African Union 34th summit begins virtually

The African Union (AU) 34th summit kicked off on Saturday, but for the first time, the 55-member pan-African bloc are meeting virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The two-day summit’s theme this year is “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.”

However, one of the top discussions will be on Africa’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and how economies can overcome the damage.

While vaccination programmes have begun in some countries on the continent, such as Morocco, it has been much slower in comparison to wealthier nations.

There have been over 2.6 million cases in Africa since the outbreak in March, and there is a more contagious variant from South Africa that is spreading rapidly.

The summit will also take up security issues in Africa, including in the Sahel, Libya, South Sudan and Somalia.

The leaders are also expected to elect the African Union Commission’s chairperson and vote for six commissioners.

The incumbent chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat is the sole candidate for a second four-year term.

The Democratic Republic of Congo will also take over the helm from South Africa for a year chairmanship of the union.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke