28th African Union Summit Concludes With Swearing in of New Commission and Readmission of Morocco

Document Type

شباط/فبراير 2, 2017

Body

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 31st January 2017: The 28th Ordinary Summit of the African Union concluded on 31st January at the African Union Headquarters. It was officially closed after the swearing in of the new Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Deputy Chairperson, H.E. Mr. Thomas Kwesi Quartey and Commissioners.

H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat succeeds H.E. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who was Chairperson for four years.

The newly sworn in Bureau of the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Commissioners are as follows:

Chairperson of the African Union Commission              H.E Mr. Faki Moussa Mahamat
Deputy Chairperson                                                       H.E. Mr. Thomas Kwesi Quartey
Commissioner for Peace and Security                           H.E. Mr. Smail Chergui
Commissioner for Political Affairs                                   H.E. Ms. Minata Cessouma Samate
Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy                  H.E. Ms. Amani Abou-Zeid
Commissioner for Social Affairs                                      H.E. Ms. Amira Elfadil Mohammed Elfadil
Commissioner for Trade and Industry                             H.E. Mr. Albert M. Muchanga
Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture          H.E. Ms. Correa Leonel Josefa Sacko

The Commissioners for Economic Affairs and Human Resources Science and Technology will be communicated at a later date.

During the closing ceremony, the outgoing Chairperson H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma noted that the 28th AU Summit took a historic decision to reunite the African community states with its decision to readmit into the Union The Kingdom of Morocco and she was satisfied with the strong foundations in place for Africa’s success. Her Excellency concluded by saying it had been an absolute and humbling privilege to serve as the Chairperson of the AUC and “for any African, there is no service more important, more honourable or more rewarding than to serve our continent and the citizens of Africa.”

H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, in his remarks, mentioned that being the Chairperson of the African Union Commission is a heavy task but gave his assurance that he would dedicate and commit himself to serving the Union.

Speaking for the first time following the readmission of Morocco, H.M. Mohammed VI of Morocco, the King of Morocco mentioned that it was high time Morocco came back home and said that ‘Africa is indispensable to Morocco and Morocco is indispensable to Africa.’

The President of Guinea who is also the Chairperson of the African Union gave the vote of thanks and welcomed the King of Morocco to the summit. He highlighted some of the various decisions that were discussed, including the adoption of the Report on the proposed Institutional reform of the African Union which was presented by H.E. Mr. Paul Kagame’s, President of the Republic of Rwanda. In conclusion, he mentioned that Member States of the African Union are committed to financing the operations of the Union with their own resources saying ‘it is important for Africa’s independence and self-respect.’

For inquiries, contact:
Esther Azaa Tankou | Head of Information Division | | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: Yamboue@africa-union.org

For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
Follow us
Face book: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission

Press Release

Press Release (En)

Press Release (Ar)

Images

References

Department Tags

AUC

Summit Tags

28th AU Summit

Agenda 2063

Flagship Projects

Integrated High Speed Train Network

Connecting African capitals and commercial centers through a High-Speed Train Network; facilitating the movement of goods, factor services and people as well as reducing transport costs and relieving congestion of current and future systems through increased rail connectivity.

African Commodities Strategy

Transforming Africa from a raw materials supplier by enabling countries to add value, extract higher rents from commodities, integrate into global value chains promote diversification anchored in value addition and local content development.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

Accelerating intra-African trade and boosting Africa’s trading position in the global market by strengthening Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiations.

The African Passport & Free Movement of People

Removing restrictions on Africans’ ability to travel, work and live within their own continent by transforming restrictive laws and promoting visa free travel to enhance movement of all African citizens in all African countries.

Silencing the Guns by 2020

Ending all wars, civil conflicts, gender-based violence, violent conflicts and preventing genocide in the continent by 2020.

The Grand Inga Dam Project

Generating an estimated 43,200MW of power to support current regional power pools and their combined service to transform Africa from traditional to modern sources of energy and ensure access to clean and affordable electricity.

Single African Air-Transport Market

Promoting intra-regional connectivity between the capital cities of Africa by creating a single unified air transport market in Africa, as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration and growth agenda.

African Economic Forum

Multi-stakeholder meeting bringing together the Africa’s policy makers, private sector, academia and civil society to reflect on accelerating Africa’s socio- economic development and transformation by harnessing its vast resources.

African Financial Institutions

Accelerating integration and economic development through the establishment of organisations which will play a pivotal role in the mobilization of resources and management of the African financial sector.

The Pan African e-Network

Transforming Africa into an e-Society by implementing policies and strategies that lead to transformative e-applications and services in Africa such as broad band terrestrial infrastructure, cyber security and revolutionary bio and nanotechnology industries.

Africa Outer Space Strategy

Strengthening Africa’s use of outer space to bolster development in critical sectors such as agriculture, disaster management, remote sensing, climate forecast, banking and finance, defense and security.

African Virtual & e-University

Using ICT based programmes to increase access to tertiary and continuing education in Africa by reaching large numbers of students and professionals in multiple sites simultaneously.

Cyber Security

Incorporating emerging technologies in Africa’s development plans and ensuring these technologies are used for the benefit of African individuals, institutions and nation states by ensuring data protection and safety online.

Great African Museum

Preserving and promoting African cultural heritage by creating awareness of Africa’s vast, dynamic and diverse cultural artefacts and Africa’s continuing influence on world cultures in art, music, language, science, and so on.

Encyclopaedia Africana

Provide an authoritative resource on the authentic history of Africa and African life.

NOW

Images

References

Agenda 2063

Key Resources