OP-ED | X-Raying Moussa Faki’s Tour of Duty at Helm of AU Commission, Jeremy Oronje

Jeremy Oronje analyzes the 8-year tour of duty of the outgoing Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Mahamat Faki, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, particularly his achievements, setbacks, and challenges.

Moussa Mahamat Faki’s tenure as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) finally came to an end in March 2025. He assumed the position in 2017 after edging out Kenya’s Amina Mohamed in a highly competitive race that saw the winner determined after seven rounds of voting.

Upon assuming office, Faki underlined his top priorities would be implementing structural reforms as outlined in President Paul Kagame of Rwanda’s Report on the Reform of the African Union; Implementing the African Union’s Agenda 2063; Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2020; Placing women and youth at the center of Africa’s development agenda; Enhancing intra-African trade; as well as Strengthening Africa’s voice in the global arena.

Barely a month to the completion of his tenure, a general assessment reveals significant strides in the implementation of AU structural reforms and enhancement of intra-African trade through the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Unfortunately, he has not been able to fully deliver on the remaining priority areas.

Implementation of Structural Reforms

After the adoption of Agenda 2063, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU deemed it urgent to carry out institutional reforms that would enable the Union to effectively lead Africa to achieve Agenda 2063. To this end, in July 2016, the AU Assembly mandated President Kagame to lead the AU reform process the outcome of which was the identification of five key areas that were considered central to the transformation of the Union.

The five identified areas included; Focusing on fewer priority areas with a continental scope; Reviewing the structure and operations of the AU; Connecting the AU with African citizenry; Making the AU operationally effective and efficient in the discharge of its mandate; as well as Ensuring sustainable financing for the AU’s programs.

Consequently, the Commission’s departments were reduced from eight to six as part of the restructuring recommended by Kagame’s report. The AU also conducted a skills audit and competency assessment in 2022 aimed at enhancing recruitment and promoting diversity in the Commission and identifying an appropriate skill set that the union will require to achieve its vision.

Likewise, regarding sustainable financing, progress has been made albeit minimal. In 2016, the Assembly adopted the Kigali Decision on Financing the Union aimed at reducing dependence on external partners. So far, the commission has only been able to rally 16 countries into implementing the decision, with additional Member States currently in the process of domesticating the decision.

Other Priority Areas

In line with Faki’s stated priority of enhancing intra-African trade, the Commission has between 2018 to date managed to rally all Member States [except Eritrea] into signing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement. 48 Member States have thus far ratified the agreement, a flagship project of Agenda 2063.

AfCFTA State Parties have committed to progressively removing tariffs on 90% of goods and liberalizing trade in services, addressing other non-tariff barriers, boosting cross-country investments, and advancing open visa policies. Consequently, there has been a progressive even if limited growth in intra-African trade as a result of the implementation of the AfCFTA. The recent growth in intra-African trade is projected to be between 13-18 percent.

However, Faki’s Silencing the Guns by 2020 Initiative has not achieved much. When he assumed office, the continent had active conflicts in DRC, South Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and the Sahel. As he leaves office, all these conflicts remain active just as one more country (Sudan) has joined the list of AU Member States in conflict. Notably, the Faki-led Commission has in 2022 achieved the remarkable feat of brokering a ceasefire in the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict.

On the implementation of Agenda 2063, the commission has a low success rate as per the first and second implementation reports. This could perhaps be attributed to the fact that the Commission which is tasked with implementing decisions, is heavily reliant on the cooperation of the Member States to make meaningful progress. Many Member States are yet to domesticate and begin reporting on their implementation of Agenda 2063.

According to the second continental report on the implementation of Agenda 2063 by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), at the end of the first ten-year implementation period (2014-2023), only ten countries (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Algeria, Kenya and Mauritius) had been able to implement 50% or more of the goals stated in the vision.  

However, the commission has been able to launch Agenda 2063 flagship projects such as the AfCFTA and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). Finally, progress has been made in strengthening Africa’s voice in the global arena. A significant milestone was the organization of the Inaugural Africa Climate Summit in 2023, which unified Africa’s voice on the climate agenda.

Faki’s Challenges

Ensuring the Union’s sustainable financing has been a significant challenge for Faki. Despite having a relatively low budget, the majority of the AU Member States are not paying their dues hence the Faki-led Commission had to sanction some members. On average, only 67 percent of assessed contribution is collected annually from Member States with about 30 Member States defaulting either fully or partially.  

Another challenge has been the persistent coups, especially in the Sahel which have greatly undermined democracy. The latter has led to the suspension of six Member States from the union due to unconstitutional changes in government. Besides the coups, the continent continues to suffer from several conflicts, negatively impacting the lives of citizens and creating a strain on the Union’s resources.

The slow pace of implementation of reforms and decisions taken by other policy organs of the AU has equally been a challenge for the Commission tasked with ensuring the implementation of decisions. The implementation of the Agenda 2063 and the Kigali Decision are notable examples among the many that exist.

Out of the 55 Member States, only 38 submitted their reports on the implementation of Agenda 2063, a factor that makes it hard to gauge progress. On the Kigali Decision, despite its adoption by the Heads of State as far back as 2016, only 16 Member States have implemented the levy agreed upon. The aforementioned cases demonstrate the lack of political will in implementing decisions.

Therefore, for his tenure to be remarkably different the new AUC chairperson, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, must develop clearly defined and actionable strategies to deal with active conflicts around the continent, rally Member States to remit their contributions, and mobilize political will to implement decisions that have been agreed upon by AU policy organs.

Jeremy Oronje is a Research Assistant at the Horn Institute. Yet the views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the HORN Institute nor those of the African Newspage.