Chairperson of the African Union

The Chairperson of the African Union is the ceremonial head of the African Union elected by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a one-year term.^[1]

Chairperson of the African Union
Flag of the African Union
Incumbent João Lourenço since 15 February 2025
Style	Excellency
Abbreviation	CPAU
Appointer	the Assembly
Term length	One year
Constituting instrument	Constitutive Act of the AU (article 6)
Precursor	Chairperson of the OAU
Inaugural holder	Thabo Mbeki
Formation	9 July 2002
Deputy	Bureau
Website	au.int/en/cpau

A candidate must be supported by at least two-thirds of the member states or by consensus. The chairperson is expected to complete the term without resignations or impeachment.

List of Chairpersons

No.	Portrait	Chairperson	Took office	Left office	Country	Region
1		Thabo Mbeki[2]	9 July 2002	10 July 2003	South Africa	Southern Africa
2		Joaquim Chissano[3]	10 July 2003	11 July 2004	Mozambique	Southern Africa
3		Olusegun Obasanjo[4]	11 July 2004	24 January 2006	Nigeria	West Africa
4		Denis Sassou Nguesso[5]	24 January 2006	24 January 2007	Republic of Congo	Central Africa
5		John Kufuor[6]	30 January 2007	31 January 2008	Ghana	West Africa
6		Jakaya Kikwete[7]	31 January 2008	2 February 2009	Tanzania	East Africa
7		Muammar Gaddafi[8]	2 February 2009	31 January 2010	Libya	North Africa
8		Bingu wa Mutharika[9]	31 January 2010	31 January 2011	Malawi	Southern Africa
9		Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo[10]	31 January 2011	29 January 2012	Equatorial Guinea	Central Africa
10		Yayi Boni[11]	29 January 2012	27 January 2013	Benin	West Africa
11		Hailemariam Desalegn[12]	27 January 2013	30 January 2014	Ethiopia	East Africa
12		Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz[13]	30 January 2014	30 January 2015	Mauritania	North Africa
13		Robert Mugabe[14]	30 January 2015	30 January 2016	Zimbabwe	Southern Africa
14		Idriss Déby[15]	30 January 2016	30 January 2017	Chad	Central Africa
15		Alpha Condé[16]	30 January 2017	28 January 2018	Guinea	West Africa
16		Paul Kagame[17]	28 January 2018	10 February 2019	Rwanda	East Africa
17		Abdel Fattah el-Sisi[18]	10 February 2019	10 February 2020	Egypt	North Africa
18		Cyril Ramaphosa[19]	10 February 2020	6 February 2021	South Africa	Southern Africa
19		Félix Tshisekedi[20]	6 February 2021	5 February 2022	Democratic Republic of Congo	Central Africa
20		Macky Sall	5 February 2022	18 February 2023	Senegal	West Africa
21		Azali Assoumani	18 February 2023	17 February 2024	Comoros	East Africa
22		Mohamed Ould Ghazouani	17 February 2024	15 February 2025	Mauritania	West Africa
23		João Lourenço[21]	15 February 2025	Incumbent	Angola	Southern Africa