The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located across the African continent. It was officially announced on September 9, 1999, in Sirte, Libya, through the Sirte Declaration, which called for the establishment of the African Union. The AU's secretariat, known as the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lagos, Nigeria, is the largest city within the AU, while Cairo, Egypt, represents the largest urban agglomeration.
The advent of the African Union (AU) can be described as an event of great magnitude in the institutional evolution of the continent. The African Union (AU) is a continental organization founded on July 9, 2002, in Durban, South Africa, succeeding the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU aims to promote unity and cooperation among African countries and serves as a forum for tackling common challenges, such as poverty, conflict, and governance issues.
To understand the formation of the AU, it is important to take a step back to the beginning of the AU. On 9.9.1999, the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalisation.
The historical foundations of the African Union originated in the First Congress of Independent African States, held in Accra, Ghana from 15 to 22 April 1958. The idea of creating the AU was revived in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Libyan head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi; the heads of state and governments of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration (named after Sirte, Libya) on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of an African Union. The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted.
African countries, in their quest for unity, economic and social development under the banner of the OAU, have taken various initiatives and made substantial progress in many areas which paved the way for the establishment of the AU.
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The OAU initiatives paved the way for the birth of AU. In July 1999, the Assembly decided to convene an extraordinary session to expedite the process of economic and political integration in the continent. The Durban Summit (2002) launched the AU and convened the 1st Assembly of the Heads of States of the African Union.
Map of African Union Member States
Vision and Objectives
The vision of the African Union is that of: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena.” This vision of a new, forwardlooking, dynamic and integrated Africa will be fully realized through relentless struggle on several fronts and as a long-term endeavour. One of the objectives of the AU is to "promote peace, security, and stability on the continent".
Among its principles is "Peaceful resolution of conflicts among Member States of the Union through...
Key Milestones and Initiatives
- African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): operational since 2021, this landmark trade initiative aims to boost intra-African trade and economic integration.
- The African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (AUCEVAWG): is a comprehensive legal instrument for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls on the Continent. The Convention was adopted during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in February 2025.
- Africa Governance Report 2025 (AGR25): is the fourth report produced by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) on behalf of the African Governance Architecture (AGA).
The AU has adopted a number of important new documents establishing norms at the continental level, to supplement those already in force when it was created. The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Nairobi 1981) and the Grand Bay Declaration and Plan of Action on Human rights: two instruments adopted by the OAU to promote Human and People’s Rights in the Continent. The Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) - 1991: commonly known as the Abuja Treaty, it seeks to create the AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common Market using the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) : adopted as a Programme of the AU at the Lusaka Summit (2001).
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Structure and Organs of the AU
The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa.
Key Organs:
- The Assembly: Composed of heads of state and heads of government of AU states, the Assembly is currently the supreme governing body of the African Union. It is gradually devolving some of its decision-making powers to the Pan-African Parliament. It meets once a year and makes its decisions by consensus or by a two-thirds majority. The Assembly is chaired by João Lourenço, President of Angola.
- The Executive Council: Composed of Ministers or Authorities designated by the Governments of Members States. The Executive Council is responsible to the Assembly.
- The Commission: Composed of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, eight Commissioners and Staff members; Each Commissioner shall be responsible for a portfolio. The Commission is the key organ playing a central role in the day-to-day management of the African Union.
- The Permanent Representatives' Committee: Composed of Permanent Representatives of Member States accredited to the Union. The Permanent Representatives Committee is charged with the responsibility of preparing the work of the Executive Council.
- Peace and Security Council (PSC): Proposed at the Lusaka Summit in 2001 and established in 2004 under a protocol to the Constitutive Act adopted by the AU Assembly in July 2002. The protocol defines the PSC as a collective security and early-warning arrangement to facilitate timely and effective response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa. Other responsibilities conferred to the PSC by the protocol include prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, post-conflict peace building and developing common defence policies. The PSC has fifteen members elected on a regional basis by the Assembly.
- Pan-African Parliament: A Pan-African Parliament, and organ to ensure the full participation of African peoples in governance, development and economic integration of the Continent. The seat of the PAP is at Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Parliament is composed of 265 elected representatives from all 55 AU states, and intended to provide popular and civil-society participation in the processes of democratic governance. Its president is Fortune Z.
- ECOSOCC: The Economic, Social and Cultural Council, an advisory organ composed of different social and professional groups of the Member States of the Union.
- The Court of Justice: A Court of Justice of the Union shall be established. The Constitutive Act provides for a Court of Justice to rule on disputes over interpretation of AU treaties. A protocol to set up this Court of Justice was adopted in 2003 and entered into force in 2009.
- Specialized Technical Committees: Both the Abuja Treaty and the Constitutive Act provide for Specialised Technical Committees to be established made up of African ministers to advise the Assembly. In practice, they have never been set up.
