Chairperson of the African Union

The Chairperson of the African Union is the ceremonial head of the African Union elected by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a one-year term.[2] It rotates among the continent's five regions.

Chairperson of the African Union
Incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa[1] since 10 February 2020
Appointer	the Assembly
Term length	One year
Inaugural holder	Thabo Mbeki
Formation	9 July 2002
Deputy	Bureau
Website	www.au.int/en

A candidate must be supported by at least two-thirds of the member states or by consensus. The chairperson is expected to complete the term without interruption; hence eligible countries with impending elections may be ineligible.[3]

History

Main article: Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity

In 2002, South African President Thabo Mbeki served as the inaugural chairman of the union. The post rotates annually amongst the five geographic regions of Africa; and over the years it has assumed the following order: East, North, Southern, Central and West Africa.

In January 2007, the assembly elected Ghanaian President John Kufuor over Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir due to the ongoing Conflict in Darfur.[4] The government of Chad threatened to withdraw its membership if Sudan assumed the chair. Some had suggested Tanzania as a compromise candidate from the East African region. By consensus, Ghana was elected instead as it was celebrating its 50th independence anniversary that year.[5]

In January 2010, Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi unsuccessfully tried to extend his tenure by an additional year,[6] saying more time was needed in order to implement his vision for a United States of Africa - of which he was a strong proponent. Libya was at the time one of the largest financial supporters of the AU.[7] The election of Equatoguinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in January 2011 was criticized by human rights activists as it undermined the AU's commitment to democracy.[8]

Congolese Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe have both led the AU and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity during the terms 1986–88 and 2006–07, and 1997–98 and 2015–16 respectively.[9][10]

In February 2019, South Africa was elected as the incoming chair and will take over in 2020.[11] It was later agreed that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will assume the position of AU Chairperson in January 2020.[12][13]

Role

The incumbent is the ceremonial head of the AU and in this capacity, chairs the biannual summits and represents the continent in various international fora such as TICAD, FOCAC, G8 and G20 summits.

List of Chairpersons

#	Portrait	Chairperson	Took Office	Left Office	Country	Region
1		Thabo Mbeki[14]	9 July 2002	10 July 2003	South Africa	Southern Africa
2		Joaquim Chissano[15]	10 July 2003	11 July 2004	Mozambique	Southern Africa
3		Olusegun Obasanjo[16]	11 July 2004	24 January 2006	Nigeria	West Africa
4		Denis Sassou Nguesso[17]	24 January 2006	24 January 2007	Republic of Congo	Central Africa
5		John Kufuor[3]	30 January 2007	31 January 2008	Ghana	West Africa
6		Jakaya Kikwete[18]	31 January 2008	2 February 2009	Tanzania	East Africa
7		Muammar Gaddafi[19]	2 February 2009	31 January 2010	Libya	North Africa
8		Bingu wa Mutharika[20]	31 January 2010	31 January 2011	Malawi	Southern Africa
9		Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo[21]	31 January 2011	29 January 2012	Equatorial Guinea	Central Africa
10		Yayi Boni[22]	29 January 2012	27 January 2013	Benin	West Africa
11		Hailemariam Desalegn[23]	27 January 2013	30 January 2014	Ethiopia	East Africa
12		Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz[24]	30 January 2014	30 January 2015	Mauritania	North Africa
13		Robert Mugabe[25]	30 January 2015	30 January 2016	Zimbabwe	Southern Africa
14		Idriss Déby[26]	30 January 2016	30 January 2017	Chad	Central Africa
15		Alpha Condé[27]	30 January 2017	28 January 2018	Guinea	West Africa
16		Paul Kagame[28]	28 January 2018	10 February 2019	Rwanda	East Africa
17		Abdel Fattah el-Sisi[11]	10 February 2019	10 February 2020	Egypt	North Africa
18		Cyril Ramaphosa[1]	10 February 2020	Incumbent	South Africa	Southern Africa

Bureau

The Chairperson is assisted by a bureau of four vice chairpersons including a rapporteur.[11]

Portrait	Incumbent	Country	Region	Title
	Félix Tshisekedi	Democratic Republic of the Congo[1]	Central Africa	First Vice Chairperson[1]
	Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta	Mali[1]	West Africa	Second Vice Chairperson[1]
	Uhuru Kenyatta	Kenya[1]	East Africa	Third Vice Chairperson[1]
	Abdel Fattah el-Sisi	Egypt[1]	North Africa	Fourth Vice Chairperson (Rapporteur)[1]

References

1. Simon (February 10, 2020). "South African President Cyril Ramaphosa elected African Union Chairperson as continent vows to "silence the guns," boost trade and close gender gap". Today News Africa. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
2. "African Union Handbook" (PDF). African Union. 2014. p. 15.
3. "President Kufuor elected Chairman of AU". Accra: Ghana News Agency. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
4. "African Union Chooses Kufuor Over Bashir for Chairman". Yahoo! Voices. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
5. "Sudan loses AU chair over Darfur". Mail and Guardian. South Africa. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
6. "Gaddafi fails in bid to remain African Union chair". Addis Ababa: Reuters. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
7. "African Union row over Muammar Gaddafi's role". BBC News. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
8. "Equatorial Guinea President Named African Union Head; Rights Groups Object". Bloomberg News. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
9. "President voted AU deputy chair". The Herald. Zimbabwe. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
10. "Mugabe Scores A Feat, Set To Head AU at 91". radiovop.com. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
11. "The 32ND African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Summit Kicks Off". African Union. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
12. https://newsghana.com.gh/south-africas-president-set-to-take-over-rotating-au-chair-in-january/
13. Significant expectations of SA as Ramaphosa becomes AU
14. Babarinde, Olufemi (April 2007). "The EU as a Model for the African Union: the Limits of Imitation" (PDF). miami.edu.
15. "High hopes for AU Maputo Assembly". ANC Today. 4–10 July 2003. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
16. "Obasanjo Elected AU Chairman". Addis Ababa: Vanguard. 12 July 2004. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
17. "CONGO: Profile of Denis Sassou-Nguesso, new AU head". Brazzaville: IRIN. 24 January 2006. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
18. Appel, Michael (2 February 2008). "Kikwete takes over AU Chair". Pambazuka News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
19. "Gaddafi vows to push Africa unity". BBC News. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
20. "Malawi president takes over as AU president". AFP. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2011. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
21. Hennig, Rainer Chr. (1 February 2011). "New AU leader Obiang calls criticism un-African". Afrol News. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
22. "President Thomas Yayi Boni elected as Chairperson of the African Union for 2012" (PDF) (Press release). Addis Ababa: Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission. 29 January 2012.
23. Stainburn, Samantha (28 January 2013). "Hailemariam Desalegn, Ethiopia's PM, is new African Union Assembly chairman". GlobalPost. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
24. "President Abdel Aziz of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania elected African Union Chairperson". Addis Ababa: African Union. 30 January 2014.
25. "Zimbabwe's Mugabe, 90, becomes African Union chairman". Reuters. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
26. African Union [@_AfricanUnion] (30 January 2016). "Prez Idriss Itno Déby of #Chad takes over as #AU Chairperson" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 January 2016 – via Twitter.
27. "President Alpha Conde of Guinea Has Been Elected New Chairperson of the African Union (AU)". African Union. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
28. "President Paul Kagame, Elected as New Chairperson of the African Union for the year 2018". African Union. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.

External links

• Official website