When a genuine protocol request during Comesa sitting angered Djibouti President

Nearly all Comesa heads of State and government convened in Lusaka, Zambia on October 31, 2000 for the launch of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), among them were presidents from Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In such events, the order of business protocol takes precedence. In the programme, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti was among those scheduled to speak.

However, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Amr Moussa, pleaded with me to be allowed to speak as he had a flight to catch to attend a crucial meeting in Cairo.

After consulting with the chair, the Prime Minister of Mauritius Sir Anerood Jugnauth, the minister was allowed to make his statement, thus irking the Djibouti president.

The mistake on my part was not informing President Guelleh of the change of protocol and so he protested by storming out. Faced with the crisis, I tried to explain what had happened, but the Djibouti delegation felt slighted. I later travelled to Djibouti to offer my apologies to the Minister and the President. Offered an opportunity, I expressed my deepest regrets, and the matter was closed. Djibouti then offered to host a COMESA summit, which we fully supported.

Fast forward to when I was campaigning for deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), and Djibouti was among the countries that played a key role in my election.

Interestingly and by pure coincidence, Djibouti and Madagascar are two the states that campaigned against Kenya candidate Raila Amolo Odinga in his quest to be chair of the African Union Commission in 2025.

Having served as Comesa Secretary General for the maximum of two terms, the experience helped me when I vied for Deputy Chairperson of the AUC.

Electioneering for the AUC position was not an easy task. I was nominated for the position of Deputy Chairperson of AUC, immediately after my second and last term as Secretary General of Comesa. It happened when I travelled o Madagascar in 2007 as part of my exit to say goodbye to President Marc Ravaromanana, as I did with most heads of member states in the region.

At a private dinner attended by his economic advisor, Prega Ramsamy, who had served as South Africa Development Community (SADEC) Executive Secretary. This is a person I met in Japan in 1983 and who had also served in PTA/Comesawith me. They urged me to apply to join the African Union Commission.

The idea had not crossed my mind at all, but I then approached Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, who at the time was Kenya’s Minister of Trade and Industry to seek his opinion. He and I shared a lot of information on regional integration and international trade.

He was very supportive and wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appraise them about my interest in the AUC seat. The government of Kenya was not fully supportive of my candidature and making matters worse, I did not have enough resources to campaign.

Kenyan candidate

Since the election is by heads of state, one needs to get their endorsement to stand a chance. The then Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs had already committed to supporting two other Kenyan candidates. One was vying for Commissioner of Trade and Industry, and the other Commissioner for Peace and Security.

Fortunately, President Mwai Kibaki solidly supported my candidacy. For my campaign, I relied on the network I had developed as Secretary General with other Regional Economic Commissions (RECS), including SADC, ECOWAS, ECCAS, and CENSAD.

The AU electoral process provides for one vote by each country at the head of state level. Although I had one competitor from Egypt, the electoral process lasted for five rounds after which, I secured two-thirds of the votes to be declared the winner. At the time of the elections, 46 member States were eligible to vote, with eight being under sanctions for various reasons. Incidentally, now many people consider me an ambassador even though I have never been a career diplomat.

According to the AU protocol, elected officials are conferred the title “Excellency” and the AUC chairman is accorded the status equivalent to that of a Prime Minister.  Working with AUC Chairman Jean Ping was one of the best times of my career. As a consummate diplomat, he served as Gabon’s Foreign Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), maintaining cordial relations with member states.

During his tenure however, the AU went through challenging times, because we were elected to office at the height of the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya.

We quickly swing into action to resolve the dispute, after the appointment of Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary-General, to preside over the mediation process, after which a coalition government was formed. Ghana President John Kufuor, was the AU president and was trying to encourage talks between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, hence the invitation of Annan to broker a deal.

Other crises we handled included the Côte d’Ivoire presidential dispute and the Arab Spring protests in North African countries, which resulted in fall of governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.

Epic initiatives

Ping and I complemented each other well. While he focused more on peace and security matters, I had ample space to operate in my comfort zone of finance, trade and integration. I championed groundwork for the African Continental Free Trade Area, digitisation and financial sustainability of the AUC. I can’t help but feel humbled to have been part of these epic initiatives. Notwithstanding the camaraderie with Ping, it is not easy playing second fiddle in any job, especially after one has served as CEO of a large entity like Comesa.

The dilemma one faces in such situations, is the risk of outshining the boss or acting independently without adequate reference or consultation with the CEO. I was fortunate to have had the best relationships with both Jean Ping and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who was his successor. We found synergy, which was largely due to our diverse backgrounds. I recall in June 2009, Chairman Ping and I, together with some Commissioners, travelled to Tripoli for a meeting with President Muammar Gaddafi to prepare for the AU summit.

