The AU will have an annual summit to choose its top leaders

The African Union (AU) said Tuesday that the election of the senior leadership of the AU Commission (AUC) will be the main event of its annual summit, which will take place from February 12 to 16.

The AU stated in a statement on Tuesday that the summit, which has as its 2025 topic “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations,” will take place in its headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

According to the statement, the AU Executive Council meeting, which includes foreign ministers from AU nations, is scheduled for February 12–13 as part of the summit. The assembly of African heads of state and government will follow from February 15–16.

According to the AU, the Executive Council and assembly meetings will be used to elect the AUC senior leadership, including the organization’s next chairman for the 2025–2028 term.

Candidates are being considered for all eight of the AUC’s senior leadership posts, which are determined by the portfolios’ geographical distribution. Six commissioner appointments, the AUC chairperson, and the deputy chairperson are among the roles.

The three contenders for the AUC chairpersonship, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya, former Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar, and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, each announced last month their top priorities for furthering the union’s goals for an integrated, united, and prosperous Africa.

They discussed their plans for carrying out Agenda 2063, the African Union’s 50-year continental development program, and advancing Africa’s revolutionary vision for a wealthy, unified, and peaceful Africa in a live televised discussion.

Reparations, including reparatory justice, for historical crimes and mass atrocities committed against Africans and people of African descent have always been a part of the Organization of African Unity’s (now the AU) full decolonization process since its founding in 1963, the AU noted in a concept note on its 2025 theme.

According to the AU, over the last thirty years, it has made a number of decisions and backed initiatives aimed at advancing the cause of justice, paying reparations to Africans, and returning cultural artifacts, relics, and heritage that were stolen and looted during colonization and slavery to the African nations where they were taken.