The 38th African Union (AU) Summit was held Feb. 15-16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, attended by heads of state and government representing all 55 member states, and other attendees. The African Union theme of the year 2025 will focus on Reparatory Justice and Racial Healing under the title of “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.”
The AU Summit elected Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf as Chairperson of the African Union Commission, taking over from Moussa Faki Mahamat. Algeria’s Ambassador Salma Malika Haddadi was elected the Commission’s deputy chairperson.
Speakers included Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia; H.E. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine; and an unnamed AU Youth Envoy on Reparations—who expressed great optimism for the future for African youth.
One of the key speakers was Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson African Union Commission, who touched upon some of the challenges faced during the last eight years, such as COVID-19, and the numerous conflicts and political upheavals that have affected many countries of Africa. He cited the strategic importance of their Agenda 2063 for the AU centennial (first set up in 2015 by the AU, with direct input by then South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor and then-South African President Jacob Zuma) as a guiding principle, by which progress has been made in the field of medicine and health care, the development of mining strategies, and true economic development. He appealed to the attendees to not allow internal squabbles between nations to prevent Africa as a whole from responding to “the advent of a new global economic and political governance. Africa cannot remain silent and inactive. It must imperatively throw itself into the battle to carve out its own place in the configurations currently being designed. This is not easy. It will require ingenuity, creativity, method, and courage.”
Host Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed focused on the theme of the summit, asserting that reparations do not mean financial aid, but are a call for justice, that the centuries of exploitation of the wealth and resources of the continent must be addressed, and that concrete actions must be taken to achieve this. He exhorted the members to “rise above the geopolitical tensions and the historical divisions imposed upon us by colonial borders.” He referenced the African Continental Free Trade Area—one of the Special Projects of Agenda 2063—as a useful tool to assist intra-Africa trade and internal development of resources for the benefit of all Africa. He also emphasized that Africa must assert itself on the international stage, assuring that it will have a voice in “much-needed reforms in the global order.”
Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas emphasized his great appreciation for the support of the AU for Palestine, and then stressed that the recent calls for “deporting our people from their lands and affecting the sovereignty of other countries” are intended to distract the world “from the war crimes, the genocide and the destruction of Gaza” carried out by war criminals, and to destroy the possibility of a two-state solution for the Palestinian cause. He urged, “we need to have an urgent action by the international community and the UN Security Council” before the radical colonial powers in Israel destroy all possibilities for the two-state solution.
“The Addis Ababa Summit endorsed the Dar Es Salaam Energy Declaration, the Baku Declaration by African Heads of State on Measuring the Green Wealth of Africa. The Assembly also adopted the African Financing Stability Mechanism, a groundbreaking initiative mandated by the African Union Heads of State and Government. Co-led by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank, it could generate, if immediately implemented, approximately $20 billion in debt servicing savings for African countries by 2035. The Assembly also adopted the Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa report which outlines key actions required to enable Africa to achieve, and sustain an annual growth rate of at least 7% of GDP over the next five decades,” reported the [African Development Bank President](https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/african-union-summit-african-development-bank-president-highlights-decade-economic-transformational-impact-81019#:~:text.
