ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has vowed to help the African continent towards effectively harnessing African financial institutions as he was named Champion of the African Union (AU) Financial Institutions.
"Ghana believes that the establishment of the African Financial Institutions are critical for enhanced resources mobilization on the continent," an AU statement issued late Tuesday quoted Akufo-Addo as saying, as he emphasized that such continental financial institutions "will drive the continent's financial sector to facilitate its productive transformation and development."
"Today, we have reached a milestone with the successful signing and ratification by 26 state parties," Akufo-Addo after he was named an AU financial institutions champion at the headquarters of the AU in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The AU Financial Institutions (AUFI) initiative, which constitutes one of the flagship projects of the 50-year continental development Agenda 2063, envisaged accelerating the integration and socio-economic development of the African continent.
The Ghanaian president also stressed that the AU financial institutions "are preconditions for the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and achieving Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want."
Noting that African currencies are characterized by volatilities, illiquidity and rarely traded status on the global financial market, Akufo-Addo also argued that the situation has made "trading among African countries difficult."
"The continent has no other alternative but to reduce its dependency on external aid and imported goods, and start mobilizing domestic resources to finance its development and diversify its economy to ensure the successful implementation of the AfCFTA," he said.
According to the Ghanaian president, effective establishment of the AU financial institutions requires bold commitments from African policymakers, as leaders of the continent.
"We need to take urgent actions for the signing and ratification of the legal instruments of the African Investment Bank and African Monetary Fund, in order to get the required number of ratifications to mobilise Member States towards their operationalization," he added.
As the champion for the AUFI, Akufo-Addo will work together with the African Central Bank (ACB), the African Monetary Fund (AMF), the African Investment Bank (AIB) and the Pan-African Stock Exchange (PASE).
The Ghanaian president also expressed his resolve to work with leaders of the host countries that are Cameroon for the AMF, Nigeria for the ACB and Libya for the AIB. He also vowed to reach out to high-level officials and parliamentarians of the AU member states as well as regional economic communities.
He also vowed to lead advocacy missions to key member states, which have not yet signed and ratified the legal instruments of the African financial institutions to expedite the signature and ratification process.
Strengthening African financial institutions is among the AU's major initiatives as the 55-member pan-African bloc envisaged towards its financial independence, which is gaining momentum in recent years amid the African continent's aspirations towards financial autonomy from reliance on outside sources.
