37th African Union summit focused on peace, development, and integration

The 37th AU Summit covered key areas such as education, peace, security, regional integration, climate change, economy, development, institutional reforms, human rights, multilateral cooperation, global governance, and disarmament. These discussions aligned with the AU’s overarching goals, including Agenda 2063, AU Kagame reforms, and the State of Peace and Security Report.
Logo

The 37th African Union (AU) Summit took place from 15 January to 18 February 2024. The event, which was held under the theme ‘Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, Lifelong, Quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa,’ focused on education challenges in Africa, as well as peace, politics, climate, economy, and international/global diplomacy. The summit was held at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union began on 17 February 2024, and concluded on 18 February 2024, with the adoption of the decisions, declarations, and resolutions of the Summit. During the summit, H.E. Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, was elected as the Chairperson of the Union for 2024.

The summit focused on issues of peace, development, and integration, taking into account the challenges of resurgent coups, global food and commodity crises, and heightened geopolitical competition across the continent. The integration agenda is of particular significance as global powers vie for influence over African states, evident in the growing number of ‘Africa summits’ hosted by individual countries outside the continent in recent years.

The urgent priority of the summit was continental integration, which would remove barriers to labour and capital mobility in Africa. To achieve this, concrete steps need to be taken to accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a trade regime aimed at establishing a tariff-free market for goods and services. Additionally, the summit aimed to lay the groundwork for the creation of a ‘Made in Africa’ economic corridor to enhance the continent’s efforts towards a pan-African marketplace.