In an historic election, the 54-member African Union (AU) on July 15 elected the first female chairperson to head its permanent commission during a summit of leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In a fierce contest with incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon, who held the post since 2008, South African Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma eked out a victory, narrowly obtaining the two-thirds majority required.
Backed by the English-speaking African nations, Dlamini-Zuma won 37 votes, while Ping, who was backed by the French-speaking nations, won 17.
The 63-year-old female politician said her victory was special in two regards.
“Today, we commemorate two milestones in the history of our organisation,” she said in a transcript of her acceptance speech. “After 49 years, the Southern African region has been afforded an opportunity to chair the African Union Commission but equally a woman has been afforded an opportunity for the first time. It is fitting that this happens during the period declared as the Decade of Women by this very Assembly.”
She added, “We are grateful as women that our leaders have understood that women have to participate and take their rightful place in society so they can reach their full potential because it is only if men and women reach their full potential, shall we as a continent reach our full potential.”
Experts say Dlamini-Zuma will face significant challenges from day one of her tenure.
“ election comes at a critical time for the African Union as they’re dealing with a number of immediate, pressing concerns including the conflict in Mali and the very unusual historical development of a new state, Southern Sudan,” said Carl LeVan, Africa coordinator in Comparative and Regional Studies at American University’s Council on African Studies.
The newly-elected chairwoman, who is the former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma, will also have to advance the role of the African continent in global affairs and balance that against national and regional interests. That means developing human resources, through education and training, and natural resources. For example, LeVan said, as more African countries begin to tap into their oil reserves, it will change the continent’s economic and political outlook—and that’s something the AU will have to shepherd.
Whereas before, African countries was viewed as victims always in need of aid, “oil promises to change how they relate to the rest of the world…. Oil is really going to change the tenor of African foreign policies,” said LeVan, who is also an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service.
Additionally, the AU must play a key role in mediating between Western nations and the growing Islamic powers on the African continent.
“The Western powers have often simplified the spread of Islam and Islamic politics in the Sahel region of Africa,” LeVan said. The African Union has to be poised to gauge when the spread of such politics “poses a problem to security and stability and when it’s just a natural political development.”
The Women’s League of South Africa’s governing African National Congress party expressed confidence in Dlamini-Zuma’s ability to handle the challenges facing her.
“Her deep understanding of the dynamics of Africa will inspire unity and stability across the continent,” the group said as quoted in an Associated Press article.
Asked how she would advance the mandate of the AU Commission, the chairwoman-elect referred to her training as a medical doctor.
“I will first have to see what is going on,” she said in a transcript of a media interview released by her office, “and then like a doctor, you first diagnose and then you treat. I will have to take it from there.”
