A mini-summit during the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa on 17 February 2023. photo credit: AFP
African leaders will gather in Addis Ababa on February 18 for an annual summit aimed at jump-starting a faltering trade deal while focusing on the continent’s most pressing challenges, including armed conflict and a worsening food crisis.
As the continent grapples with record drought in the Horn of Africa and deadly violence In the Sahel region and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, a two-day African Union (AU) meeting will look to address these issues and speed up a free-trade agreement slated for 2020.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is considered the largest in the world in terms of population, gathering 54 of the 55 African countries, with Eritrea being the only holdout.
African countries currently trade only about 15% of their goods and services with each other, and the AfCFTA aims to increase that to 60% by 2034 by eliminating almost all tariffs.
But implementation has fallen far short of that target, running into obstacles including disagreements over tariff cuts and border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the summit sessions will be held behind closed doors at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.
But all eyes will be on whether the bloc can achieve a ceasefire in the Sahel and eastern DRC, where the M23 militia has captured large swathes of territory and sparked a diplomatic row between the government of Kinshasa and Rwanda, which has accused of supporting the rebels.
At a mini-summit on Friday, leaders of the East African Community of Seven countries called on all armed groups to withdraw from occupied territories in eastern DRC by the end of next month.
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Kenyan President William Ruto said at the meeting, “We cannot walk away from the people of the DRC, history will be very harsh on us. We must do what we have to do.”
‘ineffective’ history
Created after the dissolution of the Organization of African Unity in 2002, the AU comprises all 55 African countries with a population of 1.3 billion people.
While the bloc has been credited with standing against the coup, it has long been criticized as ineffective.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is visiting Ethiopia, will address the assembly, while Rwandan President Paul Kagame is due to present a report on the reform of AU institutions.
Mr Kagame has been urging the AU for years to implement major reforms, including a push towards financial independence, with the bloc largely dependent on foreign donors.
According to the draft agenda, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will also make a statement on Saturday.
Last year, unease grew over the recognition of Israel as an observer in the AU, after the Palestinians urged it to withdraw.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, head of the African Union commission, rejected Israel’s recognition, triggering a rare spat within a body that values consensus.
leadership change
Azali Assoumani, President of Comoros, leader of the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago of about 900,000 people, is set to take over the one-year rotating AU presidency from Macky Sall of Senegal.
Assoumani, 64, “will need the support of other senior African leaders to take up the role given his country’s limited diplomatic clout”, according to the International Crisis Group think tank.
Before the handover, Mr Sall will present a report on the food crisis rocking a continent hit by the worst drought in four decades and the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine, which has raised the cost of basic goods.
Junta-ruled Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, which have been suspended from the AU, cannot attend this weekend’s summit.
But diplomats from three Sahel countries are in Addis Ababa for training.