AU

The African Union (AU) is the continent’s union of states. It was launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, succeeding the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963–2002). Its Constitutive Act, adopted in Lomé in 2000, commits members to unity, peace, integration and development.

The AU is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and counts 55 member states. Its long-term blueprint is Agenda 2063 — “The Africa We Want” — adopted in 2015.

The Assembly of heads of state and government is the supreme body; the Executive Council of foreign ministers prepares its decisions. The AU Commission in Addis Ababa is the secretariat, led by a Chairperson elected by the Assembly: Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti took office in 2025.

Other organs include the Pan-African Parliament, the 15-member Peace and Security Council, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

The AU’s flagship economic project is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), agreed in 2018 and trading since 2021 — the world’s largest free-trade area by number of countries. It also runs peace support operations, coordinates health policy through the Africa CDC, and speaks for Africa in the G20, where the AU became a permanent member in 2023.

• African Union, au.int — Constitutive Act, organs, Agenda 2063.
• Agenda 2063 (2015) — the AU’s long-term development blueprint.
• AfCFTA Agreement, 2018.

AU has 55 member countries, ranked by national power. The strongest members are Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa. The Bureau lists every member with its power score, from the most powerful to the least. Membership reflects the Factbook's country coverage as of October 2026.