ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 12 (AGCNewsNet) - The 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union (AU) began on Wednesday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a call for united efforts to address Africa’s enduring challenges, including underdevelopment and instability.

The two-day meeting, attended by foreign ministers from AU member states, is being held under the AU’s 2025 theme: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.”

In his address to the executive council, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat stressed the importance of collective action to foster peace and security across the continent. He underscored the need to strengthen governance, promote socio-economic development, secure sustainable financing, and implement institutional reforms within the AU.

“African positions on climate change are being strengthened. Agriculture and the blue economy are gradually taking their natural place in our strategic choices. The infrastructure and energy sector has made significant strides,” Faki said.

However, he cautioned that while these achievements are commendable, Africa must not lose sight of its significant challenges, including ongoing violent conflicts in Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He described the instability as a pressing issue requiring urgent intervention.

“This situation is all the more worrying as multilateralism, already in bad shape for some time, seems to have to face new challenges and blows from across the Atlantic. We have to pull ourselves up, and we need to do it here and now,” Faki told the gathered African foreign ministers.

Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, highlighted the need to enhance Africa’s human capital, productivity, and value addition to drive continental development.

“Africa’s current global financial standing reveals the stark inequalities it faces. The continent possesses 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves. It also contains as much as 65 percent of the world’s arable land. Yet, Africa accounts for less than 3 percent of global trade and only 1 percent of global manufacturing output,” Gatete noted.

The Executive Council meeting is also set to elect six commissioners for the AU Commission. Additionally, it will review the draft agenda and decisions for the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government, scheduled to take place on February 15-16.

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