Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Dismissing the declaration of independence of Azawad by Malian rebels, the African Union (AU) Friday said the action was an “inconsequential” decision by a terrorist group and called on the international community to rally behind it. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Angola has assumed the rotating presidency of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) for the month of April. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the annual observance of World Autism Awareness Day should spur global action to combat the "unacceptable discrimination, abuse and isolation" that people with the disorder and their loved ones face. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – African Finance ministers Tuesday rose from their two-day meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopting a ministerial statement to commit to address the gap in financing Africa’s development by refocusing efforts on domestic resource mobilization. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) election observer team, headed by Dr. Samuel Azu’u Fonkam, President of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), has arrived in the Gambia to observe the country's fourth parliamentary polls holding on Thursday, PANA reported Tuesday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) has expressed its determination to restore law and order to Mali, the Chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, indicated on Monday at a meeting of the African Ministers of Finance, Economy and Planning in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Monday hailed outgoing President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for conceding defeat in the country's presidential runoff on Sunday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African countries have made progress in school enrolment, but struggle to get quality education, according to a paper on the continent’s economic and social situation for 2011, conducted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Commission of the African Union (AU). Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Friday suspended Mali from the 54-member bloc, following the military coup that brought renegade soldiers to power on Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has asked mutinous soldiers in Mali to surrender and restore President Amadou Toumani Toure to power, while promising an effective continental action against the coup they spearheaded. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - A ministerial meeting of the peace and security council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), designed to tackle terrorism and trans-border crime in the Sahel, opens Tuesday in Bamako, the Malian capital, official sources told PANA. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – As African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development gather in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, next week, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, and the UN Under Secretary General and executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Abdoulie Janneh, have said that Africa should be seen as a pole of global growth. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Commission has launched a comprehensive staff audit, in line with the mandate given by regional leaders to the Commission to work with the best hands to deliver on the Organization’s objective of developing the region through a people-centred strategic approach, the Commission said in a statement obtained by PANA here. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Chairman, Beninese President Boni Yayi, arrived in Abuja Monday afternoon on a brief visit to Nigeria, PANA reported. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) is due to host a meeting of experts from the Sahel region at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week to intensify efforts to address the worsening humanitarian situation in the Sahel region, the AU Commission said in a statement obtained by PANA here Monday. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Welcoming the outcome of the recent London conference on Somalia, the African Union Peace and Security Council on Friday stressed the need to maintain the current international momentum towards the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia.Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union (AU) on Monday called on the international community, including the UN and bilateral partners, to continue to support the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) in its efforts to resolve outstanding issues between Sudan and South Sudan, according to an AU press statement received here by PANA.Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union (AU) on Monday appealed to the international community to help families of the Congolese killed or injured in an arms depot explosion, expressing sadness over the fatal incident. Full text...

Accra, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday urged Nigeria to exert its influence and leadership to see through the integration of West African countries. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Election Observer Mission Tuesday urged all political parties, coalitions and their candidates to respect the outcome of Sunday's presidential election in Senegal. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Ahead of Sunday's presidential elections in Senegal, the Joint African Union/ECOWAS High-Level Mission to Senegal was continuing its meetings with key stakeholders in the country on Friday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - East African Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and financial markets executives will discuss recent developments in the financial markets in Europe as well as the regional economy at a meeting in Tanzania next week, the Arusha-based East African Community (EAC) secretariat said Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Senegal's opposition candidate Idrissa Seck has expressed the hope that the Joint African Union/ECOWAS High-Level Mission to Senegal will help end the political crisis that has plagued the country ahead of Sunday's presidential poll. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Despite a common approach by countries of the Great Lakes region in the search for durable peace and security, the populations are not yet well sensitized on the importance of regional integration, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa said. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The European Union (EU) has welcomed the entry into force of the African Union’s Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which requires free and fair polls and abhors unconstitutional takeover of power in Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has welcomed the signing of an agreement for the delimitation of the maritime borders of Seychelles, the Union of Comoros and Tanzania on the Indian Ocean triple-point. Full text...

Durban, South Africa (PANA) - The South African Development Community (SADC) has endorsed South African Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as the region’s sole candidate for the post of AU Commission Chairperson ahead of the elections in June, the South African foreign ministry said in a statement. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union (AU) has welcomed the framework agreement signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Friday on security cooperation between Juba and Khartoum -- a move seen by observers as a timely step in quelling rising tension over oil transit fees.Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance has been ratified by 15 member states of the African Union (AU), a pre-requisite for its entry into force as from15 February, according to the African Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC). Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A Nigerian newspaper on Friday described as a 'shame to Africa' the donation of the African Union headquarters building to the continent by China. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has described as an ''embarrassing situation'' the failure of the last African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to elect a new Chair for the AU Commission. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African leaders have resolved to pursue banking reforms, a Free Trade Area for the entire continent in five years (2017), and the modernization of rail, air and road transport to boost trade. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The 18th African Union (AU) Summit has renamed the African Environment Day as Wangari Maathai Day, in honour of the late Kenyan Environmentalist, in addition to creating a continental prize in her honour. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - South Africa's Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will run again for the position of African Union (AU) Commission chairperson at the next AU Summit in Malawi in June. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Following the failure of AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping to win a second term after four rounds of voting at the ongoing AU Summit here Monday, indications are that the leaders will make another attempt to elect the chairperson in the next six months. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian presidency on Monday described as false and sensational some media reports that President Goodluck Jonathan was defeated by President Yayi Boni of Benin Republic in the contest to elect a new African Union (AU) Chairman at the current AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is disappointed at Monday's election of a new Chairperson of the African Union Commission, which ended inconclusive. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Monday's election of the African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson has been suspended after no winner emerged despite several rounds of voting. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - In his lifetime, he was widely regarded, rightly or otherwise, as a pillar of the African Union (AU), but 'Brother Leader' Mouammar Kadhafi was largely ignored by African leaders who gathered in Addis Ababa at the weekend for the 18th AU Summit. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The president of Equatorial Guinea and the immediate past chairman of the African Union (AU), Teodoro Obiang Nguema, on Sunday called on fellow African leaders, meeting in the Ethiopian capital for their 18th Summit, to appoint by consensus the future President of the Commission of the Pan-African organization. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, made a formal plea to African leaders gathered here Sunday for a Summit, to excuse the differences in approach to the crises in Libya and Cote d’Ivoire and mend fences for the sake of future relations. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Some 40 Heads of State and Government are participating in the 18th African Union (AU) summit which opened Sunday in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, with the President of the National Conference of the Chinese People's Consultative Political Conference (CPPCC), Jia Qinglin, attending as special guest. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The President of Benin, Yayi Boni, has taken over the chairmanship of the African Union (AU) following his nomination at a mini-Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Full text...

Addis Ababa , Ethiopia (PANA) - At an election conducted during the ministerial level of the African Union Summit here, Angola, Egypt, Guinea, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivoire and Congo Republic were Saturday elected to the executive body tasked with spearheading peace and security matters in Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African leaders kicked off a two-day Summit here Sunday, to discuss pressing continental matters and seek new ways to boost regional trade, credited with current economic growth in most countries. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The willingness shown by the new Libya to ensure the continuity of its existing relationships is accompanied by the need to affirm its sovereignty, as much as it respects the sovereignty of the others. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The presence of an official delegation from the new Libya will not go unnoticed in Addis Ababa, where the 20th ordinary session of the Executive Council Thursday opens, ahead of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Madagascar, which was suspended from the African Union (AU) in March 2009 after a military-backed coup, has complained about what it considers the 'double standard' on the part of the continental organization. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Jean Ping, Thursday defended his record, saying his first four-year term contributed to the repositioning of Africa on the global scene. Full text...

Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – Nearly US$ 50 million was raised by the African Union (AU) to assist the countries in the Horn of Africa, threatened by famine, the AU Commissioner for the rural economy and agriculture, Mrs. Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, announced Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...