Regions of the African Union

Not to be confused with List of regions of Africa.

The member states of the African Union (AU) are divided into five geographical regions.^[1]

Regions of the African Union:
 Central 
 Eastern 
 Northern 
 Southern 
 Western 
Note that Ceuta and Melilla in Northern Africa are parts of Spain.

When a principal organ of the United Nations allocates a certain number of seats to the African Group, such as on the UN Security Council or the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the African Union distributes these seats based on these geographical regions^[2] (however, even though Morocco was not a member of the African Union between 1984-2017, it was still eligible to be picked). States must apply to the Executive Council's Committee on Candidatures by March of the election year in order to become a candidate.^[3] The Committee allocates seats roughly by proportion (for example, the Western Africa subregion usually gets the largest number of seats).^[2]

List

List of AU member states by alphabetical order:

Northern

Member state	Capital	Area (km2)
Algeria	Algiers	2,381,740
Egypt	Cairo	1,001,451
Libya	Tripoli	1,759,540
Mauritania	Nouakchott	1,030,700
Morocco	Rabat	446,550
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Tifariti (provisional)	266,000
Tunisia	Tunis	163,610

Southern

Member state	Capital(s)	Area (km2)
Angola	Luanda	1,246,700
Botswana	Gaborone	581,726
Eswatini	Mbabane	17,364
Lesotho	Maseru	30,355
Malawi	Lilongwe	118,484
Mozambique	Maputo	801,590
Namibia	Windhoek	824,116
South Africa	Pretoria Cape Town Bloemfontein	1,221,037
Zambia	Lusaka	752,618
Zimbabwe	Harare	390,757

Eastern

Member state	Capital	Area (km2)
Comoros	Moroni	2,235
Djibouti	Djibouti	23,200
Eritrea	Asmara	117,600
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	1,104,300
Kenya	Nairobi	580,367
Madagascar	Antananarivo	587,041
Mauritius	Port Louis	2,040
Rwanda	Kigali	26,798
Seychelles	Victoria	451
Somalia	Mogadishu	637,661
South Sudan	Juba	619,745
Sudan	Khartoum	1,886,068
Tanzania	Dodoma	945,087
Uganda	Kampala	236,040

Western

Member state	Capital	Area (km2)
Benin	Porto-Novo	112,622
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	274,000
Cabo Verde	Praia	4,033
Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro	322,462
Gambia	Banjul	10,380
Ghana	Accra	238,534
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	36,125
Guinea	Conakry	245,857
Liberia	Monrovia	111,369
Mali	Bamako	1,240,192
Niger	Niamey	1,267,000
Nigeria	Abuja	923,768
Senegal	Dakar	196,723
Sierra Leone	Freetown	71,740
Togo	Lomé	56,785

Central

Member state	Capital	Area (km2)
Burundi	Gitega	27,834
Cameroon	Yaounde	475,442
Central African Republic	Bangui	622,984
Chad	N'Djamena	1,284,000
Congo Republic	Brazzaville	342,000
DR Congo	Kinshasa	2,345,409
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	28,051
Gabon	Libreville	267,667
São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	964

African diaspora

In the Constitutive Act of the African Union,^[4] under amended Article 3(q) of the Act (Objectives), the following is stated regarding the African diaspora: “invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our continent, in building the African Union.”^[5] Additionally, the African Union provides definition for its concept of the African diaspora as the following: “The African Diaspora consists of peoples of native or partial African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.”^[6]

In 2016, the African Union denied membership to Haiti due to membership admission, as per Article 29.1 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, being limited to any “African State.”^[7][4]

In the African Union Handbook (2021), persons who have been appointed to represent the African diaspora at the Assembly of the African Union have been granted the status of observer.^[8] More specifically, the African Union Handbook (2021) states:

In January 2008, the Executive Council suggested that the African diaspora be treated as Africa’s sixth region and its participation in the AU’s organs and activities be strengthened (EX.CL/Dec.406(XII)). The Assembly has recognised the diaspora as a substantive entity contributing to the economic and social development of the continent and has invited its representatives as observers to Assembly sessions (see Assembly/AU/Res.1(XVIII) of January 2012).^[8]

The African Union has also established regional institutions, such as the Western Hemisphere African Diaspora Network, and international institutions, such as the Economic, Social and Cultural Council, to facilitate African diaspora relations.^[9]

