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Mahamat: ‘We must go beyond narrow sovereignties to see the bigger picture’

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Are Africans losing faith in the AU?

By Mathieu Olivier

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Posted on August 5, 2022 15:50

Tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, coups d’état, constitutional changes… An interview with Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairman of the Commission of the African Union (AU).

This is part 4 of a 4-part series

In early July, the African Union (AU) will celebrate its 20th anniversary. An anniversary marked by deteriorating security conditions in the Sahel, the resurgence of coups d’état and constitutional amendments, and abuses observed in the area of good governance. So, has the AU, which recently came of age, fulfilled its objectives?

Moussa Faki Mahamat, who was reappointed for a second term as head of the AU Commission, is still at the forefront. Criticised for his management of the crisis in Chad after the death of Idriss Déby Itno, reputedly timid in the Sahel or in front of African heads of state, he defends his political approach, one of collaboration with regional institutions and a relentless, but difficult, search for financial autonomy.

Recent news is marked by the revival of the M23 rebellion in eastern DRC and by the rise in tensions between

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