Ghana to deposit ratification instruments for AU financial institutions by 2027 – Ablakwa

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced that Ghana will deposit its instruments of ratification for the establishment of key African Union financial institutions by 2027.

The institutions are the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank, which he described as essential to the continent’s financial independence.

Speaking at the 27th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council on Financing the African Union in Accra, Mr Ablakwa said Ghana was committed to strengthening its participation in efforts to establish the institutions.

He noted that President John Mahama, who is the African Union Champion for the Establishment of African Union Financial Institutions, was leading the effort.

"As my President, HE John Mahama, is the Champion for the Establishment of African Union Financial Institutions, I am pleased to announce that Ghana will deposit its instruments of ratification by 2027. We will also strengthen the domestication of the levy and report our progress to this Council," he said.

“No nation or continent can be considered truly sovereign unless it controls the institutions that finance its future,” he said.

Mr Ablakwa called on other African countries to take concrete steps towards ratifying the instruments establishing the institutions before the next meeting of the Council.

“Ghana cannot do this alone, and Ghana should not do this alone. I call on every Member State to take at least one concrete step towards ratification before we meet again,” he said.

He also announced that Ghana would host an Extraordinary Summit on African Financial Institutions in Accra in 2027, when the country assumes the chairmanship of the African Union.

According to him, the summit will seek to move discussions beyond commitments towards building, capitalising and operationalising the institutions.

He said the institutions would be central to reducing Africa’s dependence on external sources of financing and strengthening its control over its economic future.