Additionally, the African Union works together with AfricaRecruit, the Caribbean Community and Common Market, the Commonwealth Business Council, the International Organization for Migration, and the World Bank to facilitate African diaspora relations, regionally and internationally.^[9] Furthermore, individual countries (e.g., Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa) in Africa have also undertaken national efforts to facilitate African diaspora relations, internationally.^[9]

Changes

When the Organisation of African Unity (the African Union's predecessor) was originally created, Southern Africa was not yet independent and member states were grouped into four regions. As states in Southern Africa gained independence and became members, they joined the Eastern Africa group (including Zambia, Botswana, and Lesotho; but excluding Angola which joined the Central Africa group).^[10]

A decision in 1976, implemented by 1979, created the Southern Africa group. The six southern members which had joined Eastern Africa re-grouped, but Angola remained part of Central Africa.^[11][12]

Sometime between 1979 and 1980, Sudan changed from the Northern Africa group to the Eastern Africa group.^[a]

In 1995, Angola changed from the Central Africa group to the Southern Africa group.^[2]

Sometime between 2000 and 2003, Rwanda changed from the Central Africa group to the Eastern Africa group.^[b]

In 2004, Mauritania changed from the Western Africa group to the Northern Africa group.^[18][19]

See also

• List of regions of Africa
• United Nations geoscheme for Africa

Notes

1. In 1972-1973, Sudan sat in the Northern Africa seat on the United Nations Security Council. A document from 1975 puts Sudan in the Northern Africa group.^[13] In an apparent contradiction, a document from 1976 mentions Sudan changing from the Eastern Africa group to the Northern Africa group.^[10] Documents from 1977, 1978, and 1979 put Sudan in the Northern Africa group.^[14][11][12] A document from 1980 puts Sudan in the Eastern Africa group.^[15]
2. A document from 1999 puts Rwanda in the Central Africa group,^[16] while a document from 2004 puts Rwanda in the Eastern Africa group.^[17] (As an aside, a document from 1975 puts Rwanda in the Eastern Africa group^[13] and a document from 1976 puts Rwanda in the Central Africa group,^[10] but Rwanda was not elected to any United Nations organs until 1977.)

References

1. "Appendix 1: AU Regions, Strengthening PoPular ParticiPation in the African Union" (PDF). OSISA and Oxfam. 2009. p. 62. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
2. Endeley, Isaac (2009). Bloc Politics at the United Nations: The African Group. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0761845584.
3. "The Executive Council | African Union".
4. "Constitutive Act of the African Union" (PDF). African Union. 11 July 2000. pp. 5–6, 17.
5. "Protocol on the Amendments to the Constitutive Act of the African Union" (PDF). African Union. 11 July 2003. p. 2.
6. "Report of the Meeting of Experts from Member States on the Definition of the African Diaspora" (PDF). African Union. 2 July 2005. pp. 5–6.
7. "Haiti will not be admitted as African Union Member State at next Summit in Kigali, Rwanda". African Union. 18 May 2016.
8. "African Union Handbook 2021" (PDF). African Union. 2021. p. 20.
9. Kamei, Seraphina (2011). "Diaspora as the 'Sixth Region of Africa': An Assessment of the African Union Initiative, 2002–2010". Diaspora Studies. 4 (1): 61. doi:10.1080/09739572.2011.10597353 (inactive 2024-11-02). S2CID 152812717.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
10. "Division of Africa Into 5 Regions - Distribution on Member States by Region" (PDF).
11. "Report of the Administrative Secretary-General on the Fourth Conference of African Ministers of Trade" (PDF).
12. "Note of Presentation of the Document on Candidatures" (PDF).
13. "Report of the Secretary-General on the Conference of African Intergovernmental Organizations (1)" (PDF).
14. "Report of the Administrative Secretary-General on the Third Conference of African Ministers of Trade" (PDF).
15. "Report of the Secretary General on the Establishment of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU)".
16. "COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, Seventieth ordinary Session/Fifth Ordinary Session of the AEC".
17. "Report of the chairperson on the 2nd Ordinary Session of the conference of AU ministers of trade held in Kigali, Rwanda from 24 To 28 May, 2004" (PDF).
18. "Special Research Report No. 4: Security Council Elections 2011 : Research Report : Security Council Report".
19. "EX/CL/Dec. 87 (IV)" (PDF).