FLAGSHIP PROJECT

The Continental Financial Institutions

Aim

The Continental Financial Institutions comprise the African Central Bank (ACB), the African Monetary Fund (AMF), the African Investment Bank (AIB), and the Pan-African Stock Exchange (PASE). The financial institutions were established through the Constitutive Act of the AU, adopted in Lomé, Togo, in 2000, to complete the financial architecture of the African Economic Community that was adopted in 1991.

Progress to-date

  • 22 signatures of the legal instruments of the AIB have been registered: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Libya, Liberia, Madagascar, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe, Togo, and Zambia. Among them, only six have ratified these instruments: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Libya, and Togo.

  • 12 signatures have been registered for the AMF: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Togo, and Zambia. Only one instrument of ratification has been deposited by Chad.

  • A host agreement with Cameroon on the headquarters of AMF was signed in 2018.

  • Nigeria has availed office space to set-up the AMI. A draft statute and host agreement have been developed and are yet to be finalised.

  • Work is on-going with the African Securities Exchanges Association to link African exchanges with the ultimate goal of establishing the PASE in stages. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is in the process of being forged to strengthen the partnership.

  • The Commission has started the process of appointing H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, the President of Ghana, as the Champion for the AUFIs.

  • The terms of reference for the champion have been developed.

  • A comprehensive study to establish the challenges of signing and ratifying the legal instruments is underway.

Challenges

  • The ratification process has been slow; and

  • The appointment of the champion has taken long and thereby impacting on project implementation.

Next Steps

  • Finalise the revision of timelines for the establishment of the ACB;

  • Finalise and agree upon the macro-economic convergence criteria;

  • Fast-track the appointment of the champion; and

  • Commence the implementation of the strategy to fast-track the signature and ratification of the legal instruments of AMF and AIB.

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FLAGSHIP PROJECT
The Continental Financial Institutions