boss in Rwanda’s capital Kigali.
President Kagame was tasked by his counterparts during the 27th African Union summit in Kigali, July this year, to lead a reform process of the body as part of transforming it into a self-reliant continental body by 2018.
Two weeks ago, Kagame announced four women on the list of an all-men team he had earlier put together.
The team comprises of members from all regions of the continent – with vast experience in the continent’s affairs.
According to one of the members of the committee, Tito Mboweni – former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, the team is up for a ‘huge task’. The AU announced in a statement last week that the committee would meet in Kigali on October 31.
“I am in Kigali as part of the African Union steering committee,” said Mboweni on Twitter on Sunday.
“This is a huge task. President Kagame will spend the day debating AU reforms with us.”
The nine-member committee includes: Amina J. Mohammed – Nigeria’s Minister of Environment; Mariam Mahamat Nour – the Chadian Minister of Economy, Planning, and International Cooperation; Cape Verde’s Cristina Duarte – the Former Minister of Finance and Planning, and Cameroonian economist Vera Songwe, the Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the International Finance Corporation.
Others are Rwandan Dr. Donald Kaberuka, the former President of the African Development Bank, and Dr Acha Leke – a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co.
Dr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Strive Masiyiwa – Executive Chairman of Econet Wireless, and Tito Mboweni, former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank are also part of the team.
It is expected that President Kagame and his nine-member team will present the reform proposals to the 28th AU Summit due January next year.
