The African Union summit commenced yesterday, Wednesday, February 14th, in Addis Ababa. Around thirty heads of state and government are expected to convene in the Ethiopian capital later this week for the 37th Conference of Heads of State of the organization.
Wednesday morning saw the Executive Council of the AU, comprising foreign ministers, kick off the summit. Notably, Moussa Faki Mahamat delivered a speech. The President of the African Union Commission painted a troubling picture of the situation in Africa, which has been marred by several conflicts and coups d’état.
“Grave tensions in Ukraine,” “A war of extermination” in Gaza—Moussa Faki Mahamat minced no words in describing a world engulfed, as he put it, in “blind violence.” The President of the AU Commission did not spare Africa, which has been plagued by a plethora of conflicts and coups d’état that, he believes, seriously jeopardize the future of regional African institutions:
“We are witnessing another new phenomenon of the decline of our regional and continental governance institutions, which raises concerns about the fate of the continental organization, as regional economic communities are its pillars. For how long will the structure withstand the collapse of its pillars, of its foundations?”
The Comorian diplomacy, as the country held the presidency of the AU over the past year, showed less severity but echoed similar concerns about ECOWAS.
“The political transitions in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso seem to be stalling, and the withdrawal of these three countries from the regional bloc is not conducive to a swift return to institutional normalization,” lamented Dhoihir Dhoulkamal, Comorian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “It is incumbent upon ECOWAS to engage in frank and sincere discussions with these three member states to swiftly and amicably resolve this detrimental situation for both parties”.