Chairperson of the African Union - wikipedia Chairperson of the African Union Chairman of the African Union Incumbent Alpha Condé since 30 January 2017 Appointer the Assembly Term length One year Inaugural holder Thabo Mbeki Formation 9 July 2002 Deputy Bureau Website www.au.int/en The Chairman of the African Union is the ceremonial head of the African Union elected by the Assembly of Heads of State for a one - year term. It rotates among the continent 's five regions. Contents 1 History 2 Role 3 List of Chairpersons 3.1 Bureau 4 References 5 External links History Main article : Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity In 2002, South African President Thabo Mbeki served as the inaugural chairman of the union. The post rotates annually amongst the five geographic regions of Africa ; and over the years it has assumed the following order : East, North, Southern, Central and West Africa. In January 2007, the assembly elected Ghanaian President John Kufuor over Sudan 's President Omar al - Bashir due to the ongoing Conflict in Darfur. The government of Chad threatened to withdraw its membership if Sudan assumed the chair. Some had suggested Tanzania as a compromise candidate from the East African region. By consensus, Ghana was elected instead as it was celebrating its 50th independence anniversary that year. In January 2010, Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi unsuccessfully tried to extend his tenure by an additional year, saying more time was needed in order to implement his vision for a United States of Africa - of which he was a strong proponent. Libya was at the time one of the largest financial supporters of the AU. The election of Equatoguinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in January 2011 was criticized by human rights activists as it undermined the AU 's commitment to democracy. Congolese Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe have both led the AU and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity during the terms 1986 - 8 and 1997 - 1998 respectively. Role The incumbent is the ceremonial head of the AU and in this capacity, chairs the biannual summits and represents the continent in various international fora such as TICAD, FOCAC, G8 and G20 summits. List of chairpersons # Portrait Chairperson Took Office Left Office Country Region Thabo Mbeki 9 July 2002 10 July 2003 South Africa Southern Africa Joaquim Chissano 10 July 2003 6 July 2004 Mozambique Southern Africa Olusegun Obasanjo 6 July 2004 24 January 2006 Nigeria West Africa Denis Sassou Nguesso 24 January 2006 24 January 2007 Republic of Congo Central Africa 5 John Kufuor 30 January 2007 31 January 2008 Ghana West Africa 6 Jakaya Kikwete 31 January 2008 2 February 2009 Tanzania East Africa 7 Muammar Gaddafi 2 February 2009 31 January 2010 Libya North Africa 8 Bingu wa Mutharika 31 January 2010 31 January 2011 Malawi Southern Africa 9 Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo 31 January 2011 29 January 2012 Equatorial Guinea Central Africa 10 Yayi Boni 29 January 2012 27 January 2013 Benin West Africa 11 Hailemariam Desalegn 27 January 2013 30 January 2014 Ethiopia East Africa 12 Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz 30 January 2014 30 January 2015 Mauritania North Africa 13 Robert Mugabe 30 January 2015 30 January 2016 Zimbabwe Southern Africa 14 Idriss Déby 30 January 2016 30 January 2017 Chad Central Africa 15 Alpha Condé 30 January 2017 Incumbent Guinea West Africa Bureau The Chairperson is assisted by a bureau of three vice-chairpersons and a rapporteur. Portrait Incumbent Country Region Title Yoweri Museveni Uganda East Africa First Vice-Chairperson Abdelaziz Bouteflika Algeria North Africa Second Vice-Chairperson King Mswati III Swaziland Southern Africa Third Vice-Chairperson Idriss Déby Chad Central Africa Rapporteur References Jump up ^ `` African Union Handbook '' ( PDF ). African Union. 2014. p. 15. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` African Union Chooses Kufuor Over Bashir for Chairman ''. Yahoo ! Voices. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Sudan loses AU chair over Darfur ''. Mail and Guardian. South Africa. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Gaddafi fails in bid to remain African Union chair ''. Addis Ababa : Reuters. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` African Union row over Muammar Gaddafi 's role ''. BBC News. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` Equatorial Guinea President Named African Union Head ; Rights Groups Object ''. Bloomberg News. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` President voted AU deputy chair ''. The Herald. Zimbabwe. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014. Jump up ^ `` Mugabe Scores A Feat, Set To Head AU at 91 ''. radiovop.com. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014. Jump up ^ Babarinde, Olufemi ( April 2007 ). `` The EU as a Model for the African Union : the Limits of Imitation '' ( PDF ). miami.edu. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` High hopes for AU Maputo Assembly ''. ANC Today. 4 -- 10 July 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` Obasanjo Elected AU Chairman ''. Addis Ababa : Vanguard. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` CONGO : Profile of Denis Sassou - Nguesso, new AU head ''. Brazzaville : IRIN. 24 January 2006. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` President Kufuor elected Chairman of AU ''. Accra : Ghana News Agency. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ Appel, Michael ( 2 February 2008 ). `` Kikwete takes over AU Chair ''. Pambazuka News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Gaddafi vows to push Africa unity ''. BBC News. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Malawi president takes over as AU president ''. AFP. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2011. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ Hennig, Rainer Chr. ( 1 February 2011 ). `` New AU leader Obiang calls criticism un-African ''. Afrol News. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ `` President Thomas Yayi Boni elected as Chairperson of the African Union for 2012 '' ( PDF ) ( Press release ). Addis Ababa : Directorate of Information and Communication, African Union Commission. 29 January 2012. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 31. Jump up ^ Stainburn, Samantha ( 28 January 2013 ). `` Hailemariam Desalegn, Ethiopia 's PM, is new African Union Assembly chairman ''. GlobalPost. Retrieved 31 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` President Abdel Aziz of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania elected African Union Chairperson ''. Addis Ababa : African Union. 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014. Jump up ^ `` Zimbabwe 's Mugabe, 90, becomes African Union chairman ''. Reuters. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015. Jump up ^ African Union ( @ _AfricanUnion ) ( 30 January 2016 ). `` Prez Idriss Itno Déby of # Chad takes over as # AU Chairperson '' ( Tweet ). Retrieved 30 January 2016 -- via Twitter. Jump up ^ African Union ( @ _AfricanUnion ) ( 30 January 2017 ). `` H.E. President Idriss Deby of Chad hands over '' ( Tweet ). Retrieved 30 January 2017 -- via Twitter. Jump up ^ `` President Alpha Conde of Guinea Has Been Elected New Chairperson of the African Union ( AU ) ''. African Union. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017. External links Official website African Union ( AU ) History Pan-Africanism Casablanca Group Monrovia Group Abuja Treaty Sirte Declaration Lome Summit Organisation of African Unity Chairperson Secretary General Geography Borders Extreme points Member states Regions Organs Executive Council Permanent Representatives ' Committee Specialized Technical Committees Assembly Chairperson Commission Chairperson Deputy Chairperson AUCC Pan-African Parliament Bureau Secretariat Gallagher Estate African Court of Justice African Court on Human and Peoples ' Rights ECOSOCC Committees Peace and Security Political Affairs Infrastructure and Energy Social Affairs and Health HR, Sciences and Technology Trade and Industry Rural Economy and Agriculture Economic Affairs Women and Gender Cross-Cutting Programs Financial Institutions African Central Bank African Monetary Fund African Investment Bank Peace and Security Council ACIRC African Standby Force Panel of the Wise UNAMID AMIB AMIS AMISOM MISCA Politics APRM Foreign relations African Charter on Human and Peoples ' Rights African Commission on Human and Peoples ' Rights Enlargement Symbols Anthem Emblem Flag Economy Currencies Development Bank African Economic Community NEPAD African Free Trade Zone Tripartite Free Trade Area Culture Africa Day Languages Theory Afro United States of Africa United States of Latin Africa Chairpersons of the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union Organisation of African Unity Selassie Nasser Nkrumah Ankrah Selassie Mobutu Boumedienne Ahidjo Kaunda Daddah Hassan II Gowon Barre Amin Ramgoolam Bongo Nimeiry Tolbert Senghor Stevens Moi Mengistu Nyerere Diouf Nguesso Kaunda Traoré Mubarak Museveni Babangida Diouf Mubarak Ben Ali Meles Biya Mugabe Compaoré Bouteflika Eyadéma Chiluba Mwanawasa African Union Mbeki Chissano Obasanjo Nguesso Kufuor Kikwete Gaddafi Mutharika Nguema Boni Hailemariam Abdel Aziz Mugabe Déby Condé Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chairperson_of_the_African_Union&oldid=793549486 '' Categories : African Union chairpersons Hidden categories : All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from July 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Čeština Español Bahasa Indonesia Interlingua Svenska Türkçe 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 2 August 2017, at 12 : 59. 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Question: which south african recently held a high position in the african union
Answer: Thabo Mbeki