The 34th summit of the African Union ended Sunday, February 7 after two days of videoconferencing. A summit that on the whole and in view of the organizational constraints will have been expeditious.
In his quick closing speech yesterday, the new incumbent president Félix Tshisekedi summarized the two axes for the coming year.
On the one hand, the emphasis on art and culture with a focus on the return of works of art to member countries.
On the other hand, the common strategy facing the pandemic of Covid-19, with the validation of the initiatives taken by its predecessor Cyril Ramaphosa.
This new strategy includes, according to the heads of state, the creation of an African platform for the acquisition of medical equipment.
Despite the help of the international community, it will not be easy, because this pandemic has induced “a serious economic and social crisis”, and vaccines seem inaccessible, seen from Africa. Moussa Faki, like others, denounces the “vaccine nationalism” of rich countries.
Another challenge is conflict. Félix Tshisekedi also listed the wars that the Union will have to face this year and which “constitute a real threat to peace, security and stability on the continent,” the Congolese president was alarmed. The solution of the heads of state “It emerged the need to eradicate these phenomena and impose peace at all costs, based on the resolution of the African Union to silence the weapons on the continent by 2020, a resolution that has yet to be achieved,” said Felix Tshisekedi. This is virtually an admission of failure,” an AU official acknowledged.
The crisis in Ethiopia in the Tigray region was not mentioned. The issue was not on the agenda of the summit, which shows the unity of the various heads of state, who did not want to make waves at the summit. This unity was also displayed during the appointment of the commission on Saturday. The election was not disputed and the commissioners were all elected very broadly.
In addition, the AU laboriously launched the free trade zone (Zlecaf) on January 1, but everything remains to be done to make it a success.
Finally, there is also the challenge of reforming this organization, which should be completed in principle this year, despite the many delays that have accumulated.
Felix Tshisekedi promised to put the African Union in the heart of the continent’s cities and villages. It is not the first head of state to make this promise. But so far, none of his predecessors has managed to make this dream come true, acknowledges an official of the organization.