African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa.[8] The intention of the AU was to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.
For the predecessor organisation, see Organisation of African Unity.
African Union
Arabic
الاتحاد الأفريقي
Spanish
Unión Africana
French
Union africaine
Portuguese
União Africana
Swahili
Umoja wa Afrika
| Arabic | الاتحاد الأفريقي |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Unión Africana |
| French | Union africaine |
| Portuguese | União Africana |
| Swahili | Umoja wa Afrika |
Niamey
Cape Town
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso[note 1]
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon[note 1]
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea[note 1]
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali[note 1]
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger[note 1]
Nigeria
Republic of the Congo
Rwanda
Sahrawi Republic
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan[note 1]
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
25 May 1963
3 June 1991
9 September 1999
July 9, 2002
9 July 2011
31 January 2017
1 January 2021
29,922,059[5] km2 (11,552,972 sq mi)
1,494,988,668 [6]
2024 estimate
$6,330[7]
2024 estimate
$2,035[7]
0.577
medium
The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt. The African Union has more than 1.3 billion people and an area of around 30 million km2 (12 million sq mi) and includes world landmarks, such as the Sahara and the Nile.[9] The primary working languages are Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili.[2] Within the African Union, there are official bodies, such as the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament.
At a G20 (Group of 20) meeting held in Delhi, India, in 2023, the African Union was admitted as a member to the G20 like the European Union.[10]
The objectives of the African Union are:[11]
The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU. The Assembly is chaired by Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The AU also has a representative body, the Pan-African Parliament, which consists of 265 members elected by the national legislatures of the AU member states. Its president is Roger Nkodo Dang.
Other political institutions of the AU include:
The AU Commission, the secretariat to the political structures, is chaired by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa. On 15 July 2012, Dlamini-Zuma won a tightly contested vote to become the first female head of the African Union Commission, replacing Jean Ping of Gabon.
Other AU structures are hosted by different member states:
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 the Sudan for peacekeeping during the Darfur Conflict, before the mission was handed over to the United Nations on 1 January 2008 via UNAMID. The AU has a peacekeeping mission in Somalia, consisting of troops from Uganda and Burundi.[12]
The AU has adopted a number of important new documents establishing norms at continental level, to supplement those already in force when it was created. These include the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003), the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and its associated Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.[13]
Migration[edit]
In 2018,[132] the African Union adopted the Free Movement Protocol.[133][134] This protocol allows for free movement of people between countries that are part of the African Union.
Article 14 of the Protocol to the treaty establishing the African economic community relating to the free movement of persons, right of residence, and the right of establishment discusses the free movement of workers.[135]
The African Union also has a Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA).[136]
Forced displacement of people and groups has also been an area of focus for the AU—over thirty states have ratified the Kampala Convention, the only continental treaty focusing on internally displaced persons in the world.[137]
Beginning in 2016, the African Union introduced continent-wide passports.[138]
Africa Day, formerly African Freedom Day and African Liberation Day, is an annual commemoration regarding the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), on 25 May 1963, and occurring on the same date of the month each year. Other celebrations include the following:
