Mapping and Problematising External Funding to the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities

External actors have invested enormous financial resources to support African regional organizations. This chapter maps and problematizes the external funding provided to the African Union (AU) and the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Based on a new dataset, we show that there has been a drastic increase of security-related funding during the last 15 years. The AU is by far the most targeted recipient. Funding also goes to a few favored RECs (ECOWAS, IGAD and SADC), whereas other RECs do not receive much support at all. Considerable variation also appears on the donor side since a few donors provide most of the funding but still differ regarding priority areas and targeted organizations. The chapter provides further insights into funding activities of three powerful external actors – the EU, USA, and China. The analysis opens up questions related to donor strategies and the consequences for ROs as well as regional support more generally.