Talk:African Union

Wrong Country Suspended on Maps
The maps depicting members and suspended members have a mistake - they indicate Guinea as being suspended instead of Ivory Coast. Guinea's membership in the AU is just fine. It's Ivory Coast that's been suspended. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.11.195.241 (talk) 03:01, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

Central African Republic has been recently suspended, it should be light green. Also regarding the map, Somaliland has never been a member. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Salvadorcase (talk • contribs)
 * I've recoloured the Central African Republic, but you might need to refresh to see it. Also, I don't think we need to depict unrecognized states on this map.  TDL (talk) 20:18, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Untitled entry
The sections on interventions in support of democracy and military interventions need serious work to consider (in particular) all the work of the Peace and Security Council. I have deleted the material under the 'elsewhere' heading as irrelevant to the AU - though the conflicts mentioned are real, there is no discussion of any AU role, and in many cases there is in fact no AU involvement.Africa annotator 12:19, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Western Sahara
The Democratic Arab Republic is recognized by the AU as a member, so the map on the page should reflect that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.235.169.143 (talk) 06:31, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

The map also shows Morroco as a member state, which it is not. I believe Western Sahara and Morroco have been switched by accident. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shawnanigans (talk • contribs) 02:32, 27 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I've fixed it. IDX (talk) 18:21, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Dear all,

Could you please update the map THE map FOR MOROCCO is incorrect as officialy and commonly updated By the ARAB LEAGUE AND THE USA. AFRICAN UNION should not take part on this conflict.

'''Also how can we explain that there is no people of the Sahara in Egypt or in Libya or in Tunisia or in Algeria knowing that the Sahara goes from the Atlantic coast in the Moroccan Sahara to Egypt. It is a people of the Sahara who exist only in the Moroccan Sahara ???. It is a conflict that has lasted too long because of Algerian propaganda and their petrodollars for hegemonist and expansionist purposes and above all to slow down the development of Morocco which without gas or oil was advancing and still moving in the right direction even if this fratricidal conflict has nevertheless impacted our development. This kind of speech only feeds the ideals of Algerian/Iranian generals and therefore the conflict''' Member states of the Arab League?Member states of the Arab League?AFRICAN UNION?unsigned76.235.169.143 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Achahmi (talk • contribs) 15:12, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Effectiveness
I would cherish some referenced information on debate (if any) on the effectiveness of the AU. Is it supported? Entrenched? Or is it all just talk? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.178.10.72 (talk) 00:13, 5 February 2008 (UTC) The spanish is official language Guinea Equatorial, Gaboan, Camerun, RASD... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.25.121.159 (talk) 18:39, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Official languages
Could someone explain why the union has Spanish as a working language? Equatorial Guinea is the only country on the continent where Spanish is spoke and there are hundreds of languages in Africa which have more speakers. Aaker (talk) 23:27, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I also see no logic, and didn't knew that, maybe someone added to the list. Going to check it out. --Pedro (talk) 18:15, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Spanish languages is a 1 of the 6 official languages of the African Union, Check Article 11 of the.↑ Protocol on amendments to the constitutive act of the African Union Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union: Article 11, Official Languages.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.217.63.45 (talk) 02:34, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Spanish is one of the official languages of the African Union, and Spanish is not just spoken in Equatorial Guinea, but also in Western Sahara and parts of Northern Morocco...anyway what do you have against Spanish being one of the official languages of the African Union?

Article 11 "Official Languages of The African Union" In Article 25 of the Act (Working Languages), replace the title “Working Languages” by “Official Languages” and substitute the existing provision with: 1. The official languages of the Union and all its institutions shall be Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Kiswahili and any other African language. 2. The Executive Council shall determine the process and practical modalities for the use of official languages as working languages. Protocol on Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union: Article 11, Official Languages. Enciclopediaenlinea (talk) 21:21, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

Criticism
The AU has been subjected to harsh criticism, yet there has been no mention of its past failings.

