ADDIS ABABA: The African Union's annual summit will open on Saturday against the backdrop of coups in Gabon and Niger and a political crisis in Senegal, posing challenges for the bloc as it seeks to amplify its international presence.
Set up more than two decades ago, the 55-member bloc has long been criticised for being ineffectual and for taking little decisive action in the face of numerous power grabs.
Gabon and Niger will be absent from the meeting in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, following their suspension over coups last year. They will join Mali, Guinea, Sudan and Burkina Faso, which are also barred from the summit.
The coups and the crisis in Senegal, which has been in turmoil since President Macky Sall pushed back this month's elections at the last minute, will likely dominate the agenda, said analyst Nina Wilen.
"I doubt that there will be any strong decisions," said Wilen, director of the Africa programme at the Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations think tank in Brussels.
The organization has so far had "very little influence on countries that have suffered recent coups", she said, adding that member states did not want to set precedents that could clash with their own interests.
Some 19 presidential or general elections are scheduled on the continent in 2024, portending more challenges for the AU.
The bloc has managed to avoid a crisis by defusing tensions ahead of the summit over the one-year rotating AU chairmanship, currently held by Comoros President Azali Assoumani.
The episode highlights the divisions within the pan-African organisation even as it seeks to have a stronger voice within the G20 grouping which it joined in September.
Analysts say that the AU must act quickly to develop a consensus on how to conduct its business at G20, which represents more than 85 percent of the world GDP.
By joining the G20, "the AU will become a player in international politics," said Paul-Simon Handy, regional director of the Institute for Security Studies in Addis Ababa.
Africa is reeling from deadly violence in the Sahel region, fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has sparked regional diplomatic tensions, and conflicts in Somalia and Sudan.
"Member states are looking inward, closely protecting their sovereign prerogatives rather than investing in collective security," the International Crisis Group said in a briefing note ahead of the summit. — AFP
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