EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The AU Executive Council is the successor to the OAU’s Council of Ministers.

All 54 AU Member States have one representative on the Executive Council. Members are usually Ministers of Foreign Affairs but may be any minister designated by the Member State’s Government (Constitutive Act, article 10; Rules of Procedure, rule 3). The same Member State that chairs the Assembly chairs the Executive Council (Rules of Procedure, rule 16). Similar to the Assembly and the PRC, the Executive Council Bureau consists of a chairperson, three vice-chairpersons and a rapporteur. The Bureau positions are held by the same states that form the Assembly Bureau. Office holders serve for one year (usually January to January).

Where the Executive Council accepts an invitation from a Member State to host a meeting away from Headquarters, the host country has the right to co-chair the Council (rule 16(2)). The Executive Council may delegate its powers and functions to the PRC and Specialised Technical Committees (STCs).

The Executive Council meets at least twice a year in ordinary session. Meetings are usually held immediately prior to the Assembly Summit and in the same location. The Executive Council can also meet in extraordinary session at the request of its chairperson, any Member State or the Chairperson of the AU Commission in consultation with the Chairperson of the Assembly and on approval by two-thirds of all Member States (Constitutive Act, article 10). All sessions are closed to the public unless the Council decides otherwise (by simple majority; Rules of Procedure, rule 14).

Extraordinary sessions are held at AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, unless a Member State invites the Council to meet in its country (Rules of Procedure, rule 12).

The Executive Council adopts its agenda at the opening of each session. The provisional agenda for an ordinary session is drawn up by the PRC. The Chairperson of the Commission communicates the draft agenda to Member States at least 30 days before the opening of the session (Rules of Procedure, rule 9).

Provisional agendas are usually divided into two parts: items for adoption, where the PRC has reached agreement and Executive Council approval is possible without discussion; and items for discussion, where agreement has not been reached by the PRC and debate is required.

Additional agenda items can only be for information (usually added to the agenda item reserved for other business), not for debate or decision (Rules of Procedure, rule 10). Extraordinary session agendas can comprise only the item or items submitted in the request for convening the session (Rules of Procedure, rule 13).

Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, South Africa .... July 2002 to July 2003
Leonardo Simão, Mozambique .... July 2003 to July 2004
Oluyemi Adeniji, Nigeria1.... July 2004 to December 2005
Rodolphe Adada/Dénis Sassou N’Guesso, Congo .... January 2006 to January 2007
Nana Akufo-Addo/Akwasi Osei-Adjei, Ghana .... January 2007 to January 2008
Bernard Membe, UR of Tanzania .... January 2008 to January 2009
Abdel Rahman Shalgam/Moussa Koussa, Libya. .... February 2009 to January 2010
Etta Elizabeth Banda, Malawi .... January 2010 to January 2011
Micha Ondó Bile, Equatorial Guinea .... January 2011 to January 2012
Nassirou Bako Arifari, Benin .... January 2012 to January 2013
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ethiopia. .... January 2013 to January 2014
Ahmed Ould Teguedi, Mauritania.... January 2014 to January 2015

The Committee is responsible for promoting African candidates for positions on international bodies. The members are selected on the basis of geographical distribution for two-year terms, renewable once. The Committee meets twice a year on the margins of the Executive Council ordinary sessions in January and June/July.

Members for January 2013 to January 2015
Central Africa: Burundi, Cameroon and Chad Eastern Africa: Djibouti, Mauritius and Uganda Northern Africa: Algeria and Tunisia
Southern Africa: Angola, Malawi and South Africa
Western Africa: Benin, Gambia, Senegal and Sierra Leone
Bureau for January 2013 to January 2015
Chairperson: Uganda
First Vice-Chairperson: South Africa Second Vice-Chairperson: Sierra Leone Third Vice-Chairperson: Algeria Rapporteur: Cameroon

As at 1 September 2014, the Terms of Reference and composition of the Committee were under development.

The Committee is responsible for reviewing the scale of assessment for Member State contributions to the AU budget. It works in close collaboration with the AU Directorate of Programming, Budget, Finance and Accounting. Members are selected on the basis of geographical distribution for two-year terms. Meetings are held annually on the margins of the Executive Council ordinary session in January. The Committee receives reports from the Permanent Representatives Committee. It meets as a whole and there is no bureau.
This Committee replaces the Standing Sub-Committee on the Review of the Scale of Assessment (EX.CL/Dec.4(II) of March 2003), which had the same membership.

Members for January 2013 to January 2015
Central Africa: Chad and Equatorial Guinea Eastern Africa: Kenya and Mauritius Northern Africa: Algeria and Libya
Southern Africa: Malawi, Namibia and South Africa
Western Africa: Ghana and Nigeria
Chairperson for January 2013 to January 2015
South Africa