Yet there is an ominous silence from the 55-member continental organisation.

The AU echoes the United Nations in making clear its fears about the Libyan conflict becoming proxy war.

It’s failure to condemn Egypt taking the North African state down that road undermines AU credibility and certainly makes a nonsense of the grouping’s major goal of silencing the guns.

African leaders are behaving like their predecessors who took too far their reluctance to interfere in the internal affairs of their peers.

Two decades ago, having sat on their hands during the Rwandan genocide, African leaders resolved never to allow a repeat of such a shameful occurrence.

Since the fall of dictator Muammar Gadaffi in 2011, Libya has been the biggest mess the AU has had to contend with.

The country has become armoury for conflict in the region and beyond.

Its potential oil wealth has been ruined by the conflict and instability.

Nevertheless that oil attracts the unwanted attention of Russia, Turkey and Egypt all of whom hold the  lethally misguided belief that Libya represents their strategic interest.

The most dramatic illustration of this is Egypt’s parliament voting to allow President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to take the country to war over Libya.

The temerity of El Sisi warning the United Nations-backed Libyan Government of National Accord not to attempt to regain control of Sirte is staggering.

A credible government must perforce control the port city at the centre of Libya which is the country’s oil export terminal and gateway it oil fields. The GNA has mounted the ironically named Operation Peace Storm to ensure this.

Egypt backs the rebel force of Khalifa Haftar who are making a last ditch stand at Sirte having been driven out of the capital Tripoli to the west.

Haftar also enjoys the backing of the United Arab Emirates and Russia, which this week shipped mercenaries and air defense systems to the rebels. 

France, which takes more than a passing interest in developments across the Mediterranean, has despatched the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaul to lie off Sirte.

Turkey, determined to be player in this game, has provided both troops and arms to the GNA led by Fayez Al Sarraj.

Small wonder the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has repeatedly expressed concern about the developing proxy war in Libya.

Western powers have also been involved in attempts to get the belligerents around the negotiating table, causing the AU to complain about being iced out of peace efforts in one of its member states.

Surely African leaders must accept that their silence about Egyptian interference in Libya rather disqualifies them from achieving an African solution to this particular African problem.

The post Africa’s disturbing silence over Egypt’s interference in Libya appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

Amnesty International names Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria has countries that have recorded a dramatic rise in gender-based domestic violence during the pandemic.

The virtual meeting of the women appealed to both the African Union and the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for assistance to bolster the protection of vulnerable women and girls.

The Nairobi-based feminist organisation FEMNET lamented the increase in violence against women and the number of girls forced into marriage during the lockdown.

Women are urged to to speak out so their suffering is not overlooked by countries battling the pandemic.

The post Women ask for AU financial support during the COVID 19 lockdown appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

South Africa’s among the continental heavyweights that have ratified it.

It’s hoped Nigeria will join to boost intra-African trade in a market of 1,2 billion people worth $2,5 trillion.

The operational phase of the Africa Free Trade Agreement will be launched at the AU summit in Niger on July 7.

Work to be done includes agreeing on arbitration, certificates of origin of goods, tackling corruption and improving infrastructure.

Critics cite  the most serious challenges as poor infrastructure and lack of diversity.

When fully operational, the AFTA will boost intra-African trade by 60%.

Currently only 16% of African trade is between countries of the continent.

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It is the largest African foreign affairs event so far in the presidency of Donald Trump.

Many African leaders have been openly critical of President Donald Trump.

So it will be interesting to see how his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson receives their foreign ministers to answer the many questions they have about his foreign policy.

Discussion will cover trade ,investment, counter terrorism and good governance.

AU Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat will attend the meetings today and tomorrow.

Acting US Under Secretary of State for Africa Donald Yamamoto says Washington’s looking to move beyond aid to building mutually beneficial partnerships with African countries.

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Chad’s former foreign minister promises to streamline the African Union and refocus on the basics.

Moussa Faki Mahamat points out that the African Union has implemented less than 15% of 1 800 resolutions it has passed since inception in 2002.

His approach must have impressed the 54 leaders. Just  six months ago they refused to select a single canddate to succeed Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, forcing her to stay on until this summit.

Mahamat endured seven grueling round of voting, eventually defeating the front runner, Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed.

The post Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat becomes new AU Commission Chair appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

As ever, security dominates the agenda. This year though the AU is examining reports on how the continental body can achieve real independence by paying its own way.

ends intro

Shaking off the shackles of aid dependency  is vital for the AU if it wants to take full charge of its activities.

The Heads of State and Government today examine new proposals for resource mobilization to ensure that the bloc finances the bulk– if not all – of its budget.

The biggest challenge financing peacekeeping operations on the continent, which puts it at the mercy of the United Nations and Western donors whose financial support often comes far too late to have a meaningful impact on the ground.

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