The Heads of State and Government, representing the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) and Chairpersons of the Eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs), convened on 13 July 2025 at the Sipopo Conference Center in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for the Seventh Mid-Year Coordination Meeting. The meeting was chaired by H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), in the presence of H.E Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, H.E Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Representatives from AU Member States, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, AU Commissioners, dignitaries and invited guests.
Addressing the participants, H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the African Union stated that, “Regional integration in Africa is not merely a political, economic, and social ideal, it is a strategic necessity for our continent, which is marked by colonial era borders that often overlook the cultural, social, and economic realities of our peoples”. Highlighting the significant challenges on the collective goals for sustainable development and economic growth, due to the slow progress in productive and infrastructural integration across the continent, the Chair of the African Union said, “As we move forward, we reaffirm our commitment to addressing these challenges through collaborative efforts and strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing integration and fostering prosperity for all African nations”.
H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, in his opening remarks, underlined Africa’s critical role on a rapidly changing world. "Our continent must position itself with strength and determination, primarily through the acceleration of integration, which is facilitated by the AfCFTA, the African single market, and the African single currency….We hold 50% of the world's manganese reserves, 80% of platinum, and 47% of cobalt; the transformation of African agricultural products offers opportunities to consolidate the value chain; the direct foreign investments remain essential, having reached $52.6 billion, while monetary transfers approached $95 billion." Noted the AUC Chairperson.
Chairperson Youssouf emphasised the crucial importance of the AfCFTA and the digital transformation for Africa’s development agenda. "Our African Continental Free Trade Area remains the cornerstone of intra-African trade expansion, with expectations of over 50% growth by 2035. We must continue to dismantle both tariff and non-tariff barriers to achieve our ambitions." He added that, "Digital transformation is key to enhancing productivity across critical sectors in our economies. Countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria are already witnessing the benefits of embracing digital innovation." Read the full statement of the Chairperson on https://au.int/en/summit/mycm/7
H.E Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, on his part, focused on the AU theme of the year 2025. "The annual theme guiding our Union in 2025, 'Justice for Africans and Afro-descendants through Reparations,' calls us to reflect deeply on our history and identity. True justice is inseparable from present and future development…We reaffirmed our commitment to the spirit and objectives of the Theme of the Year. There can be no African unity without memory, no peace without recognition, and no development without moral, cultural, and economic reparations." Noted President Obiang. The President explained that “ensuring justice and equity for all African peoples, including our brothers and sisters in the diaspora, is a concrete step towards a culturally strong Africa, aligned with the pillars of Agenda 2063…We envision an Africa that raises its collective voice clearly and powerfully on the global stage, claiming its rightful role in international decision-making processes."
President Obiang further noted the historic milestone that the AfCFTA stands in unifying African markets, creating the world’s largest trade agreement by number of the participating countries and a market chain of over 1.3 billion consumers. “The positive signs of increasing intra-African trade during the initial phases of the AfCFTA implementation inspire us to continue our collective and individual efforts towards a promising economic horizon for our continent.” Concluded President Obiang.
During the deleberations the meeting took note of the progress report presented by H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission regarding the theme of the year 2025. The meeting endorsed the recommendations contained in this report and welcomed the progress achieved in systemwide coordination and mainstreaming of the theme throughout the AU system.
Participants at the meeting discussed the meeting’s agenda items including a progress review of regional and continental integration, and they considered various reports highlighting advancements made across the strategic pillars of integration: political, economic, infrastructure and human development.
Citing the outcomes of the previous six Mid Year Coordination Meeting declaration, the meeting stressed on the critical need to foster deeper continental integration and collective prosperity, guided by the findings of the 2025 Africa Regional Integration Report, which is based on the Africa Synthetic Regional Integration Index (ASRII) Report. While recognizing that Africa’s strongest integration performance is evident in the free movement of people, goods, and services, as well as macroeconomic coordination, the Heads of State expressed concern regarding the continent’s average integration performance as highlighted in the 2025 Africa Regional Integration Report.
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