Overview of the AU leadership elections
The 2025 AU elections come with significant challenges, requiring leadership to address complex global and institutional issues.
The 2025 African Union (AU) senior leadership election process began with a note verbale from the Office of the Legal Counsel sent to member states in May 2024, requesting the submission of nominations for senior leadership positions within the AU Commission. Since then, 35 candidates from the five regions of the continent seeking to occupy the various positions in the new structure established by AU’s Institutional Reform process have been assessed.
According to the Panel of Eminent Africans tasked with the screening process, 22 candidates were disqualified at the initial screening stage following their inability to meet the 70% minimum mark required to progress.
The next AU leaders must navigate a rapidly changing global landscape and internal institutional challenges
Technically, the process after the call for nominations, submission of candidatures by member states and screening by the Executive Council’s Committee on Candidature, entails campaigning, the election of commissioners at the Executive Council to be appointed by the Assembly and elections by the Assembly in the case of the Chairperson, and finally, the announcement and confirmation of results.
Of the positions currently under consideration, the Chairperson of the Commission, to be filled by an East African candidate, is the most keenly contested, with candidates intensively campaigning across different regions and capitals of the continent.
Election procedure
According to Rule 42 of the AU Assembly Rules of Procedure, the election process begins with the election of the Chairperson of the Commission, followed by the Deputy Chairperson, and concludes with the appointment of Commissioners who have been pre-elected by the Executive Council.
To be elected Chairperson, a candidate must secure a two-thirds majority, or 36 votes. If no candidate achieves this threshold after three rounds of voting, the process is adjusted to allow for the next ballot to be restricted to the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the third round. If neither secures the required majority after three additional rounds of voting, the candidate with fewer votes must withdraw.
If only two candidates are contesting initially and neither secures the twothirds majority after three rounds, the candidate with fewer votes must withdraw, allowing the remaining candidate to proceed to another round. However, if this candidate also fails to secure the required majority, the election is suspended.
Success in the AU elections will have a profound impact on Africa's global agency and internal cohesion
When there is only one candidate, and they fail to achieve the required two-thirds majority after three rounds, the election is suspended. In such cases, interim arrangements dictate that the Deputy Chairperson assumes the role of Acting Chairperson until a new election is conducted. Similarly, if the Deputy Chairperson position remains vacant due to voting deadlock, the most senior Commissioner, based on tenure or age, steps in as Acting Deputy Chairperson.
Challenges ahead
The AU election is taking place at a time of phenomenal global changes, with Africa’s agency gaining increasing recognition. The incoming leaders will, therefore, face significant challenges not only in their sector-specific roles but also in responding to a rapidly evolving international landscape and AU-specific institutional hurdles, ranging from managing relations with member states, navigating the AU Commission’s slow and cumbersome bureaucracy, and addressing the persistent issue of inadequate financing for the Commission’s activities.
Additional challenges that the new leadership must confront include the resurgence of selective use of sovereignty among member states, fostering cooperation between the AU and the UN in implementing peace operations and UNSC Resolution 2719, advancing Africa’s emerging agency in global multilateral forums, particularly regarding membership in the G20, and addressing the rise in conflicts as is evident in Sudan, Mozambique, the Sahel and DRC.
The ideal candidates for these leadership roles, therefore, does not depend only on a candidate that secures the support of member states through the ballot but must also be an individual who possesses the requisite skills and diplomatic acumen to tackle sector-specific challenges and navigate complex engagements with member states.
This new leadership cohort assumes office at a crucial juncture in the AU’s history. Their success or failure, therefore, will have a profound impact on the AU as an institution, the continent as a whole, and Africa’s ability to assert its agency on the global stage in particular