Organizational Structure of the African Union
Other important AU institutions:
- The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), founded in 2016 and launched in 2017.
- The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, in existence since 1986, is established under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter) rather than the Constitutive Act of the African Union.
- The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was established in 2006 to supplement the work of the commission, following the entry into force of a protocol to the African Charter providing for its creation.
- The African Space Agency was officially formed in 2023.
Foreign Relations and Partnerships
The individual member states of the African Union coordinate foreign policy through this agency, in addition to conducting their own international relations on a state-by-state basis. The AU represents the interests of African peoples at large in intergovernmental organisations (IGOs); for instance, it is a permanent observer at the United Nations General Assembly. Both the African Union and the United Nations work in tandem to address issues of common concerns in various areas.
Membership of the AU overlaps with other IGOs, and occasionally, these third-party organisations and the AU will coordinate on matters of public policy. Many Caribbean nations have sought to deepen ties with the continent of Africa. One of the leading economic partners of the continent has been the People's Republic of China (PRC).
For the European Commission, the European Union's relationship with Africa is a key priority. The future Africa-EU partnership vision of the European Commission and the European External Action Service is outlined in the Joint Communication "Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa". On 2 December 2020, five Africa-Europe Foundation Strategy Groups were established in the areas of Health, Digital, Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems, Sustainable energy and Transport and Connectivity.
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In regards to strengthening resilience, peace, security and governance, the African Union and the European Union recognize that resilience, peace, security and governance are all closely linked.
The India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) is the official platform for the African-Indian relations. IAFS is held once in every three years.
The African Union periodically invites the President of the State of Palestine to make an opening speech during its annual Summit in Addis Ababa. According to Article 10 of the Rules of Procedure of the Union, during the opening of the meeting sessions, the President of the State of Palestine in person is entitled to make an opening speech.
Turkey-Africa relations have gained substantial momentum since the declaration of Turkey as a strategic partner of the continent by the African Union in January 2008. Since 2008, various major summits and meetings have been taking place between Turkey and AU. As of 2020, Turkey has embassies in 42 countries and commercial counselors in 26 countries on the Africa continent.
The AU's first military intervention in a member state was the May 2003 deployment of a peacekeeping force of soldiers from South Africa, Ethiopia, and Mozambique to oversee the implementation of the various agreements in Burundi. AU troops were also deployed in Sudan for peacekeeping during the Darfur Conflict, before the mission was handed over to the United Nations on 1 January 2008 via UNAMID.
Challenges and Controversies
In response to the death of Gnassingbé Eyadéma, President of Togo, on 5 February 2005, AU leaders described the appointment of his son, Faure Gnassingbé, to the presidency to have been a military coup. The AU's protest forced Gnassingbé to hold elections.
On 3 August 2005, a coup in Mauritania led the African Union to suspend the country from all organisational activities. Following the elections, Mauritania's membership of the AU was restored. However, on 6 August 2008, a fresh coup overthrew the government elected in 2007.
In March 2012, a military coup was staged in Mali, when an alliance of Touareg and Islamist forces conquered the north, resulting in a coming to power of the Islamists. In 2013, a summit for the African Union was held and it was decided that the African Union was going to enlarge their military presence in Mali. The AU decided to do this because of increasing tensions between al-Qaeda forces and the Mali army.
A disputed election in December 2020 has led to intensification of the Central African Republic Civil War, displacing 200,000 people. The Tigray War in Ethiopia has left millions in need of humanitarian aid.
The term Coup Belt originated from coups that were staged beginning in the early 2020s, including in Mali in 2020 and 2021, Guinea, Chad, and Sudan in 2021, two in Burkina Faso in January and September in 2022, and Niger and Gabon in 2023. The region also saw attempted coups in Niger and Sudan in 2021, Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia in 2022, and Sudan and Sierra Leone in 2023.
The main administrative capital of the African Union is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the African Union Commission is headquartered. A new headquarters complex, the AU Conference Center and Office Complex (AUCC), was inaugurated on 28 January 2012, during the 18th AU summit. The complex was built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation as a gift from the Chinese government, and accommodates, among other facilities, a 2,500-seat plenary hall and a 20-story office tower.
On 26 January 2018, five years after the completion of the building of the AU Headquarters, the French newspaper Le Monde published an article stating that the Chinese government had heavily bugged the building, installing listening devices in the walls and furniture and setting up the computer system to copy data to servers in Shanghai daily. The Chinese government denied that they bugged the building, stating that the accusations were "utterly groundless and ridiculous".
African Union Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The African Union plays an indispensable role in fostering unity and cooperation among African nations. While challenges remain, the AU's initiatives in areas like peacekeeping, free trade, and public health provide a vital framework for collective African action.
