By Tendai Keith Guvamombe
Midrand, South Africa – July 2025 – The Pan African Parliament (PAP) is facing significant budgetary challenges, as highlighted in a recent update report by the Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs.
Presented by Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs Rapporteur Hon. Sen. Tony Sibandze, the report details the PAP’s financial performance for 2024, the current 2025 budget with a special allocation, mid-year 2025 execution rates, and the approved budget for 2026.
The 2024 financial year concluded with an overall budget execution rate of 78%. While operational expenditure reached 81% of its USD 11,057,831 budget, programme funding struggled, achieving only a 57% execution rate.
This disparity was largely attributed to delays in partner funding releases and the timing of programme implementation towards the year’s end.
The Committee expressed concern over these figures, emphasizing their negative impact on future budget negotiations with the African Union (AU) policy organs.
Vacant staff positions and the “leadership impasse” experienced in early 2024 were also cited as contributing factors to under-execution.
For 2025, the PAP initially had an approved budget of USD 10,350,217.
Following persistent advocacy from the PAP Bureau and the Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs, a special allocation of USD 650,000 was secured, bringing the total approved budget to USD 11,000,217.
This additional funding was strategically directed towards operational costs, including statutory meetings and Bureau activities.
However, the mid-year budget execution for 2025 paints a worrying picture. As of June 2025, the overall execution rate stands at a mere 29% (31% for operations and a stark 4% for programmes), a decline from 39% at the same point in 2024. The Committee strongly urged the Bureau to ensure parliamentary activities are held within stipulated times to improve these rates and bolster arguments for increased resources.
Looking ahead to 2026, the approved budget for the PAP is USD 10,504,060, comprising USD 9,890,206 for operations and a significantly smaller USD 613,854 for programmes.
The Committee noted that their initial programme budget request of USD 4.9 million was constrained by the AU’s AMERT system, which only allows for uploading of programmes with secured funding within the provided ceiling.
This highlights a critical need for the PAP to develop a targeted resource mobilization strategy to fund its ambitious activities aligned with AU Agenda 2063’s “Moonshot” aspirations, particularly “Africa is more Integrated and Connected.”
The Committee reiterated its mandate to “discuss the budget of the Union and make appropriate recommendations,” urging the Bureau to align parliamentary activities to effectively execute this crucial oversight role. The report will now be considered and adopted by the Plenary.
