The African Union Summit 36th Ordinary Session will convene on various dates from the 16th January 2023 to the 19th February 2023. The schedule of statutory meetings of is as follows.

1. 16th to 27th January 2023- The 45th Ordinary session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC). The PRC comprises Permanent Representatives to the African Union and other plenipotentiaries of Member States. The PRC conducts the day-to-day business of the African Union on behalf of the Assembly and Executive Council. It reports to the Executive Council, prepares the Council’s work and acts on its instructions. All AU Member States are members of the PRC.
2. 15th to 16th February 2023- The 42nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. The Council coordinates and takes decisions on policies in areas of common interest to Member States. It is answerable to the Assembly. It considers issues referred to it and monitors the implementation of policies formulated by the Assembly. The Executive Council is composed of foreign ministers or such other ministers or authorities as are designated by the governments of Member States.
3. 18th to 19th February 2023- The 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. The Assembly is the AU’s supreme policy and decision-making organ. It comprises all Member State Heads of State and Government. The Assembly determines the AU’s policies, establishes its priorities, adopts its annual programme and monitors the implementation of its policies and decisions.

The Summit will be held at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The African Union theme of the year 2023 is “The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation.”
The social media hashtag in 36th#AUSummit

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government will consider and make far-reaching decisions on various political and socio-economic areas to promote and advance the welfare and quality of life for the African citizenry. The Assembly will consider various reports, including, but not limited to;

• Institutional reforms of the African Union
• State of peace and security in Africa, activities of the Peace and Security Council and the implementation of the AU Master Roadmap of Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa.
• Global political, financial and energy policy governance and the food crisis.
• The African Union response on Covid-19 pandemic in Africa.
• The evaluation report of the First-Ten Year implementation plan and the development of the Agenda 2063 Second-Ten Year Implementation Plan
• The African Continental Free Trade Area
• Climate change
• Progress on the committee of Africa CDC and the appointment of the Director General of Africa CDC.
• Appointment of one member of the AU Board of External Auditors.

The Assembly will also consider various draft legal instruments on;

• Draft statute of the African Training Center for Statistics (PANSTAT)
• Draft statute of the African Union Institute for Statistics (STATAFRIC)
• The African Continental Free Trade Area Protocol On Competition Policy
• Draft statute of the African Humanitarian Agency
• The Protocol On Investment to the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area
• The Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights to the Agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area

During the Session of the Executive Council, the Ministers will similarly consider among others:

• The annual report on the activities of the Union and its Organs
• The operationalisation of Africa CDC.
• Progress report on the establishment and operationalisation of the Africa Medicines Agency (AMA)
• The implementation of activities on the roadmap of the AU theme of the year 2022 on Nutrition
• The concept note and roadmap of the theme of the year 2023 “acceleration of AfCFTA implementation”
• Report on administrative and financial governance of the African Union Commission and the Organs.
• The draft AU Partnerships Strategy and Policy Framework.
• The social and humanitarian situation in Africa.
• The implementation of the Continental Civil Capacity Mechanism for disaster preparedness and response
• Activities and prospects for the establishment of the High Committee in charge of the Agenda for the Decade of African Roots and Diasporas
• Report of the Joint-Sitting of the Ministerial Committee on Scale of Assessment and Contributions and the Committee of F15
• Report of the Ministerial Committee on African Candidatures within the International System
• Report of the Ministerial Follow up Committee on the Implementation of Agenda 2063

The Executive Council will also conduct elections of the following;

• Election of Two Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Election of Six Members of the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
• Nomination of Three Judges to the Administrative Tribunal of the African Union
• Appointment of One Member of the AU Board of External Auditors, for the Two-Year Term, 2022 and 2023

Finally, the Executive Council will consider the draft agenda and draft decisions of the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU.
The Agenda Programme is attached at the bottom of this page.

The African Union Theme of the Year 2023 “The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation” is aimed at enhancing the close collaboration with all relevant organs and specialized agencies of the African Union, regional mechanisms and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), in line with their respective mandates to fast track the implementation of the AfCFTA for the benefit of Africa’s population. The Theme of the year for 2023 seeks to generate greater political commitment in trade as a developmental Agenda for Africa. It will serve to mobilize solutions and solidarity to turn that vision into reality, with a view to create interlinkage with member states, AU bodies, private sector actors, development partners, and other stakeholders, who have important roles to play to accelerate the implementation of the AfCFTA.

The AfCFTA presents a unique opportunity for the continent to attain economic emancipation, which will lead to job creation, poverty alleviation, improved welfare and sustainable development. Beyond the policy transformation and reforms, the AfCFTA seeks to ensure inclusivity of women and youth, development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and overall industrialization of the Continent. This will be guided by the Framework of the Agenda 2063, which among others calls for project development, structuring, marketing, financial collaboration and enhancing Public-Private Partneship (PPP) and the AfCFTA Private Sector Engagement Strategy. Engagement with private and Public stakeholders is expected to generate support and awareness, direct support to responsible implementing stakeholders, evaluate and monitoring data, and access to collaborators.

The AfCFTA Secretariat, in collaboration with partners, has launched various operational tools to facilitate commercially meaningful trading under the AfCFTA, namely the:

1. AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, which intends to achieve its goal through matchmaking businesses and products for export and import between interested State Parties in coordination with their national AfCFTA implementation committees.
2. AfCFTA Adjustment Fund to support both the member states and private sector to effectively participate in the new trading environment established under the AfCFTA.
3. Pan African Payment System (PAPSS), a platform and infrastructure to facilitate instant payment in national currencies and efficient conduct of cross border trade.

The conclusion of the AfCFTA Phase II Protocols further provides a legal basis and anchor in advancing an operationally effective and comprehensive one African market and will act as an accelerator for Agenda 2063.

Learn more about the African Continental Free Trade Area by visiting https://au-afcfta.org/

Watch and follow the opening and closing session.

1. 15th February 2023, 9.30am EAT- Opening Session of the Executive Council- https://livestream.com/africanunion/events/10769740
2. 18th February 2023, 9am EAT- Opening Session of the Assembly - https://livestream.com/africanunion/events/10769789
3. 19th February 2023 – Closing Session of the Assembly- https://livestream.com/africanunion/events/10769833
4. Briefings by the various departments and Organs of the African Union - https://livestream.com/africanunion/events/10769842
5. High Level events held on the margins the of the Summit (side-events)- https://livestream.com/africanunion/events/10769852

The speeches will be updated at the bottom of this page.

Media accreditation Information is available here.

Mrs. Esther Azaa Tankou| Head of Information Division | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 (0) 911361185 | E-mail: yamboue@africa-union.org

Mr. Molalet Tsedeke | Directorate of Information and Communication; African Union Commission | E-mail: molalett@africa-union.org | Tel: +251 11 518 2014/ +251 11 5182518 | Mobile: +132022159152

Afrah Thabit | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: +251 115 517 700 | E-mail: Thabitma@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

For more information on the summit please contact

Mrs Wynne Musabayana| Head of Communication | African Union Commission | email: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org

Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission, E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org I Website: www.au.africa I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia Follow Us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube