Kenyan President, William Ruto, yesterday rolled out major reforms for a stronger African Union (AU) towards its economic transformation agenda.

Ruto, at the official opening of the week-long Annual General Meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, said the key reforms were strategic actions that must complement Africa’s advocacy for a fair global financial system and sustainable growth.

It will be recalled that Ruto recently took over the baton of leading AU’s institutional reforms from President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

After the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in February, President Kagame presented his final report on AU reforms, and proposed Ruto take over the mantle he had held since 2016. Peers agreed with the suggestion.

Ruto, yesterday, told African leaders that it was no longer enough to ask for fair deals from global multilateral institutions without showing capacity to lead or begin internal reforms.

To that end, Ruto said he would be proposing that the Africa Union Commission Executive be given sufficient power to be able to push for African economic diplomacy to unlock the potential of the continent. He said this would show the mineral, agriculture, natural and human assets of Africa, turn opportunities into investments, and deliver a better Africa for all.

Also, to make AU a fit-for-purpose organisation that takes charge of the consolidation of the African Market through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

He observed that intra-African trade is only 15 per cent, while that of Asia and Europe are 60 and 70 per cent, in that order.

“We are struggling and looking for markets everywhere, except in our own continent. We must believe in ourselves and sell to the markets we have on our continent. It is the silver bullet that will increase the contribution of trade from two per cent to the next level,” he said.

Ruto said further that the AU must be made to secure the continent, with the AU taking charge of the peace, security and stability – solving the problems of conflicts and wars on the continent.

“We cannot progress as a continent if there is war in Sudan, trouble in Somalia, problem in DRC and Sahel. We must take charge of our security and stability.”

Lastly, he beckoned on the AU to close the infrastructure gaps. He said: “The AU was initially a liberation movement. We must repurpose it so that it addresses the challenges of the current moment. We will be proposing to have a much more accountable AU. Today, the pan-African parliament has no connection with the AU Executive.

“We are proposing the reduction in the size of the pan-African parliament to make it much more cost-effective from 275 members to 100 members. That is, one woman, one man from every country, and make it a full-time organisation.

“And finally, we must bring about the African Court of Justice so that we can sort out our issues. We don’t want any African to be dragged to court elsewhere on African issues.”

Though some of the proposals have been dubbed controversial, observers reckoned that Ruto’s proposal to donate more powers to the AU Commission could be game-changing as it could mimic the European Union, which traditionally negotiates trade and global security policies jointly.

His predecessor in the reform office, Kagame, said African leaders must walk the talk to make the dream a reality.

Kagame noted that the reforms were not new, as they had discussed and agreed on them many years ago.

He said: “We agreed on many things and most of the Heads of State were represented. But two or three years later, you will find that 50 per cent of things we agreed have changed, and you are asking the leaders what happened.

“The same things we are saying now are things we have agreed on in the past. We all agree that they are the things that will change our continent. So, we must get out of this room with a commitment to achieve what we have agreed.

“Progress is being made but it is too slow. We must make it urgent. That is why I handed it over to my brother, Ruto, who is younger. We all will need to support him,” Kagame said.