Inspired by the European Union?
Reading the article and seeing the obvious parallels between the established EU and the fledgling AU, it is obvious that the AU was at least in part inspired by the broad success of its European counterpart. Can any editor substantiate this? Was any admiration for the EU's goals and structure made by any party druing the set up of the AU or its predecessors? juux ☠ 20:21, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Mauritania Re-Suspended
Someone please add that Mauritania will be suspended (again) for a coup (again). Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7551531.stm 76.18.160.16 (talk) 08:59, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

What about Somalia and Somaliland?
Does anybody has some answers about this:
 * Who participates for Somalia in the AU institutions? Is it the provisional "government"?
 * What about Somaliland (which seceded in 1990), are they in any way represented? Der Eberswalder (talk) 20:05, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

.africa
Is the AU supporting the bid to set up the gTLD .africa? If not does the AU have plans for a ccTLD like the EU's.eu?68.148.123.76 (talk) 06:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC)


 * According to Wikipedia (!) The .africa domain came into effect in 2017. I don't know the answer to an African Union domain (but it couldn't be .au of course, which is Australia). Gabrielbodard (talk) 08:20, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Maputo Protocol
New stub. --TS 16:26, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * What is this post supposed to mean? T om ea s y T C 10:39, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Map
Just a thought, but If you look at Commonwealth of Nations you'll see that suspended members are shaded a different colour on the map, I think that should be done with the 2 suspended countries in the AU. Taifar ious1   03:22, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

The map currently being used on this page is out of date. It shows Ethiopia and Eritrea as a single country.207.250.239.174 (talk) 20:14, 2 November 2009 (UTC)
 * This indeed is unacceptable. I changed back to an older map which acknowledges the border between the two. T om ea s y T C 10:15, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

AU
Don't have time right now, but could someone remove all the linked AU acronyms and turn them into simple AU? No point linking a hundred times to a disimbaguation page. YeshuaDavid (talk) 13:24, 8 April 2009 (UTC)
 * This has been done. VIOLENTRULER (talk) 21:17, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Flag
Missing flag! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.92.236.9 (talk) 17:21, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Fixed long time ago. T om ea s y T C 10:38, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Flag is wrong--108.29.81.219 (talk) 00:56, 29 September 2012 (UTC)

Problems with map
Two things: It shows Ethiopia as including Eritrea, which is wrong, and it shows the Sinai to be outside the union, which is also incorrect. Zazaban (talk) 21:11, 9 January 2010 (UTC)


 * This has been corrected. T om ea s y T C 10:24, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

52 or 53 members?
The introduction to the article states that there are 53 member states, while the infobox says that there are 52. 146.115.21.211 (talk) 02:56, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I changed it to 53 and added this source . unfortunately, the collapsible list in the infobox has the problem that it cannot show more than 50 entities. the last three member states are, therefore, truncated :-( T om ea s y T C 10:37, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * can you mention the 53 state 105.112.179.151 (talk) 17:03, 9 April 2023 (UTC)

unfortunately most school textbooks are saying 55 2C0F:F8F0:81B2:0:E42C:A261:6423:C230 (talk) 18:09, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

New flag
File:Flag of the African Union 2010.jpg

The African Union adopted a new flag on 31 Jan 2010.

Refs:

http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/2010/January/summit/pr/en/en%20pr%2024AU%20NEW%20FLAG%20(2).doc

http://www.africa-union.org/root/AU/Conferences/2010/january/summit/14thsummit.html


 * Thanks for the info. Would be nice if they (AU) made a better file format available... T om ea s y T C 08:36, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

