The African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections will take place on February 15 and 16 during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this process, 49 out of 55 heads of state or government from AU member countries will vote to select the new AUC leadership. Each member state is entitled to one vote, and the election will be conducted through a secret ballot.
Consisting of the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, and six Commissioners, the upcoming elections will determine who will fill these key positions for the next four-year term. The commissioners have already been elected, with voting conducted by the AU Executive Council on February 12 and 13.
The confirmed candidates for the Chairperson position include Raila Odinga, former Prime Minister of Kenya and former AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development; Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Foreign Minister of Djibouti; and Richard Randriamandrato, former Foreign Minister of Madagascar.
Six out of the 55 member states will not participate in the voting process to elect the new AUC leadership during the February 2025 summit.
The heads of state of the member countries voting include:
- Algeria – Abdelmadjid Tebboune
- Angola – João Lourenço
- Benin – Patrice Talon
- Botswana – Duma Boko
- Burundi – Évariste Ndayishimiye
- Cabo Verde – José Maria Neves
- Cameroon – Paul Biya
- Central African Republic – Faustin-Archange Touadéra
- Chad – Mahamat Déby
- Comoros – Azali Assoumani
- Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) – Denis Sassou Nguesso
- Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) – Félix Tshisekedi
- Djibouti – Ismaïl Omar Guelleh
- Egypt – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
- Equatorial Guinea – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
- Eritrea – Isaias Afwerki
- Eswatini – Mswati III
- Ethiopia – Taye Atske Selassie
- Gambia – Adama Barrow
- Ghana – John Mahama
- Guinea-Bissau – Umaro Sissoco Embaló
- Ivory Coast – Alassane Ouattara
- Kenya – William Ruto
- Lesotho – Sam Matekane
- Liberia – Joseph Boakai
- Libya – Mohamed al-Menfi
- Madagascar – Andry Rajoelina
- Malawi – Lazarus Chakwera
- Mauritania – Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
- Mauritius – Prithvirajsing Roopun
- Morocco – King Mohammed VI
- Mozambique – Filipe Nyusi
- Namibia – Hage Geingob
- Nigeria – Bola Tinubu
- Rwanda – Paul Kagame
- São Tomé and Príncipe – Carlos Vila Nova
- Senegal – Bassirou Diomaye Faye
- Seychelles – Wavel Ramkalawan
- Sierra Leone – Julius Maada Bio
- Somalia – Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
- South Africa – Cyril Ramaphosa
- South Sudan – Salva Kiir Mayardit
- Tanzania – Samia Suluhu Hassan
- Togo – Faure Gnassingbé
- Tunisia – Kais Saied
- Uganda – Yoweri Museveni
- Zambia – Hakainde Hichilema
- Zimbabwe – Emmerson Mnangagwa
The six member countries are barred from voting due to AU suspensions imposed in response to government overthrows within their respective nations.
They are however still considered members but are temporarily shut out of the organization’s meetings and denied a vote in the group’s decision-making processes.
They include Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso ,Mali, Niger and Gabon all led by military officers.
Guinea
Mamady Doumbouya leads Guinea’s transitional government after seizing power in a military coup that ousted President Alpha Condé. As a result, the country was suspended from the African Union on September 10, 2021.
This was Guinea’s second suspension, the first occurring from 2008 to 2010 after another military coup overthrew its first democratically elected president.
Sudan
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan leads Sudan’s transitional government as the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council. Sudan was suspended from the African Union in October 2021 after its military, under Al-Burhan’s leadership, seized power from an internationally recognized (but unelected) transitional government.
Burkina Faso
Led by President Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso was suspended from the African Union in January 2022 after soldiers, under his command, overthrew the country’s elected government during an army mutiny.
Mali
Colonel Assimi Goïta currently serves as the President of the Malian Transition Government. Mali was suspended from the African Union after the organization condemned and completely rejected coups d’état and unconstitutional changes of government on the continent, in line with Article 4(p) of the AU Constitutive Act.
Niger
Abdourahamane Tchiani is a military leader and current President of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) in Niger. The African Union announced Niger’s suspension on August 22, 2023, following the July 26 coup that led to the overthrow of the country’s elected government.
Gabon
Military officer Brice Oligui Nguema took over as the Chairman of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions and Commander-in-Chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard following a military coup in Gabon. The African Union swiftly suspended the country just a day after the coup, coming a week after Niger’s suspension.
Following their ban, all eyes are on the AUC chairperson candidates, as to be elected, they must secure at least two-thirds of the votes, approximately 33 , from the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.
