1 February 2016 | Author/Destination: Africa / Afrika | Rubric: General
Reading Time: 9 minutesAfrican Union conference center and office complex (AUCC) in Addis Ababa © Danmichaelo/cc-by-sa-3.0
The African Union (AU) is a
continental union consisting of 54 countries in Africa. The only African state that is not a member is
Morocco, due to the
status of the Western Sahara, although
Burkina Faso and the
Central African Republic have had their memberships suspended due to the
recent coup d’état and
ongoing civil war respectively. The AU was established on 26 May 2001 in
Addis Ababa and launched on 9 July 2002 in South Africa, with the aim of replacing the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the
Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU’s secretariat, the
African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The objectives of the AU are:
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