Eritrea
Since this edit in early November 2009, the article claims that Eritrea is currently not a member of the Africa Union. Since this edit has never been disputed, I was stupid enough to change the map accordingly. Now, I am wondering whether there is any evidence for this. I have just found evidence that speaks against this claim: As I see it now, I will have to revert my edition to the map. Accordingly, the article will need to change as well. T om ea s y T C 10:22, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * The African union themselves still list Eritrea as a member.
 * A news report that Eritrea called back its diplomas from the AU. For me, this qualifies for suspended membership at best.
 * OK, I changed the fact. Eritrea is now listed under "Suspended Members". I changed the maps accordingly. T om ea s y T C 07:45, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. Mkativerata (talk) 01:34, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Population wrong?
Why is the population said to be half a billion when the population of Africa is around one billion? — Preceding unsigned comment added by ASmartKid (talk • contribs) 00:25, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Ivory Coast suspension
According to the news,Ivory Coast ins no longer under suspension http://www.france24.com/en/20110421-african-union-overturns-revokes-ban-suspension-ivory-coast-membership-bloc-ouattara-gbagbo --31.47.11.31 (talk) 20:20, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

south sudan
Is South Sudan already part of the African Union? It says so on the maps but not in the article itself.
 * Not officially as of this day, but very soon. Someone though had "jumped the gun" on it a bit to early...

Libya
The page should be updated with regards to the current situation in Libya. The page still lists it as a member, even showing the tricolor flag of the opposition National Transitional Council. The AU, however, has decided as of 27 Aug, 2011 not to recognize the NTC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.231.225.255 (talk) 12:47, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
 * It all seems quite updated now. Cheers, Chipmunkdavis (talk) 13:52, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

A Gaddafi flag?
The current flag bears striking similarity to the "Gaddafi style"; it wouldn't be surprising if this wasn't designed by him. Is there any info on the details of the flag's history/adoption? Why was it changed? Tachfin (talk) 16:34, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

A "great leap forward"
Is that phrasing intentional and ironic?

Given who gets to chair the AU, perhaps a reference of this kind is reasonable. Varlaam (talk) 17:31, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

Gambia on Map
The article states that The Gambia is a member of the AU, but the map is unclear on this. The map shows The Gambia as grey with to lines of dark green across it like an "x," which is very confusing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.131.206.108 (talk) 18:07, 24 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I can see what you're talking about, but the image is correct (see a blown up version here.) Not sure why this is.  TDL (talk) 04:16, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Can't see the problem myself. Perhaps it's just due to the thinness of Gambia? CMD (talk) 19:14, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

INFO BOX
The membership number (52) in the info box is incorrect. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Julien Houle (talk • contribs) 23:29, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ TDL (talk) 05:04, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Some more visibility should be given to...
The history and foundation of the African Union and the importance of Libya in it and the rational behind it all. As it is portrayed on the articles the geopolitical importance and differences an evolution is completely missing. 79.168.7.70 (talk) 06:23, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Expansion Request #2
We'll need more information covering both Mali (a conflict now coming to a close) and the Egyptian coup and subsequent suspension. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.233.197.69 (talk) 14:40, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

Official languages redux
The original Constitutive Act named "if possible, African languages, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese" the "working languages" of the African Union. In a 2003 amendment "working languages" were renamed "official languages", and the list was expanded to "Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Kiswahili and any other African language". However, I see no indication that the 2003 amendment was actually ratified; in fact, the AU treaties page doesn't give a date for "entry into force". Thus for all I can tell (and for all the AU says), the old Constitutive Act is still in force. A YouTube video of a press release by one politician from a single country is not a reliable source on the official status of languages in the AU absent written confirmation that the AU actually agrees with him, which I cannot find. All I did find was an undated document reiterating that the 2003 amendment had not yet been ratified by enough countries to enter into force, particularly in the context of the status of Spanish within the AU. Thus I'd say we should base our coverage on the unamendend Constitutive Act unless there are reliable sources confirming that it has been amended. Huon (talk) 02:58, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The protocol's ratification status: http://au.int/en/sites/default/files/Amendments%20to%20the%20Constitutive%20Act_0.pdf Knisfo (talk) 17:08, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Spain
Not a member but holds territory on the African mainland and in African waters (Canary Islands). Should be listed as not a member along with Morocco. Legacypac (talk) 09:56, 31 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I'm rather skeptical about that - are there reliable sources discussing Spain in the context of an AU membership? I'm pretty sure such sources could be found for Morocco if necessary. Huon (talk) 10:18, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

It looks like in the map Canary islands are in green. They should be in grey, shouldn't they? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.71.160.34 (talk) 11:19, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, they should be grey. Someone should update the map. Kind regards, Smile4ever (talk) 10:58, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

Obama addresses ‘the African Union’
When Obama addressed ‘the African Union’, to whom was he talking? Was it the Pan-African Parliament or the Assembly of the African Union, or something else? The text (see link above) says ‘Address to the People of Africa’, ‘African Union Headquarters’, ‘Members of the African Union, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen’...? – Kaihsu (talk) 18:14, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

African Union Summit
So the list of AU summits has been expanded; Thanks to User:MarnetteD. However, it seems such a list would rather be on its own page. Its a very long table and I think could be moved to its own page. Moreover, if it is moved to its own page, we should start creating individual pages for each of the summits. Sputink (talk) 13:31, 30 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I hae no idea why you have pinged me. I have not edited the article and all I did on this talk page was check the modified external links. As to your question you might ask at the WikiProject Africa to get more input. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 14:59, 30 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Im sorry I accidently clicked on Talk Page History rather than Article history and automatically assumed you conducted the massive edit. As for Wikiproject africa, seems like a relevant place to ask the question. Thank you. Sputink (talk) 15:21, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Turkey alphabetical order in list of observers
An IP is repeatedly moving Turkey to the start of the list of observers (ie here ), breaking the alphabetical order. No explanation has been provided for why Turkey should be exempted from the ordering of the rest of the list. Is there a legitimate reason for this proposed change? TDL (talk) 17:15, 13 November 2016 (UTC)
 * The IP now has a name:, however is still non-communicative. TDL (talk) 03:09, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Member Observers
Are there any citations for the long list of member observers?

According to http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/au-handbook-2014.pdf only Haiti is an observers. The other states, like Serbia, Turkey, ... are only accredited to the AU. See https://au.int/en/organs/Non-African-States.

BernhardSchmalhofer (talk) 11:00, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

On February 26th 2017 I removed the member observers. Inadverted I did this when I wasn't logged in.

BernhardSchmalhofer (talk) 12:39, 26 February 2017 (UTC)

Morocco
update the Euler diagram SammyMajed (talk) 20:57, 1 February 2017 (UTC)

Single African Air Transport Market?
I don't see anything about the Single African Air Transport Market here nor as its own article on wikipedia, why is that? Sion8 (talk) 03:08, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

Somali official name?
Why is the Somali name (Midowga Afrika) listed as an official name in the infobox despite the fact that Somali isn't listed as an official language? It just doesn't make sense to me why Somali would be included but not other African languages with more speakers and official status in other member states.Last edited by: (talk) 21:16, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

Portal
Since the portal for related articles was deleted, any possibility of recreating and maintaining a better one? Community participation would be helpful. I think the subject is rather broad and a portal would definitely be helpful as long as it keeps to Wiki guidelines on portal.Tamsier (talk)


 * What is the general thinking about use of Wikipedia portals (e.g., on European Union) vs series (as on this article's page)? Neither Wikipedia page (on Portals nor Article series) mentions the other, so there is no discussion evident there for how to choose one or the other. - Inkwzitv (talk) 19:38, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

Suspension of Sudan
Sudan has been re-admitted to the AU, see https://www.evangelisch.de/inhalte/160049/07-09-2019/sudan-wieder-volles-mitglied-der-afrikanischen-union (sorry, in German) and many more. So the map should be re-adjusted. [And this one is in English: https://www.africanews.com/2019/09/07/african-union-welcomes-sudan-civilian-cabinet-lifts-suspension/]. --Vanellus (talk) 17:56, 9 September 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:06, 7 December 2019 (UTC)
 * African Union conference center and office complex, AUCC.jpg