While in Tripoli, news reached us that President Omar Bongo had passed away and so Ping was asked to travel to Libreville where he was the frontrunner to succeed Omar Bongo. By the time he arrived in Gabon, Ali Bongo, son of the late president, had manoeuvred his way to be installed in an acting capacity.

Following this development, the relationship between Ali Bongo and Ping deteriorated and come 2012, when Jean Ping sought re-election as AUC Chairperson, Ali Bongo was reluctant to extend support.

Besides the inability to secure support from his head of state, France, too was not supportive of Ping’s re-election following strong criticism of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s role in removing Muammar Gaddafi from power.

From that time, Libya became a dysfunctional state. We also managed to introduce paperless Commission and time management for policy organ meetings.

The AU and its predecessor OAU were notorious for meetings that started late and ran to the wee hours of the morning. To manage that, we introduced timekeeping with an auto-timer that cuts off the microphone at the end of allotted time.

When we mooted that idea at the level of the Permanent Representatives (PRC), there was a big pushback. Some representatives, despite recognising the need, were reluctant to recommend to their principals the possibility of switching off the microphone before delivering their full statement.

Some leaders were known for making lengthy statements and sometimes even straying from the script, while paying little or no attention to time. Faced with the push-back by the PRC, we mooted the idea directly approaching the heads of state and a majority welcomed time management introduction, agreeing that it was long overdue. We as a continent must reflect on the broader aspect of time management. Sadly, there is a joke that “Africa has time while the rest of the world keeps time.”

I developed the attribute of time management during my early training in Japan, where time is deeply ingrained in the society’s culture.

When Jean Ping failed in his bid for a second term, he returned to Gabon and subsequently campaigned for the presidency and lost the election which was widely acknowledged as not free, fair, and transparent.

In the ensuing tensions and protests, Ping was put under house arrest, where he remained until he was freed when Ali Bongo was removed in a military takeover. Serving with Chairperson, Nkosazana Zuma (2013-2017) was different in many ways. Again, there was such strong synergy between us.

Trained as a medical doctor and having served in the cabinet portfolios of Foreign, Home Affairs, and Health  ministries, Nkosazana was not only detail-oriented but quite resolute. She presided over many events and processes, leaving a lasting legacy. The preparation of Agenda 2063 as a roadmap for Africa’s progressive and eventual full integration was our initiative. In the introduction part of the blueprint, she authored a brilliant futuristic letter describing the scenario that will be obtained in 2063.

AfCFTA negotiations

It is during her tenure that we made progress in the AfCFTA negotiations and hosted notable personalities at AUC, including US President Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe of Japan.

Beyond the boardrooms, I have greatly benefited from and enjoyed social aspects of life at church and community levels. Living in Zambia, is one of the enduring legacy, not to mention the church family and circle of friends we acquired.

We felt at home and our children, now grown-up and have become part and parcel of the Zambian family. Reflecting on my career, I recall the naivety of my younger self, who once believed that developed countries were devoid of challenges.

My first trip to Yugoslavia via Italy was an eye opener, because a multitude of challenges struck me. They included understanding the implications of the Second World War and the ensuing Cold War at the time.

In addition to the continental integration programme, I was involved in promoting cooperation between Africa and the US. I have also been intricately involved in fostering Africa-China relations.

I am a member of the Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Initiative and have been actively nurturing such alliances, leading the way for African and EU cooperation.

The AU developed several strategic dialogues with China, the European Union, India, Japan, South America, Russia, Turkey, and the USA.

Cooperation among AU members was very fruitful despite irreconcilable disagreements on trade matters. We strongly objected to the EU negotiating separate partnership agreements with regional economic blocks, as that would complicate the African integration agenda.

After failing to make meaningful progress on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the EU started making similar arrangements at the bilateral level but we strongly objected to that. We were frustrated when few countries, especially the non- least developed countries (non-LDCs), went ahead to negotiate separate bilateral EPAs.

On reflection, the high-ranking roles I assumed in COMESA and the AUC paved the way for my current position as the Chairperson of multiple organisations, including Equity Bank Kenya Limited, The Africa Capacity Building Foundation, Brenthurst Foundation, Coalition for Dialogue on Africa’s Development, Trademark Africa, and Yaatra Ventures.

I completed two terms as Chairperson of Trademark Africa in 2024. TMA supports member states in trade facilitation and capacity building in investment and trade.

Since August 2020, I have served as Chairman of the Board, succeeding Professor Isaac Macharia. Under its leadership, the bank has navigated the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, deepened customer trust and expanding its footprint within trading blocs like COMESA and the East African Community. Equity Bank Kenya has reinforced its commitment to financial inclusion, offering pioneering products such as mobile banking and microfinance that empower underserved populations.