On Saturday, 18th of February, Macky Sall handed the power over African Union to Azali Assoumani, the president of Comoros. The latter accepted the position with joy, his speech revolving around the 'historic' nature of choice. This is certainly the case since Comoros are home to less than one million inhabitants. The number of challenges the new leader will have to face is significant as a global crisis marked the previous years in numerous fields.
Getting back on track for an African common market that will be slow to materialize, economic and food crises following the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, or even security crises in the four corners of the continent. The task of Azali Assoumani, who was put on the front line to deal with it, will not be the easiest. According to the NGO International Crisis Group, "he will need the support of other senior African leaders to assume his mandate, given the limited diplomatic weight of his country."
Besides these challenges, the Comorian president wants to emphasize the climate emergency, as a representative of an island country, according to a Comorian diplomatic source. And he also hopes to finalize the project initiated by his predecessor, Macky Sall: to finally see the African Union admitted to the G20 table at its next summit in India.