AU, EU sign partnership agreement for support programme

The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) signed a partnership agreement for the African Union Support Programme (AUSP III), which obtained a new co-funding of 51 million Euros.
The two sides signed, Wednesday, the AUSP III in the framework of the Steering Committee on the Aide Memoire between the European Commission (EC) and the African Union Commission (AUC) on measures to strengthen the financial management of the African Union Commission, said the AU in a communiqué published Monday.
The programme is co-funded by the European Union by 85% and the rest (15%) by the African Union.
The AUSP provides support to the African Union by strengthening its capacity to implement a number of Africa’s key priorities such as the negotiations towards the Continental Free Trade Area, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the operationalization of the African Governance Architecture, says the communiqué.
Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AUS expressed gratitude for the support that the European Union has been providing to the African Union over the years.
“The support under the African Union Support Programme has helped consolidate the institutional transformation of the African Union Commission and other organs,” said Mwencha.
The AU Commission also “benefitted from other EU funded programmes which include support to Peace and Security, Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (MESA), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Election Observation, AU Research Grants and we are actively engaged on future programs of support,” he added.