African leaders to meet in special summit for ‘last push’ on AU reforms

African leaders are set to gather this weekend for a special summit aimed at pushing through long-debated reforms to their pan-continental body.

The changes seek to streamline and empower the African Union – an ambitious call for an organization often seen as toothless and donor-dependent, and analysts say time for forging a deal is short.

Egypt, which will assume the chairmanship of the AU early next year, has little interest in the reforms, they say.

The special summit is being held at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa this Saturday and Sunday at the insistence of Rwandan President Kagame, the pioneer of the reforms.

Elissa Jobson, head of African advocacy for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, described the talks as a “last push” to enact as many changes before Kagame’s one-year term as chairman expires in January.

“The concern there is that Egypt is very unlikely to push the reforms forward, even if it doesn’t try to reverse them,” she said.

Long criticized for redundant bureaucracy and ineffectual decisions, the AU put Kagame in charge of reforming the body in 2016.

His proposals include weaning the AU off foreign donor funding and cutting down on the number of summits and commissions.

But more than two years and five AU summits later, analysts say key states still are not on board with the reforms.

Prospects for an agreement this week will depend on who shows up, they say.

“We’ll have to see how many heads of state come, and that will determine the success of the summit, (which) will determine the success of the reforms in any way,” said Liesl Louw-Vaudran, a consultant with the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Nigeria and Mozambique will be sending foreign ministers, while other AU members have yet to indicate who will attend.

Created in 2002 following the disbanding of the Organization of African Unity, the AU comprises all 55 African countries, with a budget in 2016 of $417 million.