Operational Effectiveness and Efficiency

There is a need to manage the business of the AU efficiently and effectively, at both political and operational levels

On political management of the Union the AU is recommended to:

• Reform the working methods of the Summit (Ensuring AU Summit Assembly session, which is attended by the Heads of State and Government has an agenda of no more than three (3) strategic items at each Summit and review the frequency (The Assembly to hold (1) one Ordinary Summit per year, and extraordinary sessions to be held as the need arises;
• Determine the appropriate African representation at Partnership Summits and partnership Summits convened by external parties should be reviewed with a view to providing an effective framework for African Union partnerships and prioritising Africa’s development agenda
• Establish a troika of the outgoing, current, and incoming AU chairpersons (To ensure continuity and effective implementation of Assembly decisions, a troika arrangement between the outgoing, the current, and the incoming AU Chairpersons should be established. In this regard, the incoming chairperson shall be selected one year in advance
• Strengthen and enforce the current sanctions mechanism. This would include consideration of making participation in the AU deliberations contingent on adherence to Summit decisions.

On operational management of the Union it is recommended to:

• Enhance the process for selecting the Commission Chairperson i.e.the election of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission should be enhanced by a robust, merit-based, and transparent selection process.
• Recruit the Commission Deputy Chair and Commissioners competitively recruited in line with best practice and appointed by the Chairperson of the Commission, to whom they should be directly accountable, taking into account gender and regional diversity, amongst other relevant considerations.
• Reframe the role of Deputy Chairperson and potentially change the titles of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson

Review of structure, staffing needs and conditions of service of the Commission should be undertaken to ensure alignment with agreed priority areas.