Finance a key issue for new African Union

The key organs of the African Union (AU) – due to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) later this year – were being ironed out in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, OAU officials told IRIN.

Experts from member states were working out exactly how the organisation will function and how much money it will need. Informed sources within the OAU said the new finances of the AU would dominate much of the discussions, held at the UN headquarters in Addis Ababa. A senior OAU source told IRIN that a budget of around US $500 million would be needed to achieve all the aims – more than 10 times the current budget.

In an opening speech to delegates at the three-day summit, OAU chief Amara Essy said the AU would be a milestone in establishing peace and economic security within Africa.

"I am confident that together we will be able to find the ways and means to endow the African Union with the organs, powers, structures and the resources which make it a real driving force for integration, and development and for the promotion of peace, security and stability on the continent," he said.

The African Union - due to come into being in July - is supposed to act along the same lines as the European Union and will help bolster trade in the region.

"This is a crucial meeting for the OAU and one where the nitty gritty will be ironed out," an OAU spokesman told IRIN. "Once we have put the flesh on the skeleton then it will go before the Council of Members in March for their agreement, before its final acceptance by heads of state in South Africa in July."