The 28th session of the African Union Summit is taking place this week. Chad’s Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat was chosen as the new Chair of the African Union and Morocco rejoined the African Union after a 33-year absence. The African Union is faced with several challenging topics, such as the role of the threat of genocide in South Sudan.
After a long debate, 39 out of the 54 states approved the return of Morocco, according to the President of Senegal. The official status has yet to be confirmed as of the publishing of this article. The readmission of Morocco to the African Union means that the body now has 55 member states. Morocco left the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), in 1984 after a majority of OAU member states supported the independence claim of Western Sahara. The Sahrawi people founded the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The SADR is not recognised by the United Nations but it is currently recognised by the African Union. It is unclear what the readmission of Morocco will mean for the sovereignty of the SADR as no decision was made on this before the vote to readmit Morocco.
The new Chair of the African Union was chosen on Monday. In the final round, Chad’s representative Moussa Faki Mahamat beat Kenya’s representative. The previous candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, stayed on an extra six months after the members of the AU had not managed to agree on a new Chair in July.
Outgoing Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma called for a revival and strengthening of the spirit of Pan-Africanism. She also spoke out against the travel ban from some of the African Union’s countries that was instated by United States President Donald Trump.