The next African Union Commission chairperson is set to be elected in January 2017 during the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Kenya has nominated Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed. For those familiar with
the AU Agenda 2063, Mohamed has the right set of credentials for this job.
As a distinguished diplomat her outstanding career started in 1986.
She rose through the ranks to become Kenya’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative in Geneva, in 2000-06.
As the permanent representative, she represented Kenya’s interests in the UN and at the World Trade Organisation, among other international institutions.
Her strong interpersonal skills have individualised her as a skilful and effective negotiator.
This has enabled her to distinctively drive negotiations in multilateral fora, and astutely articulate Kenya’s interests in the agencies she has served.
She has galvanised Africa around issues of common interest, including the rule of law, trade and investment, peace and security, integration and migration.
Among her most significant achievements are her election as President of UNCTAD 14 for four years, chairperson of the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference — the top decision-making arm of the WTO — and co-chairperson of the Ministerial segment of the first ever TICAD Summit in Africa.
Mohamed is the first woman to chair the three most important agencies of the WTO. These are the Trade Policy agency, the Dispute Settlement agency and its Governing General Council. She was President of the Conference on Disarmament, and the first African and female chairperson of the Council of the International Organisation for Migration. Cumulatively, these assignments have earned her, and Kenya,
international acclaim and respect.
In less than four years, she has revamped Kenya’s global image, from a position bedeviled by sanctions threats, to a preferred destination for global trade and investment and conferencing, coupled with a massive infusion of foreign direct investments. The strong investor confidence in the country is a function of the assertive and proactive economic diplomacy that Mohamed has championed as Foreign Affairs boss.
One of her priorities for Africa, as evidenced in her recent visionary statement at a Comesa Conference in Madagascar, is dealing with youth unemployment and the potential of agriculture to offer economic and food security for Africans. This vision offers the solution for unlocking Africa’s vast potential, underscoring the importance of an AU leadership that will emphasise the need for stronger intra-African trade and investment, through strong regional economic blocs as the key to a broader continental integration.
She has already been endorsed by more than 25 African countries, including 19 from the Comesa region. Other African Presidents who have backed Mohamed’s stab at the AU chairperson position include Faure Gnassingbé (Togo), Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (Mali), Alpha Condé (Guinea), John Dramani Mahama (Ghana), Idriss Déby (Chad), Alassane Ouattara (Ivory Coast),
Sassou Nguesso (Congo Brazaville) and Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal of Algeria.
Closer home, Rwanda has been particularly vocal in its support.“She is the best candidate for the job, and she is very much Rwanda’s candidate. She is highly qualified, has incredible diplomatic and managerial experience and the right heart and mind when it comes to the strategic interests of our continent, as well as Africa’s active presence on the global scene,” Rwanda’s minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said.Mushikiwabo said.
Chairman of the Media Owners Association of Kenya and the immediate former chairman of Brand Kenya.