Information brief: 18 AU Summit, Addis Ababa 23-­‐30 January

The 18th AU Summit focused on electing the rotating AU Chair and AU Commission leadership, approving the 2012 budget, and inaugurating a new headquarters building funded by China. The document highlights significant managerial failures within the AU Commission, including a 48% vacancy rate for staff posts and low budget utilization in certain departments.

• The 18th AU Summit included the election of the rotating African Union Chair, a one-year non-renewable term. For 2012, the turn belonged to West Africa, with candidates from the Gambia, Benin, and Guinea Bissau, though Boni Yayi of Benin appeared likely to succeed Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.
• The AU Commission faced severe managerial and performance issues, characterized by a staff complement of only 52% (691 members) with 324 posts remaining vacant. Budget utilization across departments averaged 37%, with the Department of Social Affairs utilizing less than 10% of its budget and employing only 25% of its approved staff.
• The proposed AU budget for 2012 was 274,094 million USD, representing an increase of 18 million USD over 2011. The operating budget (49% of the total) was to be funded by Member States, while the Programme Budget was to be funded by development partners, with 30 million USD specifically allocated to the peace and security department.
• A new 100-meter-tall AU headquarters building with 28 stories and a 2,500-seat conference room was inaugurated on 28 January 2012. The building was constructed by the Chinese government at a total cost of 200 million USD.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2012). Information brief: 18 AU Summit, Addis Ababa 23-­‐30 January. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AU_InfoBrief2.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Information brief: 18 AU Summit, Addis Ababa 23-­‐30 January. 2012. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AU_InfoBrief2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Information brief: 18 AU Summit, Addis Ababa 23-­‐30 January |date=January 2012 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AU_InfoBrief2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2012information, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Information brief: 18 AU Summit, Addis Ababa 23-­‐30 January}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2012}, month = jan, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AU_InfoBrief2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }