17th Ordinary African Union Summit

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The 17th Ordinary African Union Summit took place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, from 28 June to 1 July 2011. It ran alongside the 19th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council and the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC).

In January 2011, Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was announced as AU president for the year, succeeding Bingu wa Mutharika. AU leadership rotates annually among Africa’s five regions.

At the close of the previous summit, African foreign ministers were set to meet in Malabo on 26–27 June 2011. The summit’s theme was “Accelerating Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development.”

The Ordinary Session began on 23 June 2011, starting with the 22nd Ordinary Session of the PRC (23–24 June). Delegates stayed in a purpose-built complex about 20 minutes from Malabo. The complex cost about $830 million and included 52 luxury villas, a conference hall, an artificial beach, a luxury hotel, Africa’s first 18-hole golf course, a landing strip, a heliport, a hospital, and event buildings. NGOs criticized the project as a misused priority given many Equatorial Guineans live on less than $1 a day.

Observers invited by the African Citizens and Diaspora Organization Directorate (CIDO) attended the 19th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 17th Ordinary Session of the Assembly. The Ambassadors met on 23–24 June to discuss PRC sub-committee reports, the 2012 budget, and new AU staff regulations.

The 19th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council included External Affairs ministers who reviewed reports from AU Commission meetings over the past six months, elected one member to the International Law Commission (AUCIL), and named five members to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR).

Heads of State met from 30 June to 1 July to adopt decisions from the 19th Executive Council and issue declarations for the summit. They also agreed on the date and venue for the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly. Before the meetings, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan spoke with the AU delegation about plans for a trans-Sahara gas pipeline to Europe. One key decision called for ceasefire talks in Libya, with international peacekeepers monitoring the ceasefire and the UN Security Council lifting the asset freeze on Libyan assets.