AU chief Faki gets second 4-year term at Covid-focused summit

Former Chadian Prime Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday won a second term as head of the executive body of the African Union when a two-day virtual summit opens which is expected to focus on responding to the pandemic of the continent.

Faki, who ran without opposition, received support from 51 of 55 member states by secret ballot, officials said.

“Deeply moved by the overwhelming and historic vote of confidence,” Faki tweeted. He also congratulated Monique Nsanzabaganwa, vice-governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, on her election as a deputy.

The AU summit comes almost exactly one year after Egypt recorded Africa’s first coronavirus case, sparking widespread fears that weak health systems in member states will be quickly overwhelmed.

But despite early apocalyptic predictions, the continent has been less affected than other regions so far, recording 3.5% of virus cases and 4% of deaths worldwide, according to the African Centers for Control and Prevention. diseases.

However, many African countries are grappling with damaging second waves while struggling to secure sufficient doses of the vaccine.

African leaders have spoken out against the hoarding of vaccines by rich countries at the expense of the poorest.

“There is vaccine nationalism on the rise, with other wealthy countries jumping in the queue, some even pre-ordering more than necessary,” Faki said in an interview posted on the AU website before. the top.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to provide an update on the pandemic response during the closed portion of the summit on Saturday.

In a previous speech, he called for “a further injection of resources” from the International Monetary Fund to “correct the blatant inequality in fiscal stimulus measures between advanced economies and the rest of the world.”

Elections and crises

Nigerian Bankole Adeoye has meanwhile been favored to head the AU’s newly merged political affairs and peace and security departments, diplomats said, though AU rules dividing the most positions. high between sub-regions of Africa could lead to a surprising result.

Whoever wins could play a critical role, along with Faki, in resolving crises that the AU is accused of neglecting.

There are multiple internal conflicts that the AU did not do to resolve.

Its Peace and Security Council has failed to hold meetings on a conflict between government forces and English-speaking separatists in Cameroon, for example, as well as on the rise of Islamist militancy in Mozambique.

A three-month-old conflict in AU host country Ethiopia between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the former ruling party in the northern Tigray region has proved particularly sensitive.

Abiy rejected calls from high-level AU envoys for talks with the Tigrayan leadership, sticking to his line that the conflict is a limited “law and order” operation.

Congo in charge

This weekend’s summit comes as new US President Joe Biden promises to re-engage with multilateral institutions like the African Union.

In a video message released on Friday, Biden said his administration would engage in “sustained diplomacy, linked to the African Union, to resolve conflicts that claim lives across the African continent.”

The summit marks the official start of the one-year AU presidency of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP / File)

The summit also marks the official start of the one-year AU presidency of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, who replaces Ramaphosa.

Addressing his fellow heads of state and government on Saturday, Tshisekedi vowed to make the AU more relevant by removing it “from the meeting rooms.”

Tshisekedi presented an ambitious agenda that includes responding to climate change, tackling sexual violence, promoting the African Continental Free Trade Area and accelerating his own country’s Grand Inga hydroelectric project, which the AU considers it an important source of electricity for the continent.

But Tshisekedi is also embroiled in a power struggle at home with supporters of former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila.

Mohamed Diatta, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said that Tshisekedi “is really trying to consolidate power at home, but it is not an easy task”.

“He’s probably still going to be busy with this because what he has created at home is essentially a very fragile and loose government coalition,” Diatta told AFP.