Following a summit which held earlier this month at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the African Union (AU) has witnessed a change in leadership, with South Africa taking over from Egypt as the AU chair for the next twelve months.
The AU chair is elected by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a one-year term, with responsibilities including representing the continent at various international forums.
It has been widely speculated that amongst other economic and political issues, top of the agenda for the new AU chair would be to resolve the protracted conflicts in Libya and Sudan: the former has been in a state of unrest and turmoil since the collapse of Moammar Ghadaffi’s regime in 2011, while the latter has been embroiled in a bloody and bitter civil war for decades, a war that has since degenerated into a humanitarian crisis which has on multiple occasions required foreign intervention.
With respect to Libya, South African President, Cyril, Ramaphosa is expected to work closely with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who chairs the AU’s high-level Committee on Libya. There are also plans geared at resolving the conflict in South Sudan, too, with South Africa expected to host an extraordinary summit on Silencing the Guns in May 2020 to deal with “acts of terrorism” in regions such as the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, including the tiny war-torn nation. There had been a mandate for South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar to form an interim unity government before February 22, but whether that deadline would be honoured is subject to conjecture.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) would also be in focus during the tenure of the new AU chair, with full implementation of the agreement and ratification by all member states key to any significant process in economy and trade relations across the continent. Ramaphosa has further been credited with making statements along the lines of the AU’s commitment to promoting economic inclusion of women and fighting gender-based violence in the AU.
Non-implementation of previous decisions has affected the level of trust among member states of the AU, but this change in leadership offers a new perspective to solving the continent’s problems. There is a fair dose of optimism, and the new AU chair has to quickly swing into action if this tenure is to be remembered for all the right reasons.