President of Angola takes over as AU chairperson
Lourenco takes over from Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Ghazouani who has been the immediate former AU Chairperson.
Angolan president João Manuel Lourenco has today taken over as the African Union Chairman.
This is after he was yesterday elected as the new chairman of the 2025 AU assembly during the ongoing 38th African Union Summit in Ethiopia Addis Ababa.
Lourenco takes over from Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Ghazouani who has been the immediate former AU Chairperson.
In his acceptance speech, President João Lourenço emphasized the importance of continued African unity and cooperation.
He underscored his commitment to addressing the challenges facing the continent, such as conflicts, economic development, and climate change, among other priorities.
The AU Chairperson is the ceremonial head of the union elected by the AU heads of State for a rotational one-year term leadership.
The chairmanship rotates across the five various regions of the continent on a principle of equitable regional presentation.
The roles of the chairperson include chairing the biannual summit meetings of the assembly and representing the continent in various forums like G7 meetings Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Forum On China Africa Cooperation (FOCAF) and G20 summits that bring together heads of state or government from member countries to discuss key global issues.
The chairperson also assists in resolving crises on the continent as an elder statesman.
The 36th summit has seen one of the highest participation rates in AU history, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, and the Presidents of Zambia, Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, and other African nations in attendance.
The chairperson position has been previously held by Democratic Republic of Congo’s Felix Tshishekedi who served as the Chair in 2021.
Tshisekedi was succeeded by his West African counterpart Senegal’s Macky Sall who was elected in February 2022.
Macky then handed over to Azali Assumani, leader of the small Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros who then was succeeded by Muritania’s Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