Top of page infobox
I'm thinking of creating an infobox template for a transnational government (or some such) that could be used to replace/expand the infobox currently at the top of this article's page. It would include sections for its official bodies (similar in nature to the one on Federal government of the United States that uses Template:Infobox presidential government) and maybe be informed by the European Union's infobox. Such a template could take on some of the information from the AU series infobox lower on this page. Thoughts? - Inkwzitv (talk) 19:38, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

AU series infobox
The infobox that is part way down this article's page that describes itself as "This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the African Union" includes a section titled "Institutions". That list is a mix of now-obsolete entities (e.g., OAU, which was replaced by the AU), defunct entities (e.g., Casablanca Group) and others. I think it would be more useful to list current official bodies (such as in the Politics section of the page text that is currently to the left of this infobox). And maybe add a section to this infobox for affiliated organizations (tho' I'm not sure how to bound what might be added to an "affiliated" list). Thoughts? - Inkwzitv (talk) 19:38, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)
WP could use a section, or a whole separate article, on Africa CDC - AfricaCDC org. I am not currently able to create it myself. Acwilson9 (talk) 19:30, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

missing members in euler diagram
Hi, I created a new version for the euler diagram: c:File:Supranational African Bodies-de.svg I think in the diagram used for this article (c:File:Supranational African Bodies-en.svg), there are missing members. I mentioned it at the filetalk: c:File_talk:Supranational_African_Bodies-en.svg --Mrmw (talk) 18:22, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

54 or 55 countries
We all know that Africa composes of 54 countries and they are all part of AU but eventually most school textbooks in my county say 55 so please help me decide as I need to know as a school student 2C0F:F8F0:81B2:0:E42C:A261:6423:C230 (talk) 18:10, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

Who is "it"?
In subsection Africa-EU_relations:


 * "it had worked out the African Peace Facility"

Should it be "they" (African Union and the European Union)? Or does "it" refer to one of them? Or something else? This needs to be made clear.

--Mortense (talk) 10:23, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Map update
Please update the African Union members map to show Guinea as a suspended member. Source: https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210910-african-union-suspends-guinea-after-coup-ousting-cond%C3%A9 —Amaan4210 (talk) 00:56, 12 September 2021 (UTC)

Sudan coup d'état and suspension
Due to the recent coup in Sudan (the 2021 one for the readers of the future), Sudan has been suspended again from the African Union. https://au.int/en/articles/sudan-suspended-african-union — Preceding unsigned comment added by Macchiato blu (talk • contribs) 12:20, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

African Space Agency officially inaugurated
The African Space Agency has been officially inaugurated, so this article should be changed to reflect that (and presumably a full article should also be created) 212.186.238.122 (talk) 10:22, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Aren't these countries AU observers?
Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 03:21, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ?
 * ?
 * 🇱🇹: ?
 * Palestine: ?
 * 🇷🇸: ?
 * 🇺🇦: ?


 * They sure are, except Haiti and perhaps Lithuania (I couldn't find a third party source for it).
 * Here's a list of third party sources to support the rest: Latvia, Palestine, Serbia, Ukraine. M.Bitton (talk) 12:29, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
 * WHat's the criteria for a third party source? Are these not good enough? Both mention Haiti as an observer member since 2012. https://www.lepoint.fr/afrique/haiti-dans-l-union-africaine-un-reve-evanoui-21-09-2016-2070161_3826.php https://www.lapresse.ca/international/ailleurs-sur-le-web/201202/20/01-4497930-haiti-rejoint-lunion-africaine.php Port-au-princien (talk) 21:32, 10 May 2024 (UTC)

Initiatives
I think there should be a new section that discusses historical initiatives and planned initiatives that goes into the vision people have for the AU, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and possible evolution into a single market, and the Afro monetary union. I suppose the United States of Africa would be relevant here as well. I think it would make sense to collate these under one clear heading for the reader Alexanderkowal (talk) 16:11, 18 May 2024 (UTC)