African Union(AU)

The African Union(AU) is a union consisting of 54 African Countries established on July 9,2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco.

The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies. The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU.


The AU also has a representative body, the Pan African Parliament(PAP) established on March 18,2004 consists of 265 members elected by the national parliaments of the AU member states.
The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union , a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. Initially the seat of the Pan-African Parliament was in  Addis Ababa,Ethiopia but it was later moved to Midrand,South Africa. 

The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission , is based in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia.

The following countries are members of the African Union

Algeria

Angola                     

                                               

                                             

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Comoros

Democratic Republic of the Congo

 Republic of the Congo 

Côte d'Ivoire 

Djibouti       

 Egypt 

Equatorial Guinea 

Eritrea

Ethiopia

 Gabon 

Gambia 

Ghana 

Guinea-Bissau 

Guinea 

Kenya 

Lesotho 

Liberia

 Libya

 Malawi

 Mali 

Mauritania

 Mauritius 

Mozambique

 Namibia 

Niger 

Nigeria

 Rwanda

 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

 São Tomé and Príncipe

 Senegal 

Seychelles

 Sierra Leone

 Somalia 

South Africa

 South Sudan

 Sudan 

Swaziland 

Tanzania 

Togo 

Tunisia

 Uganda

 Zambia

 Zimbabwe

African Union(AU) Chooses First Female Leader

 

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma(63) South, South Africa's Home Affairs Minister, was elected chair of the AU Commission on Sunday July 15,2012 at a summit of heads of state and government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The South African President, Jacob Zuma, former husband of the winning candidate, emerged from the conference hall where the voting had taken place to announce that "Africa is happy!" Her victory would empower women, he added.   

Dlamini-Zuma is the first woman to lead the continent since the Organisation of African Unity, later the AU, was founded in 1963. She is also the first from southern Africa.

Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's home affairs minister, beats incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon.

 

First Woman Chief of AU Takes Charge

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma waved an African Union flag, tapped a wooden gavel and became the first woman to take office as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) at the A.U. headquarters in Addis Ababa on Monday Oct 15,2012