The Heads of State and Government of the African Union, on Saturday, elected the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ghazouani, as the new chairman of the union for 2024.
He was chosen at the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union Heads of State and Government, which is currently taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
President Azali Assoumani of the Union of Comoros, who held the position of AU Chairperson for 2023, hands the reins of leadership to Ghazouani.
By easing tensions surrounding the one-year rotating AU chairmanship, which was handed over from Comoros President Azali Assoumani to Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani on Saturday, the bloc was able to avert a crisis on another front.
A dispute between Morocco and Algeria had long prevented the succession, underscoring internal divisions within the AU even as it attempts to gain a more powerful voice on the international scene, particularly in the G20 grouping that it joined in September.
Portending more challenges, 19 presidential or general elections are scheduled on the continent this year.
“The AU has ambitious institutional commitments and tools for mediation and peacekeeping but lacks the political and financial strength to make the most of them,” the International Crisis Group said in a briefing note.
“Member states are looking inward, closely protecting their sovereign prerogatives rather than investing in collective security.”
How the AU will shift from depending mostly on foreign donors to African states for funding is anticipated to be a major topic of discussion during the summit.
A resolution to fund AU-led peace missions was approved by the UN Security Council in December, but it was limited to seventy-five percent of the budget.
