The African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government, otherwise known as the “AU Assembly”, comprises all 55 member heads of state and government of the African Union (AU).
The Assembly was formed as an integral part of the African Union upon the latter’s founding in July 2002.
The Assembly is the most powerful decision-making organ and sets the agenda, comparable to the European Council in the European Union, but with significantly more formal power.
The Assembly is also tasked with the following powers and responsibilities:
•It elects the Chair and Deputy Chair of the African Union Commission. The Commission is responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the AU, headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
•It appoints Commissioners and assigns them functions and dictates their term lengths
•It is responsible for admitting new members into the AU
•It adopts the AU’s budget
•It can amend and interpret the Constitutive Act of the African Union (essentially the AU’s constitution)
•It oversees the Executive Council, tasked with carrying out the Assembly’s directives
The Assembly also elects its own Chair from one of its members. The current chair is João Lourenço, the President of Angola, currently serving a one-year term. The occupant of the chair rotates by region after the end of every term.
The Assembly requires at least a ⅔ majority vote to undertake any decision that is not procedural. Initially, the Assembly usually tries to achieve a consensus before a vote on the issue is undertaken.
In 2017, the Assembly agreed to hold one regular summit per year, with extra sessions convening as needed.