The vote will take place at the 38th African Union (AU) summit, which will take place on the 15th and 16th in Addis Ababa.
Unlike the other five portfolios, one of the candidates for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) is running for re-election.
This is the current commissioner, Nigerian Bankole Adeoye, who has held this position since the last election in 2021.
The position is of particular importance due to the ongoing conflicts on the continent and, above all, due to the threat that, in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), it could escalate into a regional confrontation.
In addition to Bankole Adeoye, Jean Jacques Demafouth of the Central African Republic, Amma Twmuh-Amoah of Ghana and Agnes Mahomva of Zimbabwe are also running for the position.
At the Addis Ababa summit, which marks the beginning of the presidency of the regional organization by Head of State João Lourenço, the elections for all positions that make up the AU Commission: president, vice-president and commissioners, will be conditioned by gender parity.
Respect for this rule led to two male candidates for the post of vice-president of the AU Commission – Salah Francis, from Algeria, and Mohamed Ahmed Fathi, from Egypt – being eliminated when it was confirmed that the three candidates to succeed the current president, Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, were only men: the head of diplomacy of Djibouti, Mahamoud Youssouf, and the former foreign ministers of Madagascar, Richard Randriamandrato, and Kenya, Raila Odinga.
The four remaining candidates for the vice-presidential post remained in the running: Salma Malika Haddadi of Algeria, Hanan Morsy of Egypt, Najat Elhajjaji of Libya and Latif Akharbach of Morocco.
Regarding the number of candidacies submitted, this year ten candidates were presented for the positions of president and vice-president (four and six candidates respectively) and 35 candidates for the position of six commissioners, much less than the 89 candidacies registered in 2021.
Of the 35 candidates, 19 are women, which represents a significant increase in female representation compared to the 2021 elections, when only 26 of the 89 candidates were women. In fact, this year there are more female candidates than male candidates.
By region, Southern Africa put forward candidates for all six Commissioner portfolios and candidates from the region constituted just over half of all candidates.
With the exception of one portfolio, Southern Africa and Central Africa presented several candidates for each of the other portfolios.
In contrast, the West Africa region presented only three candidates for three different portfolios.
The importance of the choices made at the Addis Ababa summit coincides with the first shock waves caused by the United States, which in this second term of President Donald Trump, has consolidated isolationist policies and defiance of diplomatic and foreign trade rules.
The Amani Africa think tank believes that “regardless of who is elected, there are huge expectations in terms of leadership and mobilization of AU members for collective action to address the increasing number and complexity of conflicts and represent Africa in a formidable way on the world stage.”
The entity adds that it is expected that the summit will bring “new energy to mobilize the necessary responses to face the pressing challenges of this era, instead of perpetuating weak leadership”.
The 38th AU Summit of Heads of State and Government has as its theme “Building a united front to advance the cause of justice and reparations for Africans